Introducing Miss Ivy

Here is miss Ivy or Ivy Bee as I like to call her for no particular reason. Ivy will turn two next week. I will post a bunch of photos of her before then (for the grandparents who are missing all of this). I've been thinking a lot about how Ivy is tackling language. She has a small vocabulary, but she is using the words she knows to her advantage. I'm curious about the different ways children go about learning to talk and how this relates to their learning style. Ivy is heavy on kinesthetic abilities ( she has a wicked over hand throw, can kick balls, and bead her own bracelets with tiny beads). I guess I shouldn't be surprised then that her vocabulary is loaded with words that help her get things done the way she wants them. Words like back, away, right here, and that, are the ones that get used over and over again all day. She is the queen of language simplification. She uses the word back in so many situations and different ways - for example - if she wants me to rub her back she will lie on the bed and say "back", but if she is holding a cup and wants a different one she will point to the cupboard and say "back" as in " put this back". "That" is used in combination with the pointed finger to ask what things are, but it is also used to get us to do something for her. She may take my hand and say "that" and point to her puzzle if she wants me to do it with her. Yesterday she came out with "help". It was said in a very calm way while trying to get on a chair, but then she used it over and over again all day. That's a powerful word. Today she came out with "right here" while we were doing a puzzle. She has such a strong drive to explore and her acquisition of language seems to be serving that drive. I don't suppose this is that interesting to anyone but me. I cant' help but watch with awe as my kids grow and learn. I can see so clearly in my kids the force of life that is in all of us and I want to respect that force. It is that force of life that urges them forward on their very unique path. It saddens me that as a society we think we need to interfere with children's individual paths of growth and put them in factory schools that force them to conform or question themselves. Schools dumb down the beautiful reality of life - but why? Just watch a child find her own way to communicate... they are as brilliant as the stars.