a l p h a b e t

"As for his letters, the child usually teaches himself. He has his box of ivory letters and picks out p for pudding, b for blackbird, h for horse, big and little, and knows them both. But the learning of the alphabet should be made a means of cultivating the child's observation: he should be made to see what he looks at. A tray of sand is useful at this stage. The child draws his finger boldly through the sand. The devices for making the learning of the 'A B C' interesting are endless. There is no occasion to hurry the child: let him learn one form at a time, and know it so well that he can pick out the d's, say, big and little, in a page of large print. Let him say d for duck, dog, doll, thus:d-uck,d-og, prolonging the sound of the initial consonant, and at last sounding d alone, not dee, but d', the mere sound of the consonant separated as far as possible from the following vowel. Let the child alone, and he will learn the alphabet for himself: but few mothers can resist the pleasure of teaching it; and there is no reason why they should, for this kind of learning is no more than play to the child, and if the alphabet be taught to the little student, his appreciation of both form and sound will be cultivated. When should he begin? Whenever his box of letters begins to interest him and there is nothing against it so long as the finding and naming of letters is a game to him. But he must not be urged, required to show off, teased to find letters when his heart is set on other play." -Charlotte Mason

A curious boy inquires, "Mama, what does this say?" Eager to understand these letters that form words. Over and over again. Throughout the day. Words all around. Interest and desire peak. And so we make available sand A B C cards and river rocks with A B C stickers on them. Stored in a jar on his desk. He plays with them as he wills. Matching letters, rock to card. It is a multi sensory experience. He sees the letters, hears the letters and feels the form of the letters. Presently, it is play. A game. Fun and enjoyable. He does not understand that this game is just the beginning of a beautiful journey with letters. For identifying letters comes first. And then identifying words. And then reading. And then comprehending. Thus, bringing forth a whole new literary world. Step by step. Slowly. Learning with the most basic, simple materials. Nothing fancy. No high tech computer programs, fancy workbooks, or prized dvd series. Cards and rocks. Blackboard and chalks. We're keeping it old school. Literally. And we like it that way.