Friday, March 28, 2008

What I discovered today...

So, I ordered these word magnets for Eleanor online. They arrived today, and I put them on the fridge. I quickly discovered that I could ask Eleanor to find any of the words and she could do it without hesitation. There are 140 words, I asked her plenty, and she never missed one. She was identifying words that I'm almost certain she's never seen or at least not seen regularly...dream, teacher, music, etc. I knew she could read more words than I can count. I was just surprised that she could pick out so many words that I can't even remember exposing her to.

We do "shared reading" quite a bit with library books, where I start reading the sentence then let her finish reading it. I usually jump in when we come to a word I think she won't be able to read, but she showed me today that she can read way more words than I thought she could! It was unbelievable! I'm no longer buying my own photographic memory theory. I think it's more than that...

I've been doing lots of research lately about babies' brains and such. I've read plenty of books and websites, and I still just don't know what to think. I'm not sure why I keep looking for an explanation when I know God is absolutely capable of giving her this gift just because He chose to.

This little video clip doesn't really do justice to what I saw today, but it's all I could get. She was tired of this game and wanted to go outside by the time I got the video camera out.

8 comments:

Shana-Lynn said...

Megan, have you tried getting her to read to you yet?

She's amazing! I have never seen anything like her, she certainly does have a special gift.

Megan said...

Shana,

She has some Emergent Reader books that she can read on her own. But if I try to let her read books with too many words on the page, she doesn't want to finish the page before turning it. She also has a little trouble with words like "the" and "and" because she doesn't know what they mean. I think in the next month or so, she'll be in Early Reader books with no problem. :)

Lisa said...

Megan, I'm still blown away by her talent! She is certainly gifted!!

Shana-Lynn said...

Maybe you could make another Shutterfly book with pictures and write your own story with words and pictures she knows. Just an idea. Or you could make your own book and draw some simple pictures in it or put pictures in the book of things Eleanor is familiar with.

Sorry my brain has its gears turning:-)

Megan said...

Shana,

We teachers must think alike! I had thought of making her another Shutterfly book, but I was waiting on one of those coupons for a free one that everyone seems to be getting! :) I thought about taking pictures of all of our activities throughout the day (like breakfast, bathtime, etc.), and putting one on each page with the words "Eleanor eats a banana for breakfast" or whatever goes with the picture. I'll probably end up just making one with my scrapbook supplies since the Shutterfly ones are a little pricey.

Thanks so much for your suggestions! I'll take all the advice I can get on how to keep up with my little girl. :)

GG said...

I know God has given her to you for a reason. He will tell you when it is time. In the meantime, she is one gifted little lady! Enjoy every minute with her that you can!!

Kimberly said...

It's the most amazing thing I've seen!!! Sophie can do a mean Cha Cha Slide, haha!!!

Janice said...

Wow. Just WOW!!! I don't know of anyone else that can read as young as her! And here I thought my kids were geniuses for knowing their letters, he-he! Seriously, Megan, God has given her an amazing gift!!!