Who's an author? You're an author.

 I was at the Goodwill Store looking for children's books for Alex and Charlie. I found a book about Liam the leprecaun. Perfect, because all three boys will be spending the night, and I can imagine the gasps when Liam hears and sees his name. His little brothers will anticipate hearing their names, too. So I will fake it and make them believe they are characters in this book, too. 

While looking through the book shelves, a woman looked at me and said, "It's a crime, they want $2.00 for a book that cost fifty cents a month ago. They are taking advantage of the people. I used to buy all my books here for my classroom." 

Turns out Miss Barb and I were kindred spirits. We'd both taught preschool for forty years and considered it our dream jobs. Now, our grandchildren and great grandchildren are benefitting from our expertise and our love for young children. 

My love of writing and reading comes from my father, who was illiterate. My late dad who would have been 105 this week, had a third grade education. He could not read me story books, but he could tell fabulous stories with sound effects and interesting details. 

I'm convinced my 20 year old grandson received the "gift" of writing, too. He called to ask my opinion on an essay he had to do for his college class. His writing floored me. I mentioned plagiarism, and told him professors could detect it immediately. He said he hadn't copied anything. These were his thoughts and opinions in his own words. I am so impressed. He received an "A" on his paper.

It is never too soon to start children off "reading" and writing, or at least making the association between symbols, pictures, letters, and words. 

I do rebus booklets with the little guys weekly. That is, printing the word below the picture, using finger reading to "read" the short sentence.

Ant 8 an apple. 
Bee bit a banana.
Cat ate a cupcake. (I glued real cupckae sprinkles on it. They were amazed at the touch and smell cupcake.
This week they will read: Dog ate a donut. 

You can bet the donuts will be smelly, too.  They are so proud of themselves for "reading".

I show them interesting pictures and have them tell me 4-5 related sentences and stay on topic. They are becoming great authors too.