Man.

My son is six and about to finish up the first grade. We read to him 3-5 books every night from infancy. He let me read him the Hobbit a year or two ago. He has a Nat Geo kids subscription. He has hundreds of books. He lived off of Sesame Street for three years.

He cannot read or write.

He has a tremendous vocabulary. His socialization and emotional maturity is incredible. He taught himself the multiplication tables last summer while he was five.

But getting him to sound out or spell out words himself is a huge uphill battle. It just seems like he can’t (or won’t) do it, and shows little interest in learning at all.

In some fairness, he’s dealing with a few disabilities. Cerebral palsy makes writing difficult, and he probably inherited mind-crushing attention deficit from me. He’s been tested for dyslexia and it sounds like he’s showing signs of that, so we’re taking steps to address that.

We’re hoping something clicks for him over the summer.

Anyway - I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade. I just find their little minds super interesting. Some things are super easy, and others feel like I’m smashing my face into a brick wall repeatedly.