Sound It Out

The kids have really been into sounding letters out and learning what letters make up a word based on it's sound.  I though this was a little beyond what they typically learn in preschool but after our "end of the year" parent/teacher conference last week, I now under stand where they are learning it from.  Apparently, in their class, there is a time during the day when the teacher takes the older kids separate and works with them on letter sounds, how to sound out words and simple spelling.  Most of the younger kids are playing on their age appropriate games/toy...except for Timo.  Mrs. Rackham started noticing Timo standing in the corner next to the older kids group, listening to everything they were learning.  Then he would go off on his own and practice some more.  Cameron doesn't want to be left out either so she has picked up on it at home while he walks around saying "M..mmmm, M is for monkey!"  He even told me there was a D, B and P in duckbill platypus!