Writing

At Nora's school, she learns her letters in both print and cursive, by sound and shape. She traces a sandpaper alphabet with her fingertip, connecting motion to phoneme. Up, loop, down, swoop ... "buh. buh ..." for letter B. Over, down, up and arch ... "nuh. nuh ..." for letter N.

She's knows them all, and (so joyously!) her teacher has introduced a new lesson -- the moveable alphabet. A wide tray, filled with the shapes that make sounds that make words that make stories -- she lines them up: Kuh - ah - tuh. C-a-t. Ah - n - tuh. Ant.

At home, in her sunshiney desk corner, she's quiet and focused with a paintbrush. Her small hand works against the mildly frustrating angles, and out they stagger: N. O. R. A. Sometimes, they're left to right. Other times, right to left. It's as beautiful as watching a master calligrapher, witnessing this deliberate mastery of writing, the shaping of language into form.

*Do you see it? N-o-r-a, right to left. Here, she's purposefully connecting the letters together, tying them into a bundle that is her name.