Blowin' Mama's Mind
This evening, after our nightly trip to Target, I got Peeper all strapped into her carseat and broke her off a piece of the Hershey's Bliss bar that I'd picked up at the checkout aisle. (As per usual.)
When I gave it to her, we had the following conversation:
Peeper: Shwaah!
Mama: Star? (We'd just been looking at the moon, and telling it "Bye-bye, see you when we get home." That's required, in order to get her into the car after dark.)
Peeper: Shwaah!
Mama: (Another guess that I don't remember.)
Peeper: (signed) triangle (spoken) "Shwaah!"
Mama: Square?! Are you telling me the candy is a square?!
Peeper: (Nod)
- I think it was the first time she's pointed out a square spontaneously, rather than just identifying one when I've asked, "Where's the square?"
- I think it was the first time she's nodded to confirm a correct interpretation. Usually we just know we're right because she stops repeating the word, or doesn't yell at us for getting it wrong.
- She gave me a hint. She knew I wasn't understanding her pronouciation of "square" but also knows that I do understand her sign for "triangle" and she knows that squares and triangles are both shapes, so evidently, she thought that maybe if she said, "Ok, Mama. The thing I'm telling you about is kind of like a triangle," I might get it.
If we only saw that sign in answer to the "What shape is this?" question, I might think "Oh, whoops, that's just her default sign for "shape," but no, she uses it to point out triangles - and only triangles (or cones or wedges, which are close enough) - all the time. It definitely means "triangle" to her.
That is pretty stunning. Although, I'm partly just stunned she understands shapes. I've got 3 kids & I haven't even tried teaching the older 2 shapes/colours/numbers until they were about 3. I might have to start with my youngest.
ReplyDeleteWe did't really go out of our way to "teach" them, but have just always talked about them and names them, especially in reference to her "shape" toys (puzzles, blocks, shape-sorter - "Oh, you have a blue triangle. Where does it go?") and I guess she's picked them up like anything else.
ReplyDeleteShe's been able to point out various shapes and colors, when asked, for a while, and when she really started talking, all of a sudden, she was naming them.
(Well, mostly. Her first answer is often "blue," no matter what color it actually is.)
I'd count it as a pretty big deal. But then, she's a genius.
ReplyDelete(Anonymama) It is a big deal. The whole concept of shapes and that of colors is a big deal. Yes, she is a genious.
ReplyDelete