3V1188.2

3V1188.02 You can spell everything, not merely “French” (4/24/81) Peggy is apparently coming to realize that all words can be spelled (not merely “French”). The cause of this conjecture I can’t document, but she sat in my lap this afternoon and asked me to spell word after word…. words with no apparent connection, ending up …

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3V1186.1

3V1186.01 Learning by observation during Story hour (4/22/81) Today was the last in a series of story hours for Three Year Olds given weekly at the local library. The Childrens’ Librarian would take a group of children (maybe 10 to 12) into a meeting room where they might sing a little song or play a …

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3V1185.1

3V1185.01 Computer at home: TI-99 (4/21/81) I finally brought home a TI-99 from the Logo lab. The machine’s storage extension is very flakey and the tape recorder would not work well for the first week or so. Consequently it was hard to program little systems for Peggy. We began using the computer in experiments with …

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3V1184.1

3V1184.01 Blocks microworld: Moving Blocks (4/20/81) Peggy has experienced a number of insights in her developing control of the little blocks microworld. The record of her discovery of “BK” is in P169. This is a significant and meaningful operation for her when the block has a forward velocity. In the case “BK” interrupts the velocity …

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3V1181.2

3V1181.02 Anything can represent anything: Forks and Bottlecaps (4/17/81) Anything can represent anything. Sitting in the chair beside [me] at the end of supper this evening, Peggy began playing with a dinner fork and a cake fork (the smaller of the two). They became me and her, going for a ride in the car. The …

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3V1181.1

3V1181.01 Blocks microworld: “Clever little blocks” (4/17/81) Peggy was introduced to computers with P168 and P169. We talked a little today about what she was doing with the computer upstairs. She replied that she was “making the blocks walk.” I asked if she was able to make the blocks turn yet. She replied, “No, they …

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3V1171.3

3V1171.03 Counting in French: “Quatorze” (+ dog) (4/7/81) Peggy counts in French, which to her is “spelling”, i.e. reciting a list of non-sense sounds as an amplification or explication of something about a meaningful (?) work[d?]. Beginning with “/cat//twank/”, Peggy has picked up “/cat//torze/” (single word, no caesura) from Miriam’s recitations — partly offered as …

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3V1171.1

3V1171.01 Letter names versus Meanings: now even “the mommy letter” is blind coded.(4/7/81) In the last experiment, P167, Peggy made a distinction I have observed otherwheres since. When asked the name of any letter, she would reply “D”, no matter what the letter was, no matter what meaning it had for her. For example, she …

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3V1170.1

3V1170.01 Reflexive pronoun means symmetrical directed action: “The guys are killing themselves” (we would say “each other”.) (4/5/81) Peggy noted as she banged the Fischer-Price dolls against each other. That is, she uses the reflexive pronoun to describe symmetrical directed action.

3V1169.1

3V1169.01 Recognizing “By” in another context: Asterix book (4/5/81) Peggy asked me to read “Asterix in Britain.” On page 6 (bottom) there appears a balloon with “Attack by Juno” in large capitals. As I was reading near the top of the page, Peggy pointed to “BY” and said, “That says ‘BY’.” Now it appears that …

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3V1162.1

3V1162.02 Not quite right, even yet: “By” in Hop on Pop (3/29/81) Peggy offered to read ‘Hop on Pop’ to me and began with the title. Pointing to the word “HOP” (alone on the top line) she said, “Hop on Pop.” Pointing next to “ON” (alone on middle line) she continued her reading as “by” …

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3V1160.2

3V1160.02 Subject and aspect: repetition expresses continued activity (3/27/81) Peggy is very vocal and most frequently describes verbally her action. The subject of her verbal predicates is usually herself and most often is “understood.” Today she ran through the kitchen, with her BearHug, putting him through actions. She said (manipulating him the while) “Run after. …

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3V1160.1

3V1160.01 Imperfectly articulated Guessing Games (3/27/81) While we were at dinner, Peggy came running around the table, behind Robby’s chair, waving her BearHug. She said, “You’ll never guess what’s behind my back.” Non-committally, I responded, “I won’t.” Peggy said, “It will be a bear,” then hid the bear.

