John's writing again...

John really seems to enjoy writing stories. It is fun to see, given that he has been a somewhat reluctant reader. Well, that is probably not really the right way to describe it. John loves to be read to, any story from a board book of Helen's to the Harry Potter stories that Jeremy is reading to him now at bedtime. And, if I can get his attention from any other activity, he actually seems to like reading himself, pretty well. He is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was last fall, and can cruise through simple books pretty easily.

But still, he has a strange love-hate relationship with reading. I think it may actually be that he is an extreme perfectionist, and has an achievement/competition complex. Thus, he hates to try reading, because it makes him feel inadequate ("losing" some competition) because he senses that he doesn't read as well as others (like his older siblings). For over a year now, he has pretended to read thick chapter books whenever anyone tries to get him to read. Last summer, he would sit on the couch, flipping the pages, then excitedly reporting in every few minutes what page number he was now on. (It made him grin and gloat to "read" faster than his siblings, cruising along at an average pace of a chapter every 3 minutes. It might have been funny except that he seemed to actually believe, himself, that he was reading.

In any case, reading is coming quickly to him, at last. But the writing curriculum in his classroom seems top-notch, and that same optimistic confidence that he used to "read" chapter books last year is now being delightedly fed by the books that he his writing in school.

He gets to choose his own topics and plan out his books, and the students work on them over a stretch of time. Thus, when I do (occasionally) get a report about school other than recess, it is always John giving me a sly, cheeky grin and saying, "I am working on a new book." He never tells what it is about, but he always promises that I will love it. And you know what? I do!

Here is the latest book he brought home. I have, again, included some interpretation and translation of the photo images. And for the record, yes, John really, really wishes that we had a dog.

"How to Chrane a Dog"

(Throughout this book, he seems to be getting his consonant blends mixed up. So CHR = TR and this title is actually "How to Train a Dog")

Frst get a Dog.
get a Dog at the pet stor or the anumul seltr.

(First get a dog. Get a dog at the pet store or the animal shelter.)

2. Thro a Ball

(2. Throw a ball.)

3. He Well get it

(3. He will get it.)

Promis Him a cret

(Promise him a treat.)

He will Bing it Back

(He will bring it back.)

Say Lay Down
iF He Dus Not
Lay Down Prois
Him a cret
and the He will Lay Down

(Say, "Lay down." If he does not lay down, promise him a treat and then he will lay down.)