Wow

I've always been under the impression that making your kids sit down and practice writing letters or drawing at a very young age would squash their confidence and desire to learn on their own. Biting my tongue and not forcing the issue has been challenging, especially since Owen is so whip-smart and has known his alphabet for so long.

At one point, I even kind of wondered about his Montessori-based co-op preschool because it seems like they mostly just play all morning. I have absolutely no doubts now about what an incredible theory of learning this is. At one of the parent meetings, information was presented that confirmed in my mind that the best way to foster a love of learning was to wait it out until he was ready. I found out that playing with playdoh, using scissors, tweezers and all kinds of other right-left brain activities were all working to get him ready for the incredibly complex task of writing.

I noticed today he was sitting at the table with a pencil and paper, singing the ABC's. I looked down and he had written all the letters of the alphabet in a row. Scott and I were floored. Then he started writing numbers, in complete equations like 2+2 4 and 8+8 16. Here is the kicker - when I saw that he was making his 8's with 2 circles, I suggested trying a "Figure 8" instead. This is what he did: