Dictating Children's Writing

I was on the phone all day yesterday with our internet provider because they suddenly broke our internet and didn't know how to fix it. After 3 hours of being on the phone with them today, it is finally fixed. While I was on hold for all of eternity, I was looking through some old pictures and I thought this fun:

Now (33 years old) and Then (18 years old)

Anyway.....

While I was on the phone, and couldn't spend much time with the Snails, I asked them to draw pictures and write a story. Big Snail spent over an hour drawing this picture:

I dictated his work. Dictating a young child's work is important because he can hear me sound out each letter/word as I write it. It will help him make the letter-sound connection and will help him understand that what we write are words that we speak.

Here is his story of his picture:

The President of the "United Steaks of America" and the giraffes were walking to see the rainbows. It was raining and that is what made the rainbows. All of a sudden, a tiger with an umbrella came. He gave them an umbrella. They went inside. There were ceiling fans inside. The President had an American flag. They were happy. The End."

I love stories from little ones. So cute.