My most favoritest toy
would be the Magna Doodle. By far. By very, very far.
When Trey first received it for Christmas in 2009, it was one of the first times he had ever actually chosen to play independently. I remember showing him how to use it, and then him going to his room and shutting the door. I peeked in to see him sitting in his rocking chair and drawing.
And I went to unload the dishwasher. In complete silence and inner jubilation.
Yes, it became a favorite then.
It is even moreso now, for you see, the Magna Doodle is helping us teach Trey how to read.
The game is played mainly while Trey takes a bath, where I will write, upside-down, a sentence or question for Trey, and he has to read it on his own. Sometimes we'll help him with a vowel sound (darn those longs and shorts), but the rest he does himself.
And he has gotten good. Brandon tried to trip him up with a multi-syllable history-teacher phrase the other night. Cake. Well, it did require several minutes of sounding out, and a couple of definitions. But for a four-year-old, might as well be cake.
Not only has Trey gotten good, I have gotten good. Upside-down writing, not for wussies. I could win an award.
Yeah, no. Kidding about that. Sometimes I can't recognize my own letters. And for whatever reason, writing an upside-down Z is just impossible. But I have gotten pretty fast at it.
So, three cheers for the big plastic rectangle filled with metal shards! Fosters independence, inspires a love of learning, doesn't make a mess, fully childproof!
Or, maybe not, because we absolutely cannot find the square piece (see photo above), and we're just about convinced that Aden ate it.
When Trey first received it for Christmas in 2009, it was one of the first times he had ever actually chosen to play independently. I remember showing him how to use it, and then him going to his room and shutting the door. I peeked in to see him sitting in his rocking chair and drawing.
And I went to unload the dishwasher. In complete silence and inner jubilation.
Yes, it became a favorite then.
It is even moreso now, for you see, the Magna Doodle is helping us teach Trey how to read.
The game is played mainly while Trey takes a bath, where I will write, upside-down, a sentence or question for Trey, and he has to read it on his own. Sometimes we'll help him with a vowel sound (darn those longs and shorts), but the rest he does himself.
And he has gotten good. Brandon tried to trip him up with a multi-syllable history-teacher phrase the other night. Cake. Well, it did require several minutes of sounding out, and a couple of definitions. But for a four-year-old, might as well be cake.
Not only has Trey gotten good, I have gotten good. Upside-down writing, not for wussies. I could win an award.
Yeah, no. Kidding about that. Sometimes I can't recognize my own letters. And for whatever reason, writing an upside-down Z is just impossible. But I have gotten pretty fast at it.
So, three cheers for the big plastic rectangle filled with metal shards! Fosters independence, inspires a love of learning, doesn't make a mess, fully childproof!
Or, maybe not, because we absolutely cannot find the square piece (see photo above), and we're just about convinced that Aden ate it.
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