Spelling and Star Wars

Ethan is doing very well at reading and spelling these days.  He is fascinated by playing Scrabble, and can't get enough of it. It's fun to play with him.  He actually gives us a run for our money, and is very good with both the spelling and strategy parts of it.

We are also starting to read harder books together.  Chapter books! Hooray!  His favorites so far are the Magic Tree House books and Encyclopedia Brown mysteries.  I'm so glad he (and Nick) have a love of reading!

Nick wants to be just like his big brother, so he is learning how to spell, too. Nick, however,  is just learning that the letters make words.  He doesn't really understand, yet, that they have to be certain letters in a certain order.  He's three.  That's a very good start!  For him, everything is spelled E-O-I-N.  Every word, every time, week after week. 
Mom, I can spell phone.... E-O-I-N. 
Mom, I can spell door...... E-O-I-N. 
Mom, I can spell your com-pooter...... E-O-I-N.  
And on and on.  Of course, he gets a laugh for it, which just encourages him to keep doing it.  I have learned that this kid will do anything for a laugh! 

He used to spell everything E-O-I until he heard me explaining to Ethan (who was very frustrated that Nick wasn't spelling things right) that Nick is just learning that the letters make words, and he doesn't know yet which letters, or that some words have more letters than others.  Ever since that day, he's added the 'N' onto the end of E-O-I.  Kind of funny to realize that he was listening to our conversation about it and actually understood it a little bit. I love those tiny learning milestones!  The other day I asked him to spell a bunch of words, and he answered E-O-I-N every time.  Then, I asked if he knew how to spell Nicholas.  He started to say E-O-I-N, but then he paused and said, "No no no, that's not it.  It starts with an N. "  Yea!  I love when you see the moment they realize or learn something new.  It's so incredible.

Tonight after getting in bed, out of the blue, he said, "Mom, how do you spell that round robot guy?  You know that robot guy? The robot that's round?  How do you spell him? That round guy, R2D2?
Me: R-2-D-2.
Nick:  Yeah, him!  How do you spell him?
Me: Just like it sounds...R-2-D-2.
Nick:  How do you spell R-2-D-2?
Me:  R......2.......D........2
Nick: Oh.   What about that goldie guy?   How do you spell him?
Me:  C-3-P-O?
Nick:  Yeah.  How do you spell C3PO?
Me:  C......3.......P......O.....
Nick:  Oh.  What about those guys with arms and legs?
Me:  Luke Skywalker and Han Solo?
Nick: Yeah, those guys.  and the other one with the big gun.
Me: Chewbacca?
Nick: Yeah. Chewbacca.  (Then he lost interest and rolled over to go to sleep).
I have a feeling I'll be spelling everything under the sun for him pretty soon!  And I'll love every minute of it.

The mind of a child works in such mysterious ways.  I love being there to hear the random questions that they just have to have answered before they can finally let go and fall asleep.  It's the most wonder-FULL  time of the day.