ABC, phonics and spelling...

I was so proud the first time Gab learned his ABCs. I thought he only knew the letters because of the classic ABC song. until one time while fixing those rubber mats with letters that you put together, he started reciting the letters, not in the usual order, but at random as he stepped on each mat.

For the next step, i thought of teaching him how to read. So i labeled most of the things around the house so he can spell then read. We had CHAIR, TABLE, WALL etc.

these are what's left of those labels :-)


But word association is not really reading. They will just be memorizing the words and the pictures that represent them. If he were presented with a new word, he wont be able to read it since he doesn't have anything up there to associate it. (I'll keep this in mind for my next baby girl :D) So i started teaching him phonics. I thought this would be easy. We'll start with the vowel sounds, then move up to add consonants to these vowels. How hard  could this be? he'll get this in no time.  HAH! was i wrong?!? At first try, he was really resistant. "Noooo, that's 'AE'!!!!" hahahaha. ok anak, kalma lang :D How can you teach a 2yo that 'A' is pronounced 'aaa' as in 'apple', when all his life he knew it to be 'ae'?

Chard found a phonics song on YouTube. Very bright idea, that's how he learned his ABCs afterall. So for days, the phonics song among others was on loop and i can barely have my time on the PC. Which was fine because he was already singing the song. Two weeks after, he knew his phonics without the song :)

Training at work and finals week kicked-in (yep, im also a working student) that i wasn't able to follow-up on his progress. :-(( He was stuck with his phonics and games and youtube videos (which require another entry) for weeks.

Recently, since he was into it, we bought him puzzles that turn into flashcards once put together. After putting the pieces together, he would spell the word then recite it.

Oh men, we're back to square one. So now, he is into spelling. Again! Aside from the flashcards, he would spell words he sees around the house. Some words he get right, others - uhm, kinda :D

Gab: S-V-M-S-U-N-G
Me: what's that?
Gab: TV.

Gab: S-H-O-G-U-N
Me: o, what's that this time?
Gab: Book.


One time, i was doodling letters on his back trying to tickle him while reciting the alphabet. He asked for his turn so i let him. He started writing the letters with his fingers!!! Chard was just beside us and he, too, was surprised! Though he was using his index finger (we call it the Nanay finger, the thumb being the Tatay finger), he was doing it correctly!!
So, although he's back to his ABCs, I'm not worried at all. He is showing progress and he is having fun doing it. If he likes to take this path, then im just going with him. We'll just see where it leads us. :-)

♥♥♥