Thanks to the inspiration of one of my favorite bloggers, Teach Mama, I have brought back our magnetic letters. They were on the refrigerator for years when Caroline was tiny and then went away in those  years when Caroline lost interest and when Katherine would merely teeth on them. I am thrilled to have been was reminded of this simple yet powerful teaching tool.

Throughout the weekend, the girls have stopped at the refrigerator to move letters, make words and read. Katherine has found all the letters in her name. Caroline has mixed up the order of letters in words and asked Katherine to rearrange them. After the girls struggled for my attention as I worked a bit, I wrote, “I love my girls” in magnetic letters and waited for them to find my note. Sometimes their attention was held by these activities for fifteen minutes. Sometimes they only paid the letters a passing glance. No matter their level of engagement, these magnets gave each girl a chance to experience literacy in action and to embrace the power that these simple letters can provide.