For the past 4 months or so, Emma has really been into those My First Look & Find books-where they display a list down one side of the items you are supposed to "hunt" for in the scene. My mom sent both kids a couple of these books about a year ago-one was Mickey for Bryce and one was Disney Princess for Em . They are board books (thank heaven) because they have been very loved. Last year for Em's birthday Grandma & Papa got her another one-NEMO-with a matching puzzle!
The puzzle has always been a hit-but the books REALLY became new favorites as of late. Em will be found on many occasions, sitting in her room or on the couch with a stack of these books, just reading away. One day Mike and I wondered if she really knew what she was doing or if she was just mimicking what she saw us do when we read. So we sat with her one say and asked her to "read" to us...it was AMAZING! She would point to a picture on the list and say "Ok-now we need to find this one...where is it?" And then she'd find it-in a snap! Now of course, she has them all memorized (so her brother got her a couple more for her birthday-shhhhhh).
This all brought me to thinking though-maybe she can do more????? Is she begging me for some school type stuff? The teacher in me said "duh"-so I pulled out the workbooks I usually send home with my preschoolers and put one in a "special" binder for Em. She was THRILLED and asked if she could put it in a cubby when she was done! Even though she doesn't have one-I said, "Of course baby" :)
So I sat down and had her write an "E" on the top of the page with me, and showed her the first activity while explaining the directions. I hadn't even got to the point where I showed her an example when she looked at me like "yeah, yeah Mom-I got it" and she took a crayon and FLEW through about 8 pages~WTH??? She was squealing with delight as the pages turned and she continued to search for the "hidden objects".
(this is typical Em...Tinkerbell on one page-and Wolverine on the other! lol)
Part of it was that she was sitting at the preschool table in my classroom, and part of it was the excitement of getting a sticker after she completed each page (because that's what she sees the preschoolers earn each day)-but the other fun was that it was just like her reading books, but she got to COLOR it this time! Awww....my little Pre-reader is well on her way at almost 3 years old.
The other thing she loves is to pull out (as she would say)"E for Emma" everywhere we go. She loves to read environmental print all over town: on people's sweatshirts, fire extinguishers, fast food signs, etc. She is un-stoppable! This kid has a major thirst for knowledge-my baby is growing up so fast. The best part is that at this point in the game, all her motivation is internal (which I just LOVE)-she figures something out for herself and SHE says "Oh wow Mom-see???? I'm so proud of you!" I do tell her that a lot-you can never hear it too much-because one day, I hope she'll fall back on that same motivator-making her parents Proud of Her.
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