C-A-T that says cat

I've notice many times the influences preschool has on Ian. Some good, some not so good. All a sure sign that I'm no longer the only constant influence on in behaviors. However, despite behaviors and influences that he might not get if not at preschool, I am also constantly reminded how much he is growing and learning. This morning was one such instant. We had the chance to enroll Ian in the extended day program, This means on preschool days (Mon, Wed, Fri) he stays from lunch and than another hour of more structured kindergarten readiness learning. First semester the kids learned to identify, write and sound out the alphabet. The weeks after Thanksgiving were dedicated to learning the difference between short and long vowel sounds. January was filled with writing and small word recondition. In the past several months I've watched and listen to Ian sound out letters  he sees. He especially seems to pick out I, A, N and the letter C. Which he and Cai have come to arguments about whether or not Cai starts with the letter C. For some reason (and I highly wonder if it is just Cai wanted to disagree with his brother) Cai insists that his name does not start with C. This of course sends Ian into a fit, but that's another story and not nearly as enjoyable. Ian and I have spent many minutes while in the van sounding out small words trying to figure out how they are spelled. Lately Ian always spells out the stop signs we stop at. I understand that many of the words he recognizes are due to other factors he is picking up on, such as the stop sign. But he is learning and it is so very exciting. This morning was one such time I just couldn't help but be proud of how much he is learning. A favorite book from the library right now is Fiddle-I-Fee by Melissa Sweet. The boys sing it around the house. This morning, while I was still lounging in bed not really wanting to escape the warm covers, the boys were singing/ looking through this book. The inside cover and first page are covered in colored words of the different animals in the song. Ian pointed to the word cat and said C-A-T that says cat. He then went on to sound out pig and duck. We worked on sounding out goat, goose, dog, cow, and sheep. Several times he would turn to the page with the word to see what the picture was, but I found it impressive that not only was he trying to sound out the words, he could find the word on another page and link it to the picture of the animal. I was very proud of this achievement. Before I know it he is going to be reading. And if his love of stories is any indicator, I think he will be an avid reader. It's all very exciting.