Houston, we have a p-r-o-b-l-e-m

I used to be a teacher. I hated it, but I loved teaching reading. I adore children's books in general and am thrilled to have an excuse to hangout in the children's section of the library now that I have kids. I have also been conducting a pseudo experiment with my three-year old. Before he was born, I wondered if I could teach him to read at an early age. I set rules for myself though. I would not use any high-pressure tactics, do any phonics drills and I would instill a love of reading as well as the ability to read.

So here's the kicker...it's working. Through a variety of techniques, which I will document in a book I am planning on writing (someday), my 3 1/2 year old is reading several words, writing several words, loving to read, and generally demonstrating a keen understanding of literacy.

The problem is that his understanding of the alphabet is leading to a problem for Matt and me. I know this happens to all of us eventually but it has hit full-force this week. We can't spell out secrets to each other anymore. For example, if I ask Matt, "What are you thinking for dinner? How does s-u-s-h-i sound?" Nate immediatly jumps in with, "YES!!! I want sushi! SUSHI!!!!!"

I know lots of kids do this based on memorization, but Nate is putting the letter sounds together when we spell & making very reasonable guesses. So now Matt & I need a new language to use in front of the kids. Unfortunately, he took high school French & I hablo espanol. You may see us at a Berlitz soon.