Sometime this summer, it clicked with Silas that letters have sounds and that those sounds make up words. He’s known the sounds of a few letters for a while, but now he’s trying to teach himself how to read by spelling words he sees around him. He’s even started using the alphabet fridge magnets to spell his own words (X-O-T-S spells Colts in Silas-ese).

Because Silas’s birthday is in November, he won’t enter kindergarten until the fall of 2016. At this rate, he may be reading sentences by then!

Here’s a video of me teaching Silas a few words at lunch last week. I’ve never taught a child how to read before, so I loved seeing the moment the sounds came together and formed a word in his brain. Teachers talk about that “light bulb” moment, and it was fun to see it in Silas. The video isn’t exciting, but I’m glad to capture the process of my first born learning to read.