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3V0091.02 Peggy’s Vocalization 4/23 serial 0091 Peggy is 3 months old today; 13 weeks tomorrow. Gretchen has been making noises at Peggy for quite a while. Her favorite seems to be a drawn-out /kI/ with a moist tongue so that a slight bubbling sound is added. Within the past 7 – 10 days Peggy has …
3V091.01 Social development: outgoing; interactions with family 4/17/78; 2;26 Later note by Gretchen on the previous fussing (reference to 2/23/78 vignette): This text is also appended to Vignette #6, V0032.01 By the time of the visit to the doctor, we had realized this was not a hunger problem. We simply resigned ourselves to putting up …
3V0085.01 Social development: outgoing; interactions with family 4/17/78; 2;26 Peggy is considerably more outgoing than a month ago.. She lets us know we should pick her up by crying, and she wants to be picked up most of the time. Over the past week, she has become distractible from wanting to be held if anyone …
3V0052.01 Motor development: rolls onto her back (CF. note #19) 3/17/78; 1;23 Peggy is showing considerable motor development now. Starting yesterday, when left alone in her crib, she has been straining very hard to lift her head and succeeding (before collapse). By lifting her head, I mean raising it straight up by contracting her neck …
3V0052.01 Peggy begins sleeping through the night 3/15/78; 1;21 Peggy is sleeping better now — and so are we. Last night is the first time she slept through (10pm to 6am) two nights in a row; that makes 3 out of 4. It still seems to me she cries a lot, but I was not …
3V0040.01 Showing off Peggy at Logo; sibling reactions 3/3/78; 1;9 Peggy is gradually being introduced at the Logo Lab. On Saturday, the 25th, she, Gretchen, Robby and I trekked over to loan Robby’s camera to Jose Valente — who needed such a one for his project at Fall River. Peggy met Jose and Greg at …
3V0032.01 One month checkup 2/23/78; 1;0 Today was Peggy’s first post-natal examination. At one month, she weighs 11 lbs, 9 oz. (having left the hospital at 8,3). The two “stork bites” on her eye lids may actually be birth marks, in which case we should assume they will remain for several years. She is 22 …
3V0030.01 Why we abandoned Meltzoff Experiment; Infant communication 2/21/78; 0;30 Gretchen and I agreed to do Meltzoff’s experiment as requested by Sheldon but later changed our minds. Upon a close reading, I decided the only valid replication of the experiment would require both videotape and the mirror in my office. The only practical way to …
3V0018.1 Bob comforts Peggy during the night 2/9/78; 0;18/ Near midnight this morning, Peggy woke Gretchen, apparently ready for a late night snack. After nursing for only a few minutes, she lost interest. Gretchen got quite frustrated at being waked to no purpose and returned Peggy, crying again, to her crib. When I could stand …
3V0017.1 Early body movements 2/8/78; 0;17 Peggy’s umbilical scab has fallen off, so it no longer matters if she rolls over on her belly. She and I were laying on the bed after Gretchen fed her. I propped her up on her right to aid in digestion, but she would not be still. Still rooting …
3V0015.1 Sheldon Wagner proposes Meltzoff Experiment 2/6/78 Sheldon Wagner called with congratulations on Peggy’s birth today. During a long conversation, he asked if we would be willing to informally try an experiment on infant imitation which seriously refutes Piagetian theory (I found the reference in a back issue of Science: imitation of Facial and Manual …
3V0001.01 Recollections of Peggy’s birth 1/23/78 After telling our landlord, as I returned from walking the dog Sunday night, that the baby was not expected for a week, I realized on coming inside that Gretchen was showing the classic signs of imminent labor. All day she suffered lower-back muscular pains, she frequently experienced shooting pains …
Vn40.1 Logo After Hours 7/4/77 During the bicentennial year Miriam was too young to enjoy the fireworks. She was frightened by the noise of amateurs’ exploding firecrackers and so sleepy by 9 o’clock that we abandoned a half- hearted attempt to watch the display from the vantage of Corey Hill in Brookline. Radio forecasts promised …
Vn39.01 Good News 7/1/77 At lunch today we told the children that Gretchen is pregnant. When the children and I finished our morning’s experiment (Logo Session 33), we joined Gretchen at home, picked up a stack of their favorite books, and all went to the doctor’s office. We all suffered a delay (the doctor was …
Vn38.01 Robby’s Place in the Project 6/28/77 Robby raised a very difficult question today — how much of the work he does at Logo will be a part of my doctoral thesis. The answer Robby required, and it is a superficial answer, that the thesis will be about Miriam’s development, was bound to disappoint him. …
Vn37.1 Explaining SHOOT 6/26/77 While visiting some friends with a summer place at Lake Winnepesaukee, the nature of our work at Logo came up in conversation. When I asked the children if they would like to explain any part of it, they agreed to explain how SHOOT works. They designated a mid-floor hot air register …
