Interpretation
3V1096.01 Time sensitivity: When vs. Before (1/22/81) Miriam and I got back from Boston around 9 pm. We emptied the car, got off our coats, and all that. I talked with Peggy a while and she told me of her activities earlier in the day. I can’t recall the specific activity, but at one point …
3V1091.01 Breaking up an idiomatic expression: [By Beatrix Potter] (1/17/81) Peggy brought “Peter Rabbit” and “The Flopsy bunnies” to my lap. As I have read them to her in the past, I have moved my finger along the title. Earlier (1/26/80) Peggy recognized “by” in two books as being “the same.” Here when I finished …
3V1089.01 Explanation by wrong causal inference. [Cold hands. Because the wood is cold.] (1/15/81) Peggy sat before the stove while I loaded some logs in. My hands were cold (perhaps I had recently been outside). The logs were from the living room, and warm. What is striking here is Peggy’s assumption that a causal inference …
3V1084.01 Counting Irregularities (1/10/81) Peggy “counts,” ie. recites the number names in a quasi-standard fashion. (omitting “seven” more often than including it.) Although she has put objects in one to one correspondence, she has not done so successfully in the standard sense. She counted on her fingers today showing no non-standard variations. First she counted …
3V1073.01 Preposition discrimination: “OUT” and “OF” (12/30/80) Peggy came to Boston with Miriam and me. Overnight, she slept on a sleeping bag, surrounded by her crib bumper — and with her own pillow and afghans for covers. Awakening as Miriam did, she stood up and said “I have to get OUT of my bed. Mimi …
3V1071.07 Confronting the illogical: “I’m not here.” (12/28/80) This evening, I retreated upstairs to write while Gretchen read a large collection of library books to Peggy. Later, Peggy called to me “Dad…Are you up there ?” I replied “No. I’m not here.” I heard Peggy go into the living room to look for me there …
3V1069.03 Her first orthographic word: “by” (very impt) (12/26/80) Especially as we read the titles of Peggy’s many books, Peggy imitates my pointing to words and saying words. After I read “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” she pointed more or less randomly: “The” (for the tale of); “Tale” (for Peter); “of” (Rabbit) “Peter” (by) (Rabbit” …
3V1069.02 Counting and one-to-one correspondence (12/26/80) Having bought her two of Beatrix Potter’s books for Christmas, I have read them over and over to Peggy. At one point in the story of Peter Rabbit, old Mrs. Rabbit goes to the bakers and buys ‘five current buns.” I decided to see how Peggy would follow or …
3V1069.01 Planning a trip: to B-A-S-T-G-A-K (12/26/80) Peggy wants very much to go along whenever I go to Boston. She loves to travel anywhere beyond the house , and argues she should go and the older children stay home because “Some kids are too little to be left alone.” I hate to let her overhear …
3V1067.01 I wonder I’m hungry”: idioms and structure (12/24/80) In chanting recitations very like “I thought I saw a pussy cat,” Peggy has repeated the phrase above, most as noted but with a few variations, e.g., “I wonder I’m sleepy.” This utterance is noteworthy because it is one with the surface structure of a grammatical …
3V1066.01 Reading letters: new development (12/23/80) Peggy often gives evidence of not distinguishing words from letters. (See especially her play with letters in the past videotaped sessions). Consequently, it was quite surprising today to hear Peggy saying letter names as she poked around in Scurry’s food bag. My best appreciation was that she pointed at …
3V1065.01 Past two months: PUPPY DOG: an invented game/role (12/22) A quick scan of these notes shows no notice taken of something very important to Peggy: she has created a game-role for herself, the character “Puppy Dog.” This began months ago when, playing with Scurry, Peggy fastened the leash to her collar and ran about …
3V1063.02 Reciting number names: varied responses to correction (12/20/80) I drove to New Haven. Miriam and Peggy came along for the ride. On the return trip, Peggy stood behind and between the two front seats of the Saab, holding on and exclaiming amazedly at nearly everything seen. As I drove from I-91 down onto route …
3V1063.01 Hop on Pop: the right phrase; the wrong orthographic order (12/20/80) Peggy brought me this book to read and spontaneously read the title, pointing to each of three words, “Hop on Pop”… Subsequently, (again spontaneously) she read on the title page, “Hop on Pop.” This was most interesting in that she pointed to “Pop”, …
3V1043.01 Singing “offstage”: The Fox (11/30/80) I tried to get Peggy singing “The Fox went out on a chilly night” during P149 today. She refused. But this evening, alone in a chair in the living room while the rest of us were there but otherwise occupied, Peggy began reading/singing the story. She did fine at …
3V1035.01 Constructive reading: Reading pictures and her own memories (11/22/80) Peggy’s crib is an unbelievable mess. There is hardly room for her with all the animals, covers, books in it. When put to bed before she’s sleepy, she will often read silently to herself. I have heard her, in the mornings, reading aloud. It is …
3V1033.01 Holophrastic verbs: imitation of Peggy by Miriam as confirmation (11/20/80) Peggy imitates Miriam — sure enough — but the opposite is also true. Miriam has begun imitating Peggy’s single word descriptions…. single VERB descriptions. Peggy may pick up a cookie, say emphatically “eat” and pop it in her mouth. When reclaiming toys from the …
3V1029.01 Graphics as names (11/16/80) Peggy sat on the floor, a large Richard Scary book opened to the title page which was decorated with the drawing of a large moose. The words, of course, were the title of the book. Peggy read it: “That say ‘moose’.”
