B-I-G = BIG?

Classify this one under the category of "kids say the darnedest things".  My 5 year old is learning to read in kindergarten and every week comes home with a new set of words to learn.  She did this in pre-school and learned many words last year, but the list of words is quickly growing this year.  She's done a fantastic job, but there are a few words that she struggles with initially.  At school she's taught to sound out the letters in words she doesn't know.  Last week the word 'big' came up.  'Big' isn't a tough word, but it was new to her and she didn't know it right away so she worked on sounding out each letter.

She started with 'B' which makes a 'buh' as in 'bee' or 'ball' sound.  Then came the 'I' which makes an 'eh' sound, like in the word 'it' or 'icky'.  So far so good for her.  Next comes 'G'.  'G' has two sounds depending on the word.  It can make a 'guh' sound like in 'go' or 'great'.  It can also make a 'juh' sound like in 'george' or 'giant'.  When she sounded it out in the word 'big' she chose the 'juh' sound but it came out as a 'ch' sound.  If you're following along you'll understand my shock and surprise.

Sound it out like my daughter did.  'buh', 'eh', 'ch'.  Sounding it out that way you do not get big, you get "BIT--". What was my reaction?  My reaction was to turn, facing away from my daughter, covering my mouth, trying to prevent her from seeing my laughing.  The funniest part of this wasn't that she mispronounced 'BIG', but that she looked at me after saying the word with this very innocent, questioning look that said "Is that right Daddy?"  "No, pumpkin, that's not right, but thanks for the good laugh!"  I didn't say that, but it's really what I wanted to say!

The moral of this story?  Help your kids out with their homework.  You never know what you might hear!