Word Play

Emma loves words. Small words. Big words. She loves them all. Almost daily she throws big words into everyday conversations (and uses them correctly!). Every time it happens, Da and I just look at each other like, "Where did she learn that word?"

Jared and I can't take much of the credit for her huge vocabulary. I give most of the credit to all the audio books she as listened too, all the books she has read to herself, and yes, all the books we have read to her.

I suppose the fact that Jared and I never "dumb it down" when we talk to her has helped a lot as well.

Well, to be honest, sometimes I will intentionally use a big word because I love it when Emma asks, "What does that mean?"

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but I bet he was pretty smart when he died.

Anyway, the other day I was catching up on some of the blogs I follow, and this one got the gears turning in my head. I loved the idea, and so Emma and I sat down and cut out a bunch of words.

Emma got frustrated with it ("I have no idea what words I'm suppose to be cutting out!"). So I continued on my own. I found the task kinda relaxing actually, so I really didn't mind it.

As I was cutting I thought it would be cool if I could glue them to some sticker paper so that when we were ready to use them, it would be easier and less messy.

Then I got the genius idea to scan them, save them on my computer, and then print them onto sticker paper. The coolest part about doing it that way?

I can share them with the world! (Well, I can share them with the 20 or so people who actually read this blog).

sorry for the upside down one, I forgot to fix it before uploading. 

If you decided you'd like to play around with the words, you should be able to just click on the picture to make it bigger then print it out. If you have trouble, just shoot me an e-mail or comment below and I will help you out. 

After I cut out a bunch of words today, I had a good sized pile on my desk. As Emma was goofing off on my exercise ball/desk chair, I suggested she make a sentence. She made a few and seemed to enjoy the process. 

The Women ranchers look at the big city.

Your new pet is the very best in the derby. 

We probably would have keep going  but groceries needed to be done (sometimes the need to eat is so inconvenient). 

If you use the words for anything, I would love to hear about it! Have fun.

Photo's and Reading

I found a new site that I love, Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile. I could go on all night about the cool things I have found on her site, but seeing as I have already spent all night pouring over her site, I will just leave it for you to discover on your own.

I found My First Photo Assignment so intriguing I stayed up way past my bedtime adapting it to Emma's current learning desire. Her desire to read.

I thought it was super cute. Given how much Emma likes to take pictures, I thought it might be a neat way to sneak in reading while getting a better idea of how she sees the world.

So, I created a simple list of 10 words that I feel she can read with little or no help.

Tomorrow I will post the list somewhere where she will be sure to see it. With her name on it, I figure she will want to know what it is. I think I might have her take a picture of the list (with the date written on it), then have her head "out" for her photographic scavenger hunt. I will leave it up to her if she wants to read the entire list right away, or if she wants to read one word at a time. As she photographs each "word", I will have her mark it off on her list. When the list is complete, I will have her take another photo of the completed list.

Having her take a before and after picture of the list helps me know where to look for the pictures. Emma tends to take pictures of odd and random things on a regular basis, so this little step will help me out a lot. Plus, if she really gets a kick out of it and wants to do more, having the photos of the lists will make it that much easier to manage when uploading. 

Just in case she does really enjoy it, I have 4 lists ready to go. 

I like the thought of having a theme, although it may end up being boring for Emma when she takes her photos. Trial and error folks, that is how we live our lives.

For the colors, I think the words themselves might be a bit hard for her, so I changed the font color to match the word.

If I stick with this enough, and Emma likes it enough, I may even take her camera disk to the store to print out small photos so she can glue them next to the words.

Hmm, something to think about especially considering that would make a neat addition to her education portfolio.

I will update you on how it works out. Until then, here is another fun and random photo.

Emma and Da having a snowball fight!