3V1026.01 “walrus”: Peggy’s assertion that graphic symbols name things (11/13/80) On one of the walls at the Logo lab is painted a large rhinoceros — in that blue paint which may be used as a chalk board. That drawing has many things chalked on it: one of Miriam’s “queens”, binary arithmetic, a set of matrices. …
3V1022.02 Appetite for Reading: (in text between two notes written up on 11/12) Back in May, Peggy began to request a Tintin in her crib at night. Sometimes she “read” it, but many times she just wanted to have it there before she would lie down and go to sleep. And of course, it would …
3V1015.01 Like a birdie: concrete inspiration of observation (11/2/80) Peggy came around the dining room table with a turtle bean-bag in her hand, moving it up and down, “Turtle flies like a birdy.” she said, and the turtle’s feet did flap like wings…. but when she turned it over, I saw a patch of the …
3V1013.01 One to one correspondence (10/29/80) I found Peggy with the Train book, looking at a diagram of a locomotive. She was pointing to the numbers (denoting parts that were described below) and reciting random letters of the alphabet, one to each number: “B…E…K…D…” when I approached to see what she was doing, she pointed …
3V1011.01 Jumping Jacks and Counting (10/27/80) Peggy sometimes goes to gymnastics make up classes with Miriam. She has seen the girls do jumping jacks and counting them. Whenever she feels full of energy, Peggy is as likely to break into jumping jacks as any other activity. Usually Peggy counts, but with the numbers 16 and …
3V1010.02 Singing (10/26/80) Peggy’s favorite song is “The fox went out on a chilly night.” This is her first song, (in the sense of having parts well enough known for her to begin singing). Her original version interleaved two lines, “The fox went out on a chilly night” and “town-o, town-o…(repeated a variable number of …
3V1010.01 Playing with coins: progressive discrimination (10/26/80) After P143 (where we played with many coins) Peggy found the pile of change and asked me to join her in playing with them on the floor. As we did so, Peggy separated them and said, “I’m picking the big pennies out and putting them on the floor.” …
3V1006.02 One to one correspondence: words and things (very impt)(10/22/80) Gretchen was reading to Peggy from “The Big Book of Real Trains.” At the bottom of each page is a little picture reviewing each of the cars introduced in the previous pages, each having an engine at the head. As Gretchen read and turned the …
3V1006.01 “When Mimi was my age, Christina was my age too” (10/22/80) I judge this an amazing statement for a child of Peggy’s age. Christina is a coeval of Miriam’s who rides to and from gymnastics in a car pool. Christina is of significantly slighter frame than Miriam. It is possible that Peggy imagined Christina …
3V1004.01 Role Reversal: reading to others (10/20/80) Bringing some wood inside, I nearly tripped over Scurry at the porch door. Continuing on, I came close to Peggy also, who censured me “Don’t step on me, Daddy. Don’t step on Scurry. She’s a good kid, too.” Scurry is Peggy’s most accessible playmate (and the only controllable …
3V1001.01 Letter names: beyond those important as people symbols (10/17/80) I gave Peggy the small coffee table for her use as a desk, put her puzzles there and a pile of paper from which she takes pieces to scribble on. She did so today. When first drawing, she would bring me her papers and ask …
3V0995.01 Excuses and implausible threats (10/11/80) Peggy begins now to more frequently offer excuses (as her siblings do all too often) and even makes threats. She sometimes neglects to empty her potty into the toilet after shitting. I urged her to do so today. as she sat on the floor, playing with a bare foot. …
3V0981.02 Talking about places: complexity of Peggy’s interpretive situation (9/29/80) Miriam recorded this dialogue about Peggy’s new toy Bunny: Peggy: I got my Bunny at the book store. Miriam: No. You got it at the Hole in the Wall. Peggy: Where the book shop ? Miriam: Near the Hole in the Wall. Peggy: I thought …
3V0981.01 Meta-linguistic knowledge: “I can’t read words” (9/29/80) Peggy clambered onto my bed where I lay reading — then got down to get a Tintin to read to me. She said, after propping it open and most unhappily, “I can’t read words.” I comforted her, “You have to learn how to do that sweety. It’s …
3V0978.01 BANG vs. RING: limits of word recognition (9/26/80) Peggy has been able to identify as “BANG” the word in “The Calculus Affair” when it appears in a yellow cloud of color. She did not (in P140 in 9/29/80) distinguish it from the word “CRACK” so displayed (although she may have done so earlier, (cf. …
3V0977.01 Reading words to Peggy: unintended instruction Peggy has been lately enjoying Richard Scary’s “Best Word Book Ever.” She brought it to me today and asked me to read her the words (in a general sense) “Read these words?” I read the title, etc. then began to read the labels accompanying objects on the cover. …
