School Time 9/25 - Measuring Round 2

School time got a yes response. When I sat down on the couch by Becca she was just staring at me expectantly, like, "are you going to ask me or what?" I wasn't planning on doing it today, but I couldn't say no to that look.

I told Becca we would work on measuring again today, and asked if that was all right. She said yes. Becca had more congestion than she has in a little while so we had to stop a number of times to take a break. She also seemed less motivated in general.

This time we just did the "think of a number in your head" guessing over and over. I would hold something in front of Becca and we'd talk about what it was. Then I said, let's all think in our heads how many blocks tall we think the object is. I told Becca to let me know when she had picked a number. On the first object, a wood square that was 2 blocks tall, Becca wouldn't say she was ready and when I asked her numbers she wouldn't pick one. I assured her we were just guessing and it didn't matter if we got it right or not. We were just trying to learn how tall things are. After that I started asking if she thought the wood was 1 block tall, 2 blocks tall -- she thought it was two blocks tall. I told her I thought it was 2 blocks tall too, and that's what Becca's sister chose as well. We measured and got to 2 blocks when we reached the top of the toy. We cheered for all of us since we all guessed the right number.

Next we did a box of crackers from yesterday. I asked Becca to let me know when she had chosen a number and after a second she looked at me. I asked Becca if it was 3 blocks tall, 4 blocks tall - she thought it was 4 blocks tall. Her sister thought it was 5 blocks tall. I said I thought it was 4 blocks tall. We measured up to 4 blocks and I pointed out that it wasn't tall enough. It was 5 blocks tall! We cheered for Becca's sister for getting it right.

Next we had 2 objects that were both about 2.5 blocks tall that Becca's sister had picked. The first one Becca's sister guessed first and said it was 2 blocks tall. I waited for Becca to tell me she'd picked a number. I asked if it was 1 block tall, 2 blocks tall -- she said it was 2 blocks tall. I chose 2 blocks tall as my guess. We measured to 2 and I pointed out that it wasn't high enough. Then we measured to 3 and it was too high. I said, oh no! It's in between 2 and 3. That's a tricky one. We were all as close as we could get so we cheered for everyone.

The same thing happened with the other object, except Becca's sister chose 3 blocks after Becca chose 2 blocks. I chose 2 blocks. We measured again and it was another tricky one, in between 2 and 3, so we cheered for everyone.

Next we measured a water bottle that was 4 blocks tall. I talked about how we had some reference points with a 5-block-tall box, a 3-block-tall cat, a 1-block-tall tomato, and that might help us. If something was the same as the box it must be 5 blocks tall, etc. I waited for Becca to tell me she had her number. She decided very quickly after looking at the bottle. I asked her if it was 1 block tall, 2 blocks tall - she chose 2 blocks tall. Becca's sister chose 4 blocks tall, and I chose 3 blocks tall. We measured up to 4 blocks tall. We cheered for Becca's sister for getting it right.

We then did 2 other objects that were 2 blocks tall, one from yesterday. At this point Becca slowed down in her selections. On the first object I think she might have picked 5 blocks tall, but I wasn't sure. I talked about the height relative to other objects again, and how that might help us know how tall it was. I went through all the numbers again and then once more very slowly. That time she picked 2 blocks tall. The second object was similar, we had to go through the numbers twice and wait on a coughing fit before she picked 2 blocks tall. I try not to over-emphasize the "right" answer with Becca, especially on something like that where it doesn't really matter, but the second time through I leaned in while asking and she engaged on that option. She didn't do that before when I leaned in on a different number, but I'm still not sure I wasn't affecting things.

Next we did a sandal. Becca indicated right away that she had picked a number. She smiled big when I asked her if it was 1 block tall and she looked right at me to confirm. I thought it was 1 block tall, but Becca's sister thought it would be 2 blocks tall. We measured and it was 1 block tall, and Becca laughed. We cheered for getting it right.

We did one other object, I can't remember what it was or the height, but Becca had a hard time picking. I had to go through the numbers three times before she would pick one. I think it was 3 blocks tall and I wasn't sure if she picked 5 when I got to it, but then we talked about 

At this point Becca had a coughing fit and we had a wait a few minutes. I asked if she wanted to do one more and she wouldn't say yes. Then I asked if she wanted to be done and she wouldn't say yes. I asked again if she wanted to one more and she eventually said yes.

We looked at a 4-block-tall glass. I acted out what we do with a glass. About five seconds after the prompt Becca said she was ready with a number. I asked through all the numbers up to five and she wouldn't look at me for any. I went through comparing to other shapes and then I went through the numbers again, this time with very long pauses. 1 block, 2 blocks, 3 blocks, 4 blocks -- she might have said 4 blocks. I asked for confirmation and she looked at me quickly and then started coughing. I should point out that there were a lot of times today when she would say "no", as opposed to not saying yes. She would look at me for a split second and then look away, and I would tell her I understood that to mean "no". If she sustained eye contact then I would interpret that as "yes". This time it was a short "yes" interrupted by a cough, but I took it since she'd already had a couple coughing fits on this object. We measured up to 4, which we all got right. We cheered and celebrated and called it done.

After that I asked Becca if she had fun and she might have said yes, I was unsure. I asked again and this time she sustained eye contact to say yes.