Wons A Pon A Tim

We moved from our home in Seattle, where both girls were born, when Eliza was four. She was old enough to have made some "lifelong" friends, and that is when her letter-writing began. She has never shied away from writing, but she has always been reluctant to strike out on her own and try more inventive spelling. This has meant that one letter, thank-you card, Valentine or story (they were rare and short!) were painstakingly written, checking letter for letter with me to make sure each word is spelled correctly. This has meant that every note I have ever received from Eliza consists of one sentence: Mama, I love you. Love, Eliza. She has always had clear handwriting, from a very young age, and an interest in cursive, so I have been hopeful that once she was interested in reading it would influence how she was writing.


One of the presents tucked in her stocking this year was a little $2 notebook. Another was a pen. This girl has pens and notebooks tucked in every corner and bag, but for some reason, this book immediately became her journal, as she wrote, without stopping for any input from us at all, two full pages of thoughts about the Christmas she was having. This has continued in the days following Christmas, and, as she shared from one entry, "it is vare fon to rit in it somtims i cant stop i love it so moch".

It is so exciting to watch her get her thoughts out by herself, quickly enough that she doesn't lose interest, and the pride, oh, my...she is so happy about this. I am so happy about this. It is like the reading, having her discover something on her own that she is excited about.

It is interesting for me to see what she has picked up from her reading, what her understanding is of how different sounds are spelled, and gives me some ideas about a place to start with some more directed writing down the road a ways. She has that desire to communicate and here is one more door opened wide for her...

(Accompanying this post should be sounds of internal squealing from the mama!)