[Please humor me and tell me you know what childhood television show that quote above comes from…TIP: It’s not Sesame Street]
I don’t post a whole lot of video here, and when I do I try to make it short and sweet. Most of the videos to date have involved Nathan+music or have shown Sarah Kate’s progress with running, walking, or softball. Last night, though, I decided to video Sarah Kate playing an alphabet matching game with Nathan.
Just to recap: Nathan will be three years, nine months tomorrow. He’s been able to recognize all 26 letters of the alphabet since September … of 2012 (when he was two years, six months). He speaks, but his speech is difficult for outsiders to understand and he’s self-consciousness about talking in front of his peers who can speak better than he can.
During his lifetime, a lot of people will look at my little guy and assume he isn’t smart. Or, if they’re being generous they might think he’s smart in some ways, but not “book smart.” I know I’m his mom and all that, but I’m here to tell you.
My boy is smart.
A few notes on the video: they’re playing a letter-matching game. She holds up a tile with the lowercase version of the letter, asks him to name it, then has him find the matching uppercase version. The video is completely unedited – no titles, no music, and no clever editing – but it is less than two minutes (I didn’t want to torture you or break the Cardinal Rule of YouTube Videos). I didn’t film the whole game, but he knows all 26 pairings.
I’m not sure if this video will be of interest to anyone other than maybe the grandparents, but I talk a lot here about what the kids can and can’t do and I thought it was time that I show rather than tell. You’ll also get a hearty visual dose of ants-in-his-pants.
Thank you for sharing. I have been reading your blog for quite awhile and just love it. I have three “normal” children but, wow, do I learn a lot from your writing.
Thanks so much, Brenda!
More videos lady! Loved this, I have four standard issue and one above-standard who is just 8 months, not a one of the older four could do that at 3…kudos Nathan 🙂
I’ll try to do better in the future. 🙂 I tend to skip most videos in the blogs I read, so I assume other people do that, too. Apparently I am wrong!
LOLOLOL. I like a healthy dose of testosterone in all alphabet-related activities myself. Go, Big Man!!!!
Yes. Alphabet pairs must be thrown at high velocity, always. Before I decided to film him, Mr. Andi and I were playing with him and he would take great pains to get the letter pairs stacked so they were lined up EXACTLY. Then he would throw them at the box. 🙂
He is the sweetest smart little boy!! And Sarah Kate is adorable, you are one lucky mama!!
Andi,
Sarah Kate is such a great big sister & Nathan had me laughing with how precious he is. I know you’re so proud of them both! Looks like Nathan is at least partially a kinesthetic learner. They make learning interesting and fun. SK & N are great kids & y’all are great parents!
Thanks for sharing that video! Merry Christmas!!!
~ashley
Things I love about this video:
1. The powerful putting away of the matched pairings
2. The calling out for the letters to come to him as he hunts them down on the table
3. SK’s face when Nathan disappears from screen.
Your kids are wonderful! I love how patient SK is with her little brother, and in addition to being a smart little boy, Nathan has so much personality! I especially enjoy how he throws the matched pairs into the box with such gusto!