Here Come the ABCs

Diego self-initiated a spontaneous interest in drawing letters this week. (He's 4.5) We were coloring with sidewalk chalk with the cousins on Wednesday, and he drew an "X", "T" and "i".

"Look! I drew letters, Mama!" he said.

Later that night, at home, he picked out the exact same letters from our refrigerator magnets to show Squeeze what he had drawn that day. Again, all on his own, though the only letter he could verbally identify was the "T".

The next day, he drew "X", "T", "M" and "P". When I asked him what each letter was, "X" was "H", "M" was "K", "T" was correct again, and "P" was "Little D". I thought that was particularly interesting, as "P" truly is a flipped "d". I wonder if that was actually connected in his mind...? Perhaps subconsciously.

He still can't say his alphabet (I don't drill him on it), but I think I'm going to have some copy work ready for him when he is feeling inspired. We did a little bit of it yesterday and his favorite letters were "A", "I", "H", "X", "T" and "P". He tried "C" too, only it was square-ish and backwards, which he was disappointed about.

It is so fun to see the beginnings of reading readiness showing up . . . and so spontaneously, too.