Nobody talks like me, except that I actually do. I use words like ameliorate, or imbued. I look up the meanings sometimes when I'm not sure. I don't always remember to look up spellings. Since I've taken to letter writing recently, I've noticed some alternative spellings creeping in. Sometimes I use an s when what I really need is a z.
Someone asked about an old English pronunciation on Sunday. These are not things we typically discuss in church, but it did come up, and that's when I realized a benefit of teaching my children the 70+ phonemes that Romalda Spalding identifies. If I learn how they are pronounced in English, without the prompting of a familiar word-surround, it'll probably be a lot easier for me to read the alternative pronunciations that occur in other languages. Phonics instruction suddenly becomes a much more exciting idea to me.
Speaking of phonics instruction, I thought and fretted over what sort of program to use with my children this coming year, thought about it all summer, trying on different possibilities and notions without actually spending any money. And then I thought, why not just do whatever Andrew Pudewa recommends. I like him. I like what he has to say about education. I like that he seems to understand boys in a way that I haven't found elsewhere. So after agonizing some more, I realized, Hey, I can try it. I'll just consider this year a trial run of Primary Arts of Language (PAL). I hope to get the package in the mail today. I'll want to start putting it together immediately. I can't wait.
I'll let you know how that goes.
2 comments:
I love language too. I'm reading Cold Mountain and was trying to explain to Josh why I love it so much but I think I just sounded weird. I like how the words sound in my mind, the way they feel together. I love how the man writes. It feels like art. Liam likes language even MORE. He already asks about how things used to be spelled and pronounced (he gets so excited when he sees words like shoppe and nite.) About the phonics, I think your boys are probably way ahead and whatever you chose will be great. By the way, the thing where you use an s where a z should be, I do it all the time too. It's definitely from growing up with British English though. I always want to throw in an ou in color and favor. At least once a week I ask Josh, "How do you spell ________ in America?" I can never remember how you guys spell blond(e)
I guess at some point I have to "let you know how [PAL] goes." Right now I'll just say that it took a lot longer to put those file folder games together than thirty minutes.
Bethany, it's nice to know I'm not alone in this. I think British, or at least British expression. I think it's because I've always gravitated toward British literature, and these are the spellings and sounds I've internalized, but I cannot tell you how that happened. I mean, my parents brought home some Agatha Christie one night while we were living in Texas, and that may have started it, but I think I read The Once and Future King by T.H. White before that, and I fell absolutely in love with C.S. Lewis early. Somehow I wasn't the kind of kid who just reads a book. When I got to the good bits, I had to read outloud. It's exciting to think of Liam asking you those kinds of questions.
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