The 4 y.o.: I can combine letters to make words. Like this: wuh-wuh. Ish. Ish. Wuh-ish. Wish. See? That means I can read.
The Mom: And you can spell too. Can you spell the word ‘wish’ using the right letters? What letter is “Wuh”?
The 4 y.o.: U. I mean W.
The Mom: Great. What letters make up ‘ish’? Do you remember?
The 4 y.o.: I have no idea. Why don’t you tell me?
The Mom: I-S-H. So altogether Wuh-ish is spelled W-I-S-H. Want to try another word?
The 4 y.o.: Yeah. How about “exhausted”? Like when your dad tries to wake you up too early in the morning and you’re still exhausted? Yeah. I wanna know how to spell THAT word.