Crossword queen

A few weeks ago, Maggie saw me working a crossword puzzle and wanted to help. It wasn't easy, but whenever there was a short word or an easy answer, I'd let her help me by figuring out the answer and then writing it in the appropriate boxes. So when I found this workbook of kids' crosswords, I had to get it for her! Unlike adult crossword puzzles, which force you to draw upon information you already know, Maggie's new book features a short story followed by the puzzle -- the crossword clues are merely questions about the accompanying story. (Which means the book also helps with reading comprehension.)

I bought the book for her on Saturday, and today she asked to work her first puzzle, so we read the four-paragraph story about Olympian Wilma Rudolph and then answered the questions. Maggie got about half of them right when we went through the questions the first time (I helped her with most of the spellings), then we read the story again so she could listen for the answers she still needed. The only question she had real trouble with was 5 across ... she kept wanting the answer to be "run," even after I read the sentence, "Her family worked with her to exercise and strengthen her leg," over and over with particular emphasis on strengthen. Still, I think it's a pretty good effort for her first try! Take a look:





We still need to work a bit on penmanship; when she writes quickly, she writes her N's backwards, and her K's are hard to decipher. If you're interested, try clicking on the above image for a larger view of her work. (Oh, and check out how she spelled 'walk' on 7 across ... she's very into spelling phonetically and refuses to be taught otherwise.)