I posted some of this on my 365 Photo blog, but I’ve been thinking more about it and have other observations to record about Punkin’s language development.
Punkin, at 3.25 years old, has a passionate attachment to this train. He loves his Gordon and Gordon’s coal tender. Buddy has the Edward engine (in the background of this picture; number 2 tender). They are competitive and loyal to their favorites. I could not tell them apart until I realized how important the distinction was to Punkin.
The Brio trains are hand-me-downs from my oldest son. We have a huge collection of tracks. Buddy is asking for an electric train for his birthday and I am thinking of getting these “smart tracks”. I discovered you can build your own tracks online here.
Punkin gets engrossed in putting the track together and setting his train up on the dining room floor. He has an intense concentration and emerging understanding of how to lay out the track. I think he is better at it than the other two boys were at this age.
The other day we were in the kitchen and Punkin noticed the numbers on the microwave panel. “Hey! That’s my Gordon!” he exclaimed, pointing to the number “4″. I congratulated him for recognizing the number and gave him the correct name for it.
When he got chicken nuggets yesterday he saw the 4 on the box of nuggets. He said, “Hey! that’s four! I have four on my Gordon!”
He knows the first letter of his name and his brother’s names and often pulls them out of the print environment. He can “read” the names of our favorite stores and calls my attention to them on signs. I think there is a connection between the train play and the language development.
He can distinguish the difference in the blue engines because he knows the size and features of each. I have a hard time telling the difference but he can name every one in the line up.
I have to confess that when they are watching Thomas on TV or DVD I am using that time to cook or do a chore and I never sit down to watch it myself. I remember the show from the late 80s, when Buster was little and Ringo was the Conductor. I used to watch it then sometimes and I liked it. It’s not the same show now, not at all. The boys got some of the books based on the show for Christmas and I read them a couple of times. They are terrible. Very poorly written summaries of shallow tv tripe. A skeletal story line with a thin skin of moral cliche. I was surprised at how terrible they were. I watched the show the next time the boys had it on and I was completely disappointed. It’s really stupid.
When they are actually playing with the trains and putting together the wooden track they are engaging their creative minds. They are using language to negotiate and build the story. They are using mathematical, logical thinking to connect the track pieces and plan for bridges and tunnels. They are using spacial, kinetic and imaginative thinking. They are scripting conflict and resolution. They are arguing and debating, sharing and fighting, practicing turn taking and competing as they jockey for possession of their favorite pieces. It’s the best elements of play. Because there are two of them they are more independent from adult involvement than Buster ever was. He always needed/wanted me to play with him. Punkin is far more independent about initiating and becoming engrossed in it independently than Buster was at 3.
His current favorite book is More, More, More Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams. He asks me to read it every day, several times a day. Yesterday he was sitting on the step waiting for me to get ready to leave for camp and reading it to himself. He quoted the first couple pages of the “Little Guy” section, and then said,
“Mama, how that goes? How that goes?”
Buddy was sitting next to him and said, “I can read it for you!” He then read the next couple pages. Buddy is getting more independent in his reading, which is another post. He can read Hop on Pop now almost completely on his own.
At bed time I had Punkin on his bed looking at books while I got Buddy through the bath and PJ dressing. He was reading it to himself again. His new question is “How that spells?” because Buddy is always asking me how things are spelled.
Bed time is one of our hardest times of the day. The two of them tag team me and I am always frazzled and at the end of my rope. I have tried so many strategies to get them smoothly through the baths, teeth brushing, PJs, stories, potty trips, back-rubbing and singing, etc. Often one or both or all three of us end up angry, yelling and crying before everyone falls asleep. I use stories and singing and word games to try and ease us through it. It works better some days than others.
A couple weeks ago I saw little Doodle Pro things in the store and I bought two of them for the boys. I told them they were just for bedtime. While I am getting one boy settled the other one can draw with his Doodle Pro for about five minutes. They love them and it actually keeps them occupied and helps them slow down and settle into thoughtful resting. Punkin scribbles on his. Buddy writes numbers and letters. He copies words out of the Bob Books he loves to read. He saves his writing to show me when I come to rub his back.
Another area of language development that I am noticing Punkin is really exceptional at: swearing. I am not kidding, this child has a wicked potty mouth. He doesn’t hear anyone else swearing, let me just say for the record. Maybe an occational “Damn it!” or muttering under my breath. But this boy has a tallent for putting potty words into strong, effective cursing.
“You’re a little p*nis!” he says to my dad or to strangers at the Y.
“You’re a stinky diaper with p*nis in your tushy!” he says to his brother or me.
“He took my p*nis train!” he wails when Buddy is hogging all the trains.
He is using p*nis the way people use the F word. He employs it as a verb, ajective, adverb or noun. He is creative in making up new curses or throwing it into the middle of a phrase to express outrage and anger. He knows it is powerful and uses it for maximum impact. I’ve tried all sorts of discipline strategies to get him to stop saying it but so far I am completely ineffective. It’s getting to be a habit I don’t know how to train him away from.
We could be in church or watching Buddy in gymnastics at the Y. He will shout at the top of his voice across a gym full of girls and women “P*NIS P*NIS P*NIS” It’s funny yes, but it’s also embarassing.
Another thing he says is “pop a pickle!” He made it up from something he heard on a Veggie Tale movie I think. It’s just silly but he uses it to mock me when I am disciplining him. If I am being stern with him and telling him to sit on time out he will gleefully say, “OK Pop a Pickle!” with a mischievous grin to see if his brother is watching. Or he says, “No! You little nipper!” He heard that term on a Winnie the Pooh movie. It’s what Tigger calls Roo in affection. He uses it when he’s mad at me, as a way of disrespect.
I am amazed at his language skill and his poetic intelligence. But I am afraid of how much trouble it will get him into in school and I hate how he uses his language skill to be disrespectful, disobedient and rebellious. I’ve told him many times that speaking that way to adults is not allowed and will get him into more trouble. I’ve tried to teach him to say, “yes ma’am” to my reprimands. So now he says “You little nipper! I mean Yes Ma’am” when I give him a stern look. Our back and forth is refining his skill.
One more thing: once when I was trying to get him to get to sleep I told him to just lie there and think of a poem. It was at least six months or a year ago. I didn’t think he had any idea what that meant but it got him quiet for a few minutes while he considered it. He hears me talk about poetry a lot and sometimes in the car I tell them I can’t answer questions right now because I am thinking of a poem or making up a haiku for the day. I read them poetry sometimes but I have never explained what a poem is or how it’s different from a story or a conversation.
So now, when he’s been quiet for a while and I ask him what he is doing, sometimes he’ll say, “I am thinking of a poem.” Once he was really quiet in his car seat and I asked him what he was thinking about.
“I am just thinking of a poem.”
“Oh?” I said. “What poem?”
“Your poem!” he said with a big smile. I have no idea what that meant but I like the sound of it.
