learning stuff is easy peasy

"That was easy peasy, Grandma," she said, closing her school reading book and stuffing it into her school bag. "Now you must write in my link book that I readed it right."

So with a quiet "read not readed" I wrote in the link book that we had read the book together and just before I signed it she couldn't resist the temptation to tell all.

"I read that book in Reception class so I knew all the words." I praised the correct use of 'read' and added to the note in the link book, saying "This book was easy peasy because GD remembered it from Reception Class.

After I had taken her to school I thought about this a little and came to the conclusion that when her teacher had given her the book GD had made a concious decision to keep quiet about having read it before, just to be able to sail through it and look good. I remember doing exactly the same thing but I was a lot older than her. This sent me on a train of thought about when reasoning power starts to develop and just how good should you be at "thinking things through" (as we say these days) when you are only five and a half?

So my lesson for today will be that I must never under-estimate the ability of a bright five year old to think through a situation and to come to a conclusion.