Whenever I recite a line or a short sentence from one of the many borrowed library books, eg: “Monkey swings tree to tree, won’t you come swing with me.” Or “ Willy whale loves his waves.” Little Zo Ee will automatically look for that particular book and turn to the precise page without being told to do so. Looking at these many borrowed books, an average of 8-10 books per week, sometimes even up to 12 books in a week (if daddy and mummy have none to borrow), it is amazing that she can remember exactly which book and page to look for, and found that correct page within seconds.
Not only this, she often relates words/information between books (Zo Ee will look up and show me a particular page with the similar word used or picture representative) or with real objects in our home (pointing with her little finger). Sometimes she will point at words she can recognize from a new sentence, indicating to me that she can recognize them. Other time, she will point at new words that she wants me to read to her. Little Zo Ee will point at one after another new or less familiar word for me to read aloud to her.
Not only this, she often relates words/information between books (Zo Ee will look up and show me a particular page with the similar word used or picture representative) or with real objects in our home (pointing with her little finger). Sometimes she will point at words she can recognize from a new sentence, indicating to me that she can recognize them. Other time, she will point at new words that she wants me to read to her. Little Zo Ee will point at one after another new or less familiar word for me to read aloud to her.
Most of the time, anxious little Zo Ee will flip through all the newly borrowed books first before mummy has free time to read to her. One day, while little Zo Ee was flipping through the pages, I saw one of the pages contained the picture of an egg and the word egg itself. ( Zo Ee has learned the word egg from her flashcard) Later that day, before we started our reading session, I asked Zo Ee” Where is the egg?” Without hesitation, Zo Ee found that book and page. Wow, she has great memory, even though she has had only flipped through those new books once. Furthermore, my little Zo Ee is able to do her own reading with understanding.
At this age, Zo Ee is very active and energetic, always on the move like any other 13 months old toddler, exploring everywhere and enjoys multi-tasking as if she has so much to do yet so little time everyday. The only time that she can keep still is during reading session (either reading alone or with mummy) or watching her favorite VCD. She can sit and concentrate up to half an hour in a stretch which is a lot for a baby her age or at times until we finished going through all her books, page by page. Let’s us estimate, 12pages per book for 8 books, this is equivalent to 96pages of words and pictures. This is a lot for a 13months old!
If you think that I'm the one who is rigid in wanting to finish all the books in a go, you are wrong! It’s little Zo Ee's big appetite for knowledge that kept us going. Most of the time, she will cry for more until we have finish all the books. Some times, she wants more, pointing at word cards, indicating me to read them to her too. I don’t want to over taxing her but she’s always demanding for more. She has this strong desire to learn and read since she was 8months old. Nevertheless, "Isn’t this wonderful that she loves reading and learning?" " Isn’t this the best gift every parent can give to their child?"
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