I wish I could have more blind faith in Pookie, but now I am doubting whether or not he “knows” the things I think he “knows.”  Its all because the teacher told me that he can only count to 4, everything else he counts is just rote phrases, not a real understanding of the numbers.

Last night after dinner, Pookie and Geetle wanted to play a game.  The only one they could agree on was Alphabet Flashcards.  I had to think quick to make up a game with the Alphabet flashcards, so I just showed each of them the picture on one side and asked them what letter the word started with (the letter was on the back, but they could not see it).  I showed Pookie a picture of a zipper and he said “Zipper is for Z” which means “Z is for zipper.”  He got T is for turtle, C is for cat, N is for nest, E is for egg, B is for bunny, H is for hat, P is for piano and a bunch of other ones.  He only got a few wrong.  He said “F is for turkey” which I think was because he was remembering a song they sang at school about turkey feathers.  He also said “Flowers is for F” when shown a vase (full of flowers).

Now, I realize that in the world of preschool educational products, A is always for apple, C is always for Cat, Z is always zipper or zebra.  So, are these just more rote things or did he really know the answer? I don’t really care.  I am not trying to make my kids into super preschool geniuses.  But I am interested in making sure I understand how Pookie learns, so that I can best help him for the rest of his life.   So, I am curious and puzzled.  How did he know the answers?

I know how Geetle knew her answers.  She is doing Zoo Phonics at preschool and I saw her go thru the thought process of each flash card.  I showed her a seal.  She said “sssssseal.  Sammy Snake.  S!”  Sammy Snake is the character assigned to the phonetical sound.  Its a whole program, very interesting.  BAGD wrote about it recently.    But with Pookie, I don’t know how his brain arrives at the answer.  He bounces in his chair, looks at the wall, sings half a verse of “The Hairbrush Song” and then blurts out “X-ray is for X”.

How do you know if its rote or truly learned?