3V1156.1

3V1156.01 Spelling a word: “B-E-R” for bear, from “BearHug” Peggy sat on the floor by her typewriter. She looked up at me and said, ‘I spelled ‘Bear’.’ when I asked her how, Peggy pressed in sequence the letters, ‘B’, ‘E’, & ‘R’. I asked how she knew to spell Bear that way, but she did …

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3V1146.3

3V114603 Dancing: we need to document her interest and activity (3/13/81) This is an activity of Peggy’s needing extensive observation and comment. It is obviously important to her, something she enjoys, and something she does a lot..

3V1141.1

3V1141.01 French: [I can speak French – “Cat twank” ] (3/8/81) I asked Miriam how her French is coming. She replied, ‘Comment allez-vous ?’ ‘Tres bien, merci, et vous ?’ I answered. Miriam could not continue. We mentioned ‘French’ several times during the conversation. Peggy, who had been sitting there piped up, ‘I can speak …

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3V1139.1

3V1139.01 Advance in articulation: [Which hands is it now ?] (3/6/81) Peggy came running up to me and asked me ‘Which hand is it in now ?’ She continued immediately, ‘This one ?’ (Pointing to her right hand with her left). This question and gestures is a significant advance over that of 3/3/81 because she …

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3V1136.1

3V113601 Imperfectly articulated script: [Which hand ? This one ?] (3/3/81) ‘Which hand ?’ This question is one Peggy meets when she asks Robby or Miriam for something she knows they have (usually candy). Today, she came running up to my chair at the table and asked, ‘Which hand is the Rubic’s cube in ? …

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3V1135.2

3V113502 Daddy dum dum (3/2/81) Peggy frequently sings “the Fox” while we are driving down Goose Lane to Gymnastics. (Come to think of it, that is the only time she has been singing that song of late.) This time, she finished and continued vaguely da-de-da-de-de-da… until apparently accidentally she sang da-de-dum-dum… After a brief intake …

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3V1124.1

3V112401 Singing: quiet activities of self-construction (2/19)81) Peggy’s repertoire of songs is sometimes surprising. On her recent trip to Boston with Robby, I found she knew a bit of ‘The cat came back’ (A song I know not but Robby does know, perhaps from a Disney program). This afternoon, Peggy sat singing quietly to herself …

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3V1115.1

3V111501 Metalinguisticc questions: “How do you spell —– ?” (2/10/81) I was doing some work in the kitchen when Peggy came up and asked right out of the blue, ‘How do you spell cup ?’ then she went through a whole string of words one after another, and ‘How do you spell eyes ?’ ‘How …

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3V1109.2

3V1109.02 Trip to Logo: typical stories (2/14-15/81) Peggy, Robby and I went to MIT after story hour. Danny Moore came to the lab late in the afternoon and I tended Peggy while Robby played with him. What I recall of this time is that Peggy and I went to DSRE for my Spencer Foundation letter, …

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3V1105.4

3V1105.04 Generalized arguments to avoid rejection: [some little kids like candy.] (late January 1981) For some months now, Peggy has shown a semantically unusual usage. She typically uses “somebody”, “some kids”, “some people” as ways of indirectly expressing her feelings — especially in situations where she may be unsure that a request for something will …

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3V1105.2

3V1105.02 What we observe is not what she intends [Woodstock is patting his tail with the monsters.] (1/31/81) ‘Patting’ is an activity that Peggy knows a lot about. Scurry is her close friend and she pats Scurry every day. She is, in fact, merciless in expressing her affection for the dog who gets no peace …

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3V1102.1

3V1102.01 Playing with toys: using animals as manipulatable actors (1/28(81) Recently Peggy has frequently climbed on my lap after dinner, bringing a small collection of animal toys with her. Frequently the horses (Calico and Blue Mane) and Gretchen’s old rabbit and mouse are the main actors. Peggy takes one animal and gives me another, e.g., …

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3V1100.1

3V1100.01 What words mean: example: graphics mean the name of the thing (1/26/81) After concluding an experiment (P157 I believe), Peggy touched the camera now back in its case. Pointing to the words on the camera she said, ‘I know what this says.’ ‘What,’ I asked. ‘Camera,’ she replied. This is a second example (see …

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