A, B, C, D; E ... (Aug 26, 2009) 

Before we came to Korea, Bentley already knew all the letter of the alphabet.  He turned 3 the first Fall here, so that would mean he learned them before that time.  And I mean he KNEW them.  One of his bath toys were foam letters (capitals) which he played with in the tub.  Since a bath meant someone was with him the whole time, there were a lot of interactions about what the letter was:  "Bentley, can you find the letter C?"  and he could recognize them by name as well as identify the name when given a representation of the letter (like a foam C).  In fact Dad (Jay) was annoyed one time close to Bentley's third birthday when someone suggested he should learn the A-B-C song.  The A-B-C song, to my mind, is a memory crutch ... er - device! - and Bentley already knew the letters my sight and name!

Well, he did learn the song soon.  And this led to a problem... When Bentley was taught the song you learn the letters only as a sequence of sounds and only the singer knows what he knows!  So now, almost 5, in pre-Kindergarten, Bentley thought some of the alphabet after the letter J went, "H, I, J, Kell, M, N, O ..."  K and L sounded like a single letter:  "kell."  He is now unlearning "kell" and learning, again, "K; L."

 copyright, 2012 Jay Reimer