Vn012

Miriam Collecting Data

5/23/77


While the children were awaiting the school bus this morning, I noticed the little blue notebook in which Miriam was to record her kindergarten activities. I took it out and offered it to her. She said she didn’t want it when I reminded her what it was for and then confided, “I can’t spell all the words of the things I do, but I’ll remember them.”

In a short conference with her teacher, I inquired about Miriam’s role in the skit she mentioned in Vignette 3. I was informed that the skit was an impromptu performance, no adults had been working with the children’s group at the time, and that the other children selected Miriam to be the narrator and tell them what to do.

Miriam and I drove home from school (we stayed a little longer to play in the playground). While Gretchen was making lunch for us, Miriam came to sit beside me, saw the blue notebook, and asked if I would help her write down what she did. Four main events:
– housekeeping corner
– going to the Star Market (a four block walk) with Sue to buy provisions for Wednesday’s farewell party
– making peanut butter
– recess

Relevance

Although this single collection of data is insignificant, such notes for the remaining 6 weeks of school will indicate Miriam’s foci while there. Because I go to the school freely, such data will help me select what parts of her school setting are most relevant to her development and worth detailing.

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