"Sounds like...."

There's a game that we play in my family, that goes something like this:

"I'm thinking of a word that's not board."

"Is it a plant like a squash?"

"No, it's not gourd."

"Is it the fiddly bits around Norway?"

"No, it's not fjord."

"Is it two or more notes played simultaneously?"

"Yes, it's chord!"

(Homophones count as the same word, so "The thing you use to plug in electrical appliances" would also be a correct answer.)

Of course, to play this game you have to understand rhyming. Barb told me she once tried to play it with some kids who were just a little too young, and it didn't quite work.

I've noticed that rhyming is a common theme in kids' programs, but I didn't realize how hard it is to grasp at first. Kate has recently been experimenting with rhymes and really not getting it yet. She knows that rhyming words sound alike, but she doesn't understand how they sound alike. The other day she told me that "Helena" rhymes with "hyena." Gee, thanks.