Harriet the Spy in Training

Ms. Crazy preschooler received an address book with a black case that snaps shut from her Great Grandmother in the mail. She was thrilled. I understood why immediately. What fun! To write important things down in such a grown up book with real professional lines is tantalizing. She sticks a pencil inside and carries it around describing things in a nonlegible but meaningful three-year-old scrawl. Yesterday after supper we ventured out on a walk and she begged to take the notebook with in the two seat stroller so that she could "record newsworthy details". Ever the advocate of emergent literacy, I hastily agreed that I thought it would be great to bring along. So as we walked along, she made a list of interesting things we saw: purple wildflowers, blooming irises, kids running through sprinklers, barking dogs, toddlers riding little bicycles, two convertible cars driving on the street, a bumble bee, and a squirrel running up a tree. The walk was a success for the most part. I exercised. She recorded, and Mr. Slobber only managed to chew on a few pages of the notebook when no one was watching.