A Literature Based Home

Having a home that is very literature based is the only thing that I can think of to account for my youngest son's actions yesterday. My oldest son "Peabody" and I were playing Snakes and Ladders. I had a set of dolch words on cards. They were red on one side and blue on the other. Peabody and I had to read the word on the drawn card first before we could shake the die and move our men. "Pot Pie" decided that he wanted to play too. I was able to persuade him that turning over the cards would be a really fun job. I said to him at one point, "You need to show Peabody the blue side", while flipping the card to the proper side. After a few minutes of drawing and presenting Peabody and I with cards to read, I realized that Pot Pie was not only turning the card to the proper colour side each time, but he was also looking at the word on the back of the card and determining if it was upside down or not. If it was upside down he would rotate the card until it was right side up. I could not believe it. He is only two and I have only song ABC's with him. I have never done any formal alphabet work with him at all. He is exposed to books throughout the day and read to several times a day. Witnessing learning in your own child is an amazing thing. It really is. I'm so lucky to be able to take an active part in my children's learning!