Words, Glorious Words

Offspring #1 has always had a fairly extensive vocab. We could say it's because his mum used to be an English teacher, reads constantly and loves big words but it's more likely that she just never shuts up and he has inherited the 'chatterbox gene' LOL. In the last few weeks some new words have cropped up - one we loved was 'disappointing'. Apparently Miss Teacher uses it quite a bit when the kids aren't quite doing what they should. He has had a wonderful time shaking his head and muttering it at his little sister when she does everything from spill her drink at dinner to chucking a wobbly in the shops. Also making an appearance was 'impressive'. A nice contrast, he uses this one when I've made something particularly tasty for dinner or when the aforementioned little sister creates an artistic masterpiece and is demanding praise. Rounding out the list last weekend was 'astounding'. This one threw us for a loop as we couldn't quite track down the source but we enjoyed it anyway, especially when every bit of information we told him was met with an astonished shake of the head and, you guessed it... an enthusiastic "astounding!"

Added to his ever expanding vocab he has been bringing home 5 new words each week and we drill him on reading them and spelling them. They are the beginning-reader-type words that the kids need to recognise. They are very simple and the kids are encouraged to sound them out. We've also started asking him how he would use each word in a sentence, partly because I want to check that he is sure of what the word is - it's easy to mis-hear a word and then get it wrong for years and years - and partly because his efforts just crack us up. One of the words in this week's list is had. He did a great job of sounding it out, said it effortlessly and wrote it very nicely. Then I asked him to put it in a sentence. He looked at me for a moment, cocked his head to the side and then came out with (in a forlorn little voice) ... "I had a future." I praised his efforts, sent him to pack away his homework and ran straight to tell Hubby where, I must admit we fell about the place laughing . #1 might not think learning is that much fun but Hubby and I think it's hilarious!