BOOK MAKING (5 3/4 YRS OLD)

S is starting to like writing. Ms. Eliza says it's one of the things kids pick up later, usually after they become proficient with reading.

Her new found "like" was started by her North Dakota assignment from school. Everyone in her class was assigned a state and was asked to draw a map of it and label it. There were several suggestions for additional projects; one was write a book. Mama thought everyone was doing one since all the moms were talking about their kids' states plant, bird, and food around the play ground.

Mama and S sat on the computer looking up articles and images on North Dakota. One that caught S's attention were the flood pictures from last year. She was fascinated by it and kept asking to see more pictures. So, mama obliged. So, when getting to the home- project half of the North Dakota, mama tried to get S to write about about the state flower and other state facts but S didn't want to. "Well, what do you want to write about North Dakota? The flood," S answered.

S picked the images that she wanted and mama put together an empty book for her to put it in. She sat down and wrote the words. Mama occasionally helped her brain-storm or sound out a word, but she did it mostly on her own.

It turned out that S was the only one in her class that wrote a book. Many kids did a drawing or collage of their state animal or theme, but she was the only book writer. Her teacher asked her to read it to the class and she must have gotten much praise for it because she's very proud of it now and is more enthusiastic about writing books. Since then, she's written a book about flower and one about bugs. (Her class switched theme from the United States to plants and plant life.)

The best part is watching her become enthusiastic about something new, like reading and the monkey bars.