Magic C

I don’t know why it took nearly the entire year to learn this:  Zach and Ezra will do anything that Magic C asks them to.  And they do it without whining or complaining or crying.  They do it without stomping their feet or rolling their eyes.  And because they do whatever Magic C asks them to without being brats, I don’t have to spend the next 5 minutes or 60 minutes disciplining them.

Magic C is the puppet (shown here) that is sold as part of the Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) curriculum that I bought last summer.  For the most part, I left him on the shelf as we cried our way through lessons, all too aware of the irony.  I only took him out a few times, when the lessons specifically called for him.

According to the HWT website, Magic C “helps children remember how to use the c stroke to begin certain letters. The capital letters C, O, G, and Q and lowercase letters a, d, g, o, and q begin with Magic C.”

What it doesn’t say is that if you use a silly voice for him, and have him high five the boys, steal their pencils, and conduct covert smooch attacks, you’re boys will love him and will follow his every command.  Magic C now whispers instructions in my ear, and I follow that up with exaggerated expressions of surprise or dismay.  “Noooo.  Magic C, are you sure?”

“What?!  What did he say?”

“He says that you can’t write one more letter until you stand up and slap your butt three times.  And after that, you have to write five lower case d’s. I can’t believe it, but that’s what he said.”

Simple, silly fun.  Occasionally Zach will try to act like he is too cool for Magic C, but next thing you know he’s slapping his butt and laughing.   Ezra whole-heartedly embraces the entire charade.

Today, Magic C played a great game called mystery letter.  “Pencils at the top, Magic C,” he would command as the boys wrote a lower case c.  Then, as a review, he would bark out one of the letters that could be made from that c.  So much fun.

At one point, after Magic C had called o three times in a row and the boys had squealed, “Again?” I scolded him, “Magic C, enough is enough.  It’s time for another letter.”

After which he promptly called out another o.  

That sure is one crazy puppet.  No wonder the boys love him.