by W. Diane Van Zwol

Created on: May 14, 2008

Word

From the next room, Beth heard James, her six year old son, sing at the top of his lungs, "At the first was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was God.'

Then she heard him sing some more words to the same tune. Beth knew that he must have made them up. "At the last will be the Word; the Word will be with God and the Word will be God."

Next she heard him pray. "Dear God, I hate school and I hate words! Jay says that I am bad. I write my words wrong. The kids at school all laugh at me, when I try to write. Please help me to learn how to write my words right, so that Jay does not get so mad at me, all of the time."

Beth went in the room. She gave James a piece of white chalk and a chalk board.

"Hi there, son," she said, as she put a kiss on his cheek and then gave him a hug. "Let him write just one word right, please God?" she said. "James, can you write the word God for me?"

"I can not write the word god right yet," said James. "I know that I write god wrong all of the time."

"Sure you can," said Beth. She saw his sad face and put her hand on his hand. "Write dog then."

"I can not write dog right." said James. "If I can not write words right, then I am bad, right? Jay says that I am bad."

"Wrong! You are not bad! Just write one word for me," his mom said. "Right now!" She saw the tears well up in his eyes. "Write the word dog."

"Bad dog?" said James. "All right, I will write dog. I can not write the word bad right yet. I know that I write that word wrong too."

"Try hard for me and I will help you." Beth gave him a smile. "Just write dog, not bad." She saw her son write the word god for dog. She saw what he had just done. "Some day you will write and you will write well," she told James. "You will! I know."

"I can not write right, but I can draw," James said. He saw the word that he had just put on the chalk board. He was not sure if he it was right or not.

Beth had a thought. Now she knew how to help her son learn to spell and write words the right way. "Draw a dog." She saw him draw a stick dog. "Good! That is a dog."

"Now write god," she said. She saw him write the word dog, by the stick dog.

"I can not draw god," said James. "I can write the word god, but did I write it right?"

"No," his mom said. "You wrote the word dog for god."

"I can not do it right," said James, with tears in his eyes. "I get those words wrong."

"Try to draw God," said Beth. She did not want to see her son give up. She saw James put a big heart on the chalk board. "Good. Now write God."

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