3V1145.01 What does spelling mean to Peggy ? [“How do you spell ‘boat’ ?”] (3/12/81) ‘How do you spell ‘boat’ ?’ Peggy asked me. I responded to her question as if she meant what any adult would mean. After a pause, smiling, Peggy said (roughly), ‘That’s what I thought…. I can do it myself.’ (She …
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 …
3V1140.01 Letter names as entities separated from signifiers of people (3/7/81) Peggy brought me the ‘F’ from her set of letters. She asked if it were the letter ‘A’. When I said ‘No,’ she next guessed the letter name ‘E’ (She knows this, of course, is the ‘father letter.’) I told her it was the …
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 …
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 ? …
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 …
3V113501 The Animal Game (3/2/81) Peggy has extended her animal game to others… Miriam specifically. I have heard Peggy asking her to play as they sat on the floor near the stove and then the perennial question, ‘What do you want to do now ?’
3V113301 A Gymnastic Show (2/28(81) Miriam went on-stage with the other tumbling kids of the Dutch Gymnastics School. The show began with ‘The Little Rascals’ — the youngest class — marching around and exercising in time (more or less) to directive songs. Peggy found that worth watching, but when they finished she said, ‘I think …
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 …
3V112201 Same vs. Different: different animals, same activities (2/17/81) Peggy sat in my lap, playing her animal game (see examples in videotape, e.g. P162). I tired of it and she volunteered, ‘I know…let’s play a different game.’ I agreed enthusiastically, so she got from her toy box two different animals, sat in my lap and …
3V112002 Squirting (skunks; rabbits squirt with their ears.) (2/15/81) Peggy has a skunk… it attacks other animals by SQUIRTING them with its tail. (Does this show the influences of Robby, Miriam ?) Squirting is NOT limited to the skunk. Most other animals also squirt from tails. An exception is the rabbit. It has a button …
3V1120.01 Peggy’s invented games: extensive notes on animal play (2/15/81) For the past week or more, Peggy and I have played together in a way that appears very important to her. that is, she is really hurt if I am unwilling to play. Last night she was unwilling to stop — without tears — only …
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 …
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, …
3V1109.01 Peer avoidance at story hour (2/4/81) The story hour began later than Crafts. I took Peggy to the first session, since we were departing from there directly to Boston. We arrived late and Peggy was unwilling to join the other children. So I sat on the floor near them while Debbie Rutter told stories, …
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 …
3V1105.03 Meta-cognitive observations: [I think my jokes are funny.] (late January) We were driving east on route 1, near Moose Hill Manor. Seeing the ponies of the Diamond M Ranch, Peggy remarked, ‘I want to ride one of those every day.’ I turned to her with shocked surprise, ‘Every day?’ Peggy smiled, ‘I think my …
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 …
3V1105.01 [I think the Rubic’s cube is Mimi’s, but I’m not sure.] (1/31/81) no text beyond title.
3V1104.02 Solla Sollew: just how long is the title ? (1/30(81) Peggy came to me and asked, ‘Will you read this book (in her hand) about Solla Sollew…(pause) on the banks of the beautiful river Wahoo… where they never have troubles…or at least very few. (Bob suggests she may think this entire spiel is the …
3V1104.01 “Gepeters” [computers]: incremental lexicon standardization (1/30/81) Peggy wants to go to Logo (whatever that means to her) and also asked if she ‘could play with the gepeters at Logo.’ Later, her use slipped into the standard form by first appearing a ‘geputers’ then as ‘computers.’
3V1103.01 Peer interactions (1/29/81) When Peggy was too late to b e enrolled in the North Guilford Nursery School, Gretchen enrolled her in two pre-school library activities. I took Peggy down to the second crafts session, and Miriam asked if she could come. Peggy had a good time at the library but with respect to …
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., …
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 …