Vn036.01 Losing a Friend 6/25/77 Now that school has ended for the summer, Miriam will see much less of her schoolmates. Of her close, new-found kindergarten friends, most will be away for most of the summer. The child going farthest away, unfortunately, is Maria, Miriam’s closest friend. Maria is going to Spain, has in fact …
Vn035.01 Hatch Who? 6/24/77 The jokes and puns a child is capable of creating and under- standing are a fine developmental index of his ability to conceive of some object or idea in multiple contexts. (For examples of Miriam’s earlier, limited capability see the discussion in Pre-Readers’ Concepts of the English Word). Precursors of the …
Vn034.01 Candle Fire Crackers 6/23/77 We usually dine by candlelight. We enjoy making candles and using them, and the ill distribution of light in our dining area makes this practice a useful enjoyment. Having agreed that he will not play with fire, Robby has the responsible job of candle man: he brings the candles to …
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Vn032.01 The Word Box 6/20/77 As her term end in kindergarten approaches, Miriam brings home more of materials from school. Today came the Word Box — a small plastic case for holding 3×5 cards. As a reading-readiness activity, the children are, occasionally, asked to select some word whose spelling they would like to learn. The …
Vn031.01 Collecting Tolls 6/19/77 Robby and Miriam each receive a nominal ‘allowance’ weekly, regardless of whether they’ve been ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or done what we parents have wanted them to. They know it is computed by multiplica- tion: for each child the ‘allowance’ is 5¢/year times the child’s age. Thus Miriam recently began receiving 30¢/week. …
Vn56.1 TicTacToe 7/19/77 These games of tic-tac-toe followed immediately the arithmetic of Home Session 13. The focus of the session is on the bipolar (i. e. competitive) quality of tic-tac-toe. This focus is maintained by contrasting the game with playing SHOOT around the issue of clever tactics. (My moves are numbers; Miriam’s are letters.) Game …
Vignette 27.1 Emberley’s Faces (2) 6/17/77 A large portion of Miriam’s drawings during the past year have taken the form of presents she makes to others. She has spoken of them as presents many times. One formal element of these notes reflects that character. Each typically bears a tag of the form: “TO _______/ LOVE, …
Vn004.01 The Clever Hack (2) 5/12/77 At dinner this evening we talked over some of the incidents of the day. It had been one of novelty for Robby. His friend John (the son of a former naval officer with whom Robby shares an interest in naval battles and model building) came to Logo with Robby …
Vignette 22.1 Emberley’s Faces 6/6/77 Miriam’s wheezing was so severe this evening she couldn’t sleep. About 10:30 she came from her room to ask if she could sit up with me because it was so lonely in bed and she didn’t want to read any more. I brought from my briefcase Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book …
Vignette 26.1 The Clever Hack (3) 6/13/77 After not using the SHOOT programs for nearly a month, today (in Logo Session 24) Miriam returned to playing with that game. She started using the Clever Hack to run up her score (keying ‘H’ followed by ‘SHOOT 0’; the former locates the turtle inside the origin-centered target, …
Vignette 25.1 TicTacToe (4) 6/3/77 Miriam wanted to play a few games of tic-tac-toe before going to bed this evening. After vignette 15’s instruction in the proper ordering of three rules, 1. Look for a way to win (complete a row of three) 2. Look for a way to lose (make all forced moves) 3. …
Vgn024.02 Writing Stories(2)6/12/77 After dinner this evening, Miriam, who has been making late Mother’s Day presents for Gretchen, brought me “an early Father’s Day present.” The present, duplicated as Addendum 24 – 1, shows combined a typical drawing with another story in the WRITER model. Miriam could not spell the words, so she dictated it …
Vn024.01 Writing Stories Robby called me from Miriam’s bedroom: “Dad, come see the puppet show.” They have played with, even made, hand puppets for a while and enjoy giving shows — whose typical script has been, “Hello, my name is Owl. Goodbye.” I was in high spirits after a very successful arithmetic session with Miriam …
Vignette 23.1 Arithmetic Ripples 6/5 & 11/77 Miriam does not yet recognize the existence of negative numbers. The typical problem this causes her was shown as we rode home from buying a Sunday paper (the children go with me to buy chewing gum). Miriam was discussing making change with Robby. She knew that paying for …
Vignette 21 Miriam’s Room 6/5/77 Miriam is suffering a change about which she is unhappy but which I believe is for the best. Until last night, she and Robby shared a bedroom. Yesterday Robby moved into the third bedroom of the carriage house in which we live. Miriam has complained that it’s lonely in her …
