Wherein Peter has a phonics lesson and I spit gum at my son
Peter got an impromptu phonics lesson after his regular learning time the other morning. James asked him a simple question about a letter sound, and received in return a wide-eyed guileless gaze and an “I don’t know.” So James begins a phonics review. Peter looks suprised and giggles at the information, which he seems to regard as new. We zoom in on the ‘g’ sound. What letter makes that sound? Samuel helpfully draws a backwards G in the air. What letter is that?
“I don’t know!” Peter is clueless and grinning.
“But” I say, “You just did a page on that sound this morning!”
“Oh.” Peter smiles happily.
I pull out the ‘G’ page, hoping to jog his memory. “See? It says ‘g’. What letter is that?”
“I don’t know!” Peter giggles.
All the surrounding Lansberrys suddenly go very guttural, uttering numerous words with the emphasis on the ‘g’ sound. This culminates with me finally announcing the letter as being ‘G’! As final wrapup, James asks Peter “So, what says ‘g’?”
We wait in anticipation of his regurgitating this newly relearned bit of knowledge.
“I don’t know!” Peter is cute is his ignorance. I exhale sharply at this unexpected reply and spit my gum at him.
So please, let this be a lesson to all homeschooling mothers everywhere whose precocious 5 year old sons have little interest in learning the letter ‘G’- don’t chew gum while teaching.