Sunday, January 25, 2009

Moments of Expression

I have the pleasure of having an email connection with "asa," a Souns child in Oregon. Our messages are typically one to four words, phonetically written, and fun to read. The only assistance he gets is with some of my communication. I thank him and his parents for allowing me to share our exchanges. It opens quite a window of observation for expression in the world of very young children. One series of messages includes:

me: doo yoo hav a cat? tel mee if yoo doo.
asa: yyes
me: what is yoor cats name?
asa: hi bnd my cat is oden
me: is oden a gerl cat or a boy cat?
asa: hee is a bb
bi asa
me: what culer is hee?
asa: hee is gra

Several days went by without a message from Asa...then:

asa: thrmometr
me: is it cold ther? what dus yoor thermometer say?
asa: it sas s0mbodeez sik

And I smiled! He was saying he was sick in the thrmometr message! We miss SO much!

Email from a Souns parent!

Souns Tree
I just thought you'd appreciate the picture I attached of my 19 month old daughter sitting in front of our Christmas tree. Last night she thought it would be a good idea to decorate the tree with her Souns symbols. She was proud of her accomplishment. We are a little late at ordering our second set, but I did yesterday in hopes they will be here by Christmas so Santa can deliver her next sound. Anyway, my daughter knew her first three sounds months ago and has fun playing hide the sound. We also ask her to give us the /s/ and she goes right to the /s/ and gives it to us. She can even verbalize the sounds herself without any prompting. So, thank you for making Souns. We really enjoy them.