You can take a kid to an experience, but you can't make them remember it.

[netmouse]

I don't remember being 2. or 3. But it still sometimes catches me off guard when Rosie doesn't remember something from then, either. She's just 4. It wasn't that long ago!

Brian brought up the Eclipse this morning, and I was telling her about solar and lunar eclipses, using acorns to demonstrate the orbits involved.

"You've seen a solar eclipse," I said. "Remember? We went over to Steven and Laura's, where they had the chickens? And Steven set up a telescope and projected the shape of the sun on a big board?"

Nothing.

"And before that we went to a big field where there were lots of people, and you got to look through a telescope?"

Nope.

If I show her pictures, she might remember then. But right now? A big blank. I'm sure it's in there, informing her understanding of the universe. But all we can do is keep giving her these experiences. We can't control which ones will get recalled.

Comments

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting, and sounds right. My son learned to read at a ridiculously early age (before the age of 3) and he has no memory whatsoever of learning to read. I learned to read in 1st grade and remember it quite clearly. I remember learning to swim, which was probably the summer before I turned 5 (birthday in September). I think that's the earliest I remember specifically learning something new. One of my younger brothers remembers me teaching him to read at the age of 4 or 5, right down to the specific book we used.

I also remember the "big sister" phenomenon. My 2-years-younger sister would ask me a question like, "How far away are those mountains?" and I would give her an answer like, "Those darker ones are 100 miles away. The light blue ones are 1000 miles." Both answers were completely ridiculous of course, but as they formed in my mind I was sure that they were true. And once I "knew" these things I continued to believe them for quite a long time.