The other day, Lily (5) and I were doing her reading lesson. We use Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, which I love but which is also perhaps a misnomer. Some days are "easier" than others. (For a hilarious recap of what the daily lessons look like in reality, visit Smockity Frocks here. She nailed it.)

But one thing I have noticed with both Ben (now 7) and Lily is that their speech starts to clear up when they begin reading. They notice that there is an "s" at the beginning of that word or that the "t" in this word is really a "c."

I'm not sure how much this was really sinking in with Lily on Wednesday, though. She came to the word with and said, "Oh, that's kind of like the word withard."

I would love to pretend she was talking about withered, but I know better. "No," I corrected, "that word is wiZZZZZZZZard. This word is with, you know, like 'Would you like to play outside WITH Benjamin?'."

She paused a bit with a suspicious look on her face before she countered, "That doesn't sound anything like the word WIFF!"

And you know? She's right.

Sort of.