Photographic memory?

As I walked into the house after a long day at the office yesterday, I was greeted by a hug from my 6 year old in her ballet uniform (she looked so cute!). Half my tiredness vanished right then and there.

So even before I had taken my bag off my shoulder, I was asking her what she had done at school. And a cheerful reply came back: "Music".

"And what did you do in Music class?"

"We sang a Christmas song!"

"Can you sing it for me?"

And sing she did. And it turned out to be a song with more than four verses in it! And she had it down pat. I was stunned at the speed with which she had memorized the entire song. So I asked if they had been doing the song for a few days.

"No...just today. We sang it three times."

In just three repetitions, she had memorized a really long song! And she didn't feel like it was a big deal, mainly because she has always been able to remember songs very well. As you may remember, I had mentioned a long time back and some time back as well that she is fantastic with songs (both in her choice as well as her ability to remember and understand the lyrics). But now, her memory capability just astounds me.

A few days back, we (my daughter and I) performed an experiment. I asked her to look intently for a few seconds at the cover of a new book I had bought for her. Then I asked her to close her eyes and answer questions I asked about the book cover. And you know what? She answered almost all of them perfectly. She described the shapes, the colours, the numbers, the title, everything!

So today I checked up (on the Internet, of course...where else?) about children with possible Photographic Memory and how to encourage and nurture it.

I came across something called Eidetic Memory (the medical reference for photographic memory) and possible online games to help children develop their already powerful memories.

I am going to play some of these games with her tonight. She already is freaking out with the iMac we bought a few days back and is already going to a few childrens game websites to play online games. I just need to prod her down this other lane as well.

Let's see how it goes.