Vertical and horizontal

This post is a personal record for me of Orla's developing schemas. I've been meaning to write it up for ages, but....yeah, you get that.... I keep having ideas about it, but then I lose them again. I hope that if I at least get this much recorded, I can come back to it sometime.

Anyway, in February I began thinking a bit more about graphic schema. I suspected that Orla was most interested in vertical lines, with a bit of horizontal action as well. One day I observed her at home while the big two were at school and Ewan was sleeping. [Comments in square brackets were made by me]. She started by drawing a horizontal line, saying "This is a shower for everyone". She continued: "This is for you and Ewie. I'm chopping it this way so it can be nice. I cutted this one for Ewie".



She noticed my interest:"You take the photo of my pieces of paper! Funny!"

























She continued: "I'm chopping them into pieces. Look Mummy here! It's a piece of paper for you". She hands it to me. "Here Mummy. It's got drawing on it". [It has too!]
















"Do a "O" Mum. Do a "O" for me. An "O" goes like this. " She draws, with circular motions.













"I'm cutting all of it" [All of it]. "Yeah, all of it". [Look at that. You're cutting all the way across] "Yup".

"Little pieces and big pieces and little pieces. I cutted a baby half. Ha! Funny."


























"It hasn't got drawing on it. This has. I'm not going to give Baby James to Playcentre. Because I'm not going to. I found Baby James. And Baby James was awake already and we said that I am awake. I am Baby James's Mummy, Mummy. You're a Grandma Mummy".

Baby James is a Playcentre doll that Orla had taken a shine to (and has subsequently formally adopted).

"It's got drawing on it. It's like a present. For somebody to wrap up".

Orla continues cutting and making lines, saying things like:

"You need to hold the scissors with finger and thumb, finger and thumb".

"It's a rope".

"I need more Mummy!"

"O is for Orla! I'm doing a O is for Orla!".

"A boat Mummy! I'm going to make a big boat. I'm cutting this off. But I"m not going to cut my dress".

"Here Mummy. It's a rope. I'm going to cut the lines. Now I know where I'm going I'm going in the line of a spaceship. Look Mummy it's another rope! Look, I made a triangle!".


I noticed at her next session at Playcentre that she was focused on cutting a piece of paper so that she (deliberately and repeatedly) had made a series of vertical lines.

Here's a selection of her paint art from term one this year - vertical lines predominate. (And thanks to big brother for assisting with the photos!).









































So....what does all this mean? Of course, I'm still unsure. Whether or not it is fully reflected in the episodes I've recorded here, I have noticed a strong interest in vertical (in particular) and horizontal lines. The interest in "O is for Orla" is self-explanatory - however I have noticed an increased awareness of letters since Aidan has been spelling and doing formal literacy work at the table. She will say things like "Mummy, I can spell e-i-o-x-c". She is aware that letters can be joined up to mean things, and that the joining up is called spelling - but there are as yet a few missing links in that literacy chain!

In the first story, perhaps there was an interest in separation (chopping) and enveloping (the gift reference). The O is also an enclosure.