amazing

"Look with your eyes."

That's what Eljo said as he read the poem I just wrote on the computer. I almost fell from my seat. I asked him again to read the line and he did - perfectly! I asked him to read the next line.

"What do you see?"

Wow! I told him I am amazed. Not that it's surprising. I have always sensed that his verbal-linguistic intelligence is more advanced than the average kid. He learned to talk real words just after turning one. He could read books with simple words (e.g., Chika Chika Boom Boom, Freight Train) at age two. He could very well express himself through words and complete sentences.

And we think he really has a very good visual and oral memory. When I read to him, I point out the words and somehow he stores these visual cues (like the first letter, or the form of the words) and access them when he encounters the word again. This is what they call sight reading. He's still learning how to read phonetically in school (where you sound out the letters). So maybe by the end of this school year, his reading vocabulary will expand further.

But I guess what's more important is that he really takes pleasure in reading and learning new words. And I wouldn't have it any other way.