The Written Word

The other night, with the lights already turned off, I espied Caehl tinkering with my cellphone in the dark. It turned out he was typing letters in my Calendar, which read “papamamaatemegpiatita”. Put space in between and there goes papa (my father), mama (my mom), ate meg (my niece), pia and tita (my sisters).   As I watch him adding “titodeng” (my brother) to it, I could see the awe in his eyes as the letters form the names. Next, he was writing his name “caehlandreeuanacunacapiz” and as he struggled with the letters, repeatedly saying his name (and listening to the sound) so he could spell it out, his forehead would furrow a bit and his face would lighten up afterwards.   There goes another fan of the written word.   After a while, I think the TV addict in him showed, as I saw what he wrote next: snnbingomyx (snn, bingo, myx), saying in between “Boy and Kris…Play on!”   That morning, we went to his school to follow up on the directress’ assessment (of him) and to enroll him next. Teacher Mely said she has consulted a daughter’s friend, an occupational therapist who thought that Caehl was probably “sight reading.”   To sight read, she explains, means to read with the aid of images, associations, letters or words one repeatedly sees or is exposed to. For example, a child may be able to “read” apple or banana because there’s a letter A or B beside it, or Jollibee or McDonald’s, because he is familiar with the logo or the sign, or “Amarillo” because of his exposure to Dora the Explorer. But she asked Caehl to join him in the room and read a Kindergarten book (which contains only words and no pictures). Later she told me Caehl was able to read it, thus she is dumping the sight reading theory. “He truly can read,” she declared.   A month ago, she was telling us of the reading process, citing the aid of sounds or use of syllabication. She was wondering how Caehl can read without going through it. Maybe it’s the lutein in Progress Gold. Maybe it’s genes. I don’t know.   She told me she will still research on Caehl’s “gift” and consult with her colleagues from Philippine Normal University on how to nourish or handle it properly. In the meantime, he’ll be accepted to the Nursery level. Personally, even though I know Caehl’s reading skills are advanced for his age (3-1/2), I still think he should start from Nursery to be able to socialize with kids his age and to learn other skills from scratch. Sure, he can draw lines or doodles but he still cannot write his name with a pencil. Moreso, he’s just tall at 3 feet and a half pero beybing-beybi pa talaga. Iba pa din yung “maturity” na nakikita ko sa mga 4 or 5 year olds. I’m worried that if he’ll get together with kids older than him, baka mahiya siya.   I remember Cae skipping Kinder A after her summer classes and going directly to Kinder B level at age 4. Looking back now, I am not sure if that was a brilliant move. Pitted against 5 and 6-year old kids, she became more like a follower, going with the flow with her older classmates. While having the edge over her peers before, she became just one of the guys. Even up to now, Cae is still a baby compared to her 16-year old classmates. Matangkad nga lang. Somehow, one can’t help but admire her even though she’s not an honor student. With her contemporaries a level below her, here she is, attacking Chemistry and Geometry and Algebra, and yes, coping.   Back to Caehl, the only challenge Teacher Mely sees is he might be bored with the three-letter words (sun, dog, cat, bed) Nursery students should be able to read at the end of the school year. But I think we’ll take things in stride. If the time comes that we’re in a better position to say that Caehl should really be put somewhere else, then we’ll decide when we get there.