Recently, I was very excited because Hunter was starting to understand the concept of phonemics: that letters represent specific sounds. I even boasted to my father that Hunter would probably be reading by the time he's three in May.

So much for hubris.


I was reading Hunter a book. We got to the sentence, "Hippo sat in a puddle."

I isolated the "i" in "in" and asked, "What letter is that?"

"I!"

I isolated the "n" and asked, "What letter is that?"

"U?"

"No...."

"N!"

"Yes! What sound does 'i' make?"

Pause. "Ih!"

"Yes! What sound does 'n' make?"

"Nn!"

"Very good! Now, what does it sound like when you put them together?"

Scrunched up face, unsure.

I try to help. "Sound it out: ih... nn...."

Intense concentration. Long pause. Then, triumph!

"Hippo!"


Maybe by the time he's in college....