Henry's 1st Book ~
I'm in these 3 mommy groups, plus 2 different playgroups and we're flip-flopping between two Catholic Churches right now. All that said, I'm bombarded with motherly know-how. The talk these days has been centered on Kindergarten. I know, Henry is a year-and-a-half away from Kindergarten, so what's all the fuss. Well, around here, you don't send your kids to the closest public elementary. Private school is holy grail. It's a process that consists of waiting lists, application forms, interviews, tests and hundreds of dollars in registration fees. Matt and I thought we were avoiding this run-around by choosing Catholic education once Henry hits Kindergarten, hence the 2 churches -- we're hedging.

Henry's in the 3-year-old preschool class right now, next year is Pre-K, then we go to Kindergarten. To the mother's I associate with everyday, the first day of Kindergarten might as well be tomorrow and now I'm all freaked out Henry won't get into either of the Catholic church schools. Apparently our first choice only accepted 14 this year due to all the siblings that applied. AND, come to find out, he has to know how to read! Reading before the first day in Kindergarten! Sounds crazy to me! But crazy aside, no mom wants their child to be in the low reading group; low in anything for that matter! So what did Henry's crazy mom do? I ran out today and bought the recommended 1st readers and some Leap Frog DVDs.

I have to admit, I've been crazy for a while. I'm the mom that holds up letter flash cards while we're driving down the road, works on the sight word flash cards over breakfast and has foam letters floating in the bath. I make my boys watch PBS. We have preschool workbooks we pull out now and then; I even signed Henry up for the handwriting class at school. That's right, while his classmates go to gymnastics or computer, Henry works on fine motor and dexterity. (BTW - he LOVES it and I might sign him up for a gymastics this summer.)

Getting to the point now ... I presented Henry with his new 1st reader books today and announced he was going to learn to read! He giggled and squealed and wanted to read right now, but I was fixing lunch and said it had to wait. He begged and begged, so I put down the knife and helped him sound out the first few words in his new book. And guess what? He read the whole thing! He read it twice even, then called daddy at work and said he wanted to read it to him when he got home. Now 'crazy' is looking smart....squeeeeel!