I don't know, I can't read!

I have been trying to teach Will his alphabet since the day he was born. I always point out letters and spell words for him. I read him books often. The last year or so, I've been buying those trace letters books for him . . . but I can't get him to use them. (They're sort of like the exercise tapes in the cabinet, if you don't use them they don't do any good.)

He knows how to spell his name. He can write his name. He identifies the letter in his name every time he sees them everywhere. He also loves to write MOM; he says it's my name and points out every 'm' he sees. "Look, Mom, it's your name!"

The last few months, he's started arranging his alphabet blocks and magnets into groups and then asking what word they make. Of coarse, they are usually just jumbled letters with an occasional number thrown in for fun. Some times he tells me what they say; or he meant them to say.

He's also started scribbling on paper and then showing it to me. I'm impressed of coarse, then I'll ask him what it says and he tells me. Well, usually.

This afternoon he brought me a scribble note and showed it to me. I told him it was awesome and he asked me to read it to him. I asked, "What does it say?"

His reply was classic. "I don't know, I can't read!"