3V0973.02 Letters and Counting (9/21/80) Peggy played with a puzzle, a square 4x with 15 movable slabs in it, each with a number on it from 1 to 15. I asked Peggy what she played with and, when she said it was a present from Robby, asked by pointing to the numbers, “What are those …
3V0973.01 “I found another Mommy-letter” (9/21/80) So Peggy exclaimed, sitting on the piano bench as she held up a letter “C” she found. (Of course, she means it is a “G” which I once told her was the first letter of Gretchen’s name. I can’t escape the strength with which such a simple comment permitted …
3V0970.01 Singing: expression, not communication (9/18/80) Peggy has long seemed the most musically inclined of our children. Recently we find her singing to herself very frequently. The songs are unstructured but do mix changes of pitch and duration with words – – Gretchen laughed to hear her sing “Daddy is a dum-dum,” (the older children’s …
3V0965.01 BANG and RING: extending word knowledge (9/13/80) Peggy can recognize these two words as distinct. She clambered onto my bed this evening, asking me to read her a Tintin story. We came, inter alia, across several “bangs” to which Peggy remarked, “That say, ‘BANG’.” As we read on, we came to a picture of …
3V0956.01 Meaning more than she can say (9/4/80) This note documents an incident more remarkable for what Peggy failed to say that for what she did say: While I was off in Boston, Miriam had been sitting in my arm chair (one from which I shoo the children whenever I want to sit there.) It …
3V0944.01 Blue Moon: Color names: for Peggy “blue” means white, color of eye- ball (8/23/80) A month ago I put the MG on insurance and began driving down town in it. Feeling I spend too little time with Peggy, I’ve been going out of my way to do so. A favorite after supper activity has …
3V0942.02 Counting letters: social context of alphabet learning (8/21/80) So Peggy names her playing with them — and she frequently asks some one to do that with her. She apparently has in mind companionship alone and precious little else. Since the only thing she does with letters are: 1. identify individuals; 2. scatter them around; …
3V0941.01 “I taller him”: words and intonations (8/20/80) Peggy plays with the Fisher Price dolls, directing them and speaking for them. Peggy used the comparative appropriately in speaking for “Daddy” but more than that as well. She put on a very deep gruff voice — of the same sort she uses to boss about the …
3V0940.02 Left and right: convincing discrimination (8/19/80; 8/28/80) 8/28: Bob: Gretchen reports that a few days ago, Peggy came to her crying. When asked what was wrong, Peggy answered, “I hurt my left leg.” When Gretchen asked her to show Mommy the hurt place, Peggy pointed to her left leg. A short time ago, Peggy …
3V0940.01 GSB : letters as symbols for people: “This say Mommy, Scurry, Daddy” ( 8/19/80) We have a key ring about the house from the Guilford Savings Bank. Peggy brought it to me today and explained to me, “This says Mommy, Scurry, Daddy.” She has been told that this first letter begins the name Gretchen, …
3V0938.01 My-best-friend: early phrases as unstructured idioms; early variations: (8/17/80) How many words is this utterance ? How fluid or viscous are the relations of parts and the whole ? Playing down at Jacob’s Beach, Peggy used this phrase to refer to ANY child she met there of her size. (She has originally used it …
3V0935.05 Knock-knock: “timber” precedes “timber who?” When she finished supper early, Peggy gets down from her high chair but often hangs around the table. This evening she crawled under and played by herself. Miriam asked, “Knock knock.: and Gretchen and Robby together answered “Who’s there?” Miriam answered “Tim.” A small but positive voice from under …
3V0935.04 Metalinguistic knowledge: “‘belongs’, I know that word” (8/14/80) Peggy inquired at one point why something was where I had put it. I said, “Because it belongs there.” Peggy responded, “Belongs… I know that word.”
3V0935.02 Time: “Tomorrow went BOOP; Mimi did it.” (8/14/80) With my irregular schedule, days are much like one another. There is no daily grinds for me and no unusual weekend for Peggy; unusual in Daddy’s being home. Today and yesterday are not words I’ve heard her use. She does know that “tomorrow” is a time …
3V0935.01 Reading About Letters (8/14/80) In Richard Scary’s “Great Big School House,” an extended section is developed around the alphabet. Peggy was reading this section quietly to herself today when Robby’s friend Billy came for a visit. He joined Peggy on the floor for a while, asked if she knew her letters or numbers. Peggy …
3V0933.03 Nouns and adjectives: non-standard usage (8/12/80) Peggy has long resisted our attributing any character to her where of this form, “You’re a X.” (Or “Are you an X ?”) Bob: Are you a sweet Peggy ? Peggy: Yes. Bob: Are you a sweety ? Peggy: No ! I’m a Peggy ! It appears to …