My first grade son brought the-above sheet home from school last week containing lists of words. I love these lists! (And I can't help but think there is an equivalent studio exercise for me here.) He continues his immersion in the remarkable state of "learning to read and write." As I watch him gather more and more words EACH DAY, I try to recall my own state of in-between--the in-between of not-knowing and knowing what words mean. I do remember first grade some and I do remember feeling giddy about the elaborate, never ending gift of being able to read words, and then whole books!
My second son is in his own place of discovery--no less wonderful to behold. I watch him as he stares at his own hand. He gets that this hand is his hand I think. But he is still trying to unlock the mystical connection between his hand and his hand moving where he wants it to move. Every day yields a little more progress on that front.
Both remind me of the importance, and the poignance, and the hard work of existing IN the in-between of not-knowing and knowing
