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Getting It Wrong

Kenzo asked me if the word "submarine" has a letter u /u/ or a letter a /u/. Both are "uh" sounds and wasn't sure which letter it was.

I told him it's a "u", and he confidently wrote the word submarine on the submarine he made out of toilet paper rolls and tape.


Sumren. If you say it out loud phonetically it kinda sounds like submarine. Sum-reen. Submarine.

He showed me. And I praised the heck out of it. He has the natural fear of any human about making mistakes, but in this arena my thinking is that mistakes are not only fine, but natural and necessary. How is he supposed to know how to properly spell the word submarine? And what's more, why does it matter? What matters is that he is curious and excited about writing, curious and excited about phonograms and phonemes, and most importantly curious and excited about submarines.

I have the power to crush all of that curiosity and excitement with a single stroke. By telling him he's wrong. Or that making mistakes when you're learning is frowned upon.

Learning phonics and spelling and writing words correctly are skills you can add and no one can take away. Acquiring the confidence to put the phonemic pieces together, get it wrong, and be okay with that is something that can be taken from you.

At Kenzo's request I built the submarine propeller.


Later on Kenzo learned about the relationship between paper and water when the maiden voyage of his submarine launched in the bathtub. 

And then there's this guy...


Osamu lead the charge in tracking down every last dandelion on our street and blowing them into the wind.


Even if it meant crawling through the weeds behind our neighbors' houses and getting bugs inside his shirt and pants. Which he kinda enjoyed.


Kenzo and all his classmates got morning glory seeds, so we planted them.


The seeds were presents from older kids at school. Second-graders apparently. The pack Kenzo got has "instructions" on how to take care of morning glories.


It says:
"Give it lots of water. In the morning be sure to give it water properly. It'll be awesome if various morning glories sprout for you."

Osamu will start elementary school two years from now. For the time being he is soaking up every delectable moment of being 4 going on 5-years-old. 


Like making a happy face out of moisture cream on his stomach after bath time.

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