Huck is currently reading a Magic Tree House chapter book that takes place in ancient China.  During reading time at school each day he sits and reads quietly to himself and then comes home and teaches me about things like The Great Wall of China and books written on bamboo strips.  Today he’s in the middle of chapter seven.  It’s like watching a magic trick before my eyes.

A few days ago I asked him what he does when he comes across words he can’t pronounce.  He said he just sounds them out.  “What if you don’t know what the word means?”  I asked.  He just guesses.  Then he remembered a certain problematic word that was confusing him.  He began flipping through the pages and while doing so I saw the word “scholar.”  I asked if that was the tricky word and he said, “No, that’s just scholar.“  Then he found it.  He was having trouble with the word cows, and for some reason it kept showing up in this book about China.  I asked him why he knew the word scholar but not the word cows.  He shrugged.  “Principal Camille always calls us Scholars,” he explained.

I need to get this kid to a farm.