Cheating can be fun, too

C is reading the Thea Stilton books. They're chapter books, but there's a good amount of pictures, colorful fonts and visually interesting things that are great for a reader at her level and age. There's only one problem with them - there's occasional 'handwritten' passages, which are in cursive.

She doesn't know how to read cursive. So she's coming to the adults for help, which is great. It shows me she's really reading it.

She also hates to write. Really, really hates.

She got two new books tonight. She asked me for help with the cursive. So when we got home, I printed out charts of the uppercase and lowercase cursive letters - ones that had 'regular' letters printed next to it.

I took the charts, a notepad and a pencil out to her and said "It's like a code. Look for the letter on the chart, then write down the letter YOU know on the notepad. You'll be able to translate the code and read the message."

She got very excited. "OO, thanks mom!"

Me: . o O ( You're going to learn cursive and practice your handwriting. BOOYAH. )