You had me at 'horse'

Yesterday I sat down to work on reading with Jemma. We haven't really done that very much, and I feel like perhaps I've been remiss... We read a lot together. But I'm always the one doing the reading. I know there are words she recognizes, but I figured it was time for her to take a stab at reading a book for herself...

I took out an easy reader - you know, the kind with simple words and a lame plot - and asked what the first word might spell. "Red" was her answer... That surprised me. It wasn't even close. Maybe she wasn't as aware of the words on the page as I thought... "Okay" I said, "let's try sounding it out - the first letter is Z, and Z says..." "Horse!" I started sounding out the word, but was interrupted by a burst of laughter. "Handle... Yucky Feet."

I cracked up. I had caught on by 'horse' that she wasn't actually trying to read - but, really, "yucky feet"? I guess making your mom laugh is a pretty good exercise, too.

After that she read me the book. She did pretty well with it, too. But I have to say that nothing in the story was as entertaining as 'yucky feet'.