Vn20.2 In the Gymnasium (2)6/3/77 This evening I asked Miriam whether she usually stood aside from the games in gym as she did yesterday (except for Animal Farm). She replied that she doesn’t like running around (her allergy to dust and its chronic incipient wheezing make her feelings quite understandable). But Miriam justified her alternative …
Vn020A In the Gymnasium 6/2/77 Twenty four children filing into the gym, a space about 20 by 40 with a wall-wide, wooden climbing rack at one end. During the half hour, when any children did not want to play some game or other he might climb around on that climbing rack, come sit on the …
Vn019 Rehearsal 6/2/77 Last night Miriam asked me to come to kindergarten this morning to help out with a rehearsal of ‘Goldilocks.’ (see Logo Session 17, 5/1). When Miriam began showing an interest in plays (cf. Vignette 3), I mentioned to her that those years I spent at Yale were in the Drama School, that …
Vn018.01 Housekeeping Corner (3) 6/2/77 In her race to the school bus this morning, Miriam left behind a present for her friend Maria and scripts for the play rehearsal (see Vignette 19). When I entered the kindergarten about 9 (which means the children had finished their quiet reading time and the general class …
Vn01704 Arithmetic Ripples 6/1/77 When she came home from school, Miriam asked to stay home today. I suggested we do her second adding session. Miriam then countered that we should do math at Logo and use the computer. I agreed. At the lab, while I was logging in, Miriam began playing with a pile of …
Vn01703 Arithmetic Ripples 6/1/77 Miriam was playing in the kitchen with Scurry this morning. Gretchen and I were discussing some topic, and I mentioned a division problem. Miriam piped up, “I can divide, Daddy. . . . 8 divided by 8 is 1.” I congratulated her on her prowess. For Miriam the formula she recited …
Vn017B Arithmetic Ripples5/30/77 As Robby and Miriam came in from play for a little refreshing juice, I heard from the kitchen the squabbling one expects of near-aged siblings: Miriam I can add big numbers. Rob Oh brother! Miriam I can. I can do one thousand and thirty five plus two thousand. Rob Easy. Miriam No. …
Vn017A Arithmetic Ripples 5/28/77 After the session in which I introduced Miriam to adding large numbers (see Home Session 4, 5/28), passing Miriam’s room I noticed in her open loose-leaf book a page of computation. Miriam later gave it to me and I include it as Addendum 17 – 1. Note that the written form …
Vn016 Binet Test 5/27/77 Miriam has known for over a week that our next trip into Boston would be for taking a test. I had introduced her to the idea with the explanation that nearly everyone takes such a test some time and that she was simply taking this test earlier than most other children. …
Vn015 Tic tac toe 5/24/77 Miriam emerged from her bath not at all ready for bed but looking for someone to play with her. I agreed she could stay up and that we could play together while Robby was getting ready for bed. The game was my choice. My objective was to induce Miriam’s copying …
Vn014.1 Housekeeping Corner 5/24 & 27/77 Since Miriam started recounting where she spends her time in kindergarten (see Vignette 12), it has become clear that she spends most of her time in the ‘housekeeping corner.’ When I’ve been in the kindergarten class, I’ve usually found myself playing with blocks, or making designs and elaborate towers …
Vn013 Phonemics 5/23/77 In discussions some weeks ago with a distinguished Genevan psycholinguist, the question of instructing children in phonetics came up. My earlier work on children’s conception of wordhood (‘Pre-Readers’ Concept of the English Word’) and pig-latin (not available) had convinced me that children should learn how to read before delving into phonetics. (Such …
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 …
Vn011.02 Making Beaded Bracelets 5/23/77 In our work at Logo, Miriam has recently tended to not do what I tell her. That’s too strong a statement. When I give Miriam advice, for example, that a certain distance is probably a hundred forty turtle steps, Miriam specifically commands the turtle with some similar but different operand, …
Vn011.01 Taking Hints 5/22/77 One of Miriam’s proudest achievements since her 6th birthday had been learning to successfully ride her bike without training wheels. Because it had been her custom to make a considerable fuss on the occasion of a small scrape (from tripping over the dog, for example), I was disinclined to help Miriam. …
Vn010.01 Necklaces [nil] This vignette was planned but never written. I recall vaguely that it involved using beads from one of our combinatorial experiments to make necklaces.
Vn009.01 Tic Tac Toe (2) 5/22/77 Miriam asked Robby to play with her this afternoon, offering “Sorry,” “Raggedy Ann” and “Chinese Checkers.” All were refused. Robby finally agreed to playing TIC TAC TOE. I asked the children to come sit in the reading alcove. They did so while I got out my tape recorder. Two …
Vn008.05 Ping Pong Balls 5/19/77 Miriam continued playing with the hula hoop at Logo throughout this week. Since she is willing to watch other people and listen, adults incline to show her the things they enjoy and can do. This has caused me a problem. I will elaborate. At the beginning of the project, Miriam …