How old?

Nidhi's previous key worker was very impressed when, early in September, after Nidhi started pre-school, one day she counted upto 30 unaided. Further, when the key worker (Dana) said that that was how old she was, Nidhi told her that her mummy was 32 years old and that her daddy was 33. I din't find this remarkable until this week.

This week is school half term and Nidhi has been very socially active. She's been having playdates with friends from pre-school every day. The pre-school mom who came on Monday was clearly impressed when Nidhi counted upto 100, to take turns for playing with the same toy. Her son wouldn't count upto 20 without making mistakes.

Then yesterday another girl from pre-school was playing with Nidhi and they were talking about their ages. The girl asked how old I was and Nidhi said I was 33years old and so was her father. Then Nidhi asked the girl how old her dad was. The girl said 15. Nidhi turned around and gave me a funny look. Today she said, "Her dad cannot be 15 because then he will be a child."

Given any two random numbers between 1 and 100, Nidhi can correctly say which is the bigger of the two.

Literacy and numeracy appear to be her strengths. When Nidhi started pre-school I was pretty certain she would be the brightest child in her class. I have been in to preschool to help several times in the last term and a half. As a result, I have had the opportunity to observe all the children. I have to say, I no longer consider Nidhi the brightest child in the class. They are all unique and all have their talents. Some are great at making friends, others are great at looking after each other, some have very good communication, some are very confident and assertive, some are just very funny the way they are, and the things they say.

They are at this lovely age when it's wonderful to watch them learn and develop. It would be silly really to try to compare or pit them against each other.