Meeting (Another) One of My Students

Right now I am working two afternoons a week, tutoring two children who are from Korea.
You are very interested in what I do and tell people I am teaching kids ENG-lish.

Today your dad brought you in to pick me up. I was coaching a child through an essay.  This child needs a lot of encouragement and assistance forming complete thoughts and writing them down.  You stood right next to me for a while before I saw you, then you climbed on my lap.  You were eager to listen to the boy read his story and marveled that HE wrote it.  I think you really encouraged him. You thought he wrote it for you!

The boy asked if you spoke English, and that made me laugh.  You and Yoon Seo have such heavy accents in English that I am not sure which one is more easy to understand!

I am glad you saw me teaching another child because this is something that I am good at. I want you to recognize this and enjoy teaching and learning, too.  I treasure our times of "pre-fooling" as you call it, and I am so excited to see just how wrinkly and big your brain can get.

Love you.

Print Recognition

In the last year, Daniel has started to call out familiar words.  I think this is a key example of him understanding print concepts about communication.  He is starting to pick out letters in each word and to know the word when its out of context, of even in a different font.

HyVee - He loves that we buy so many generic products from this store!  HyVee is one of his favorite places to visit.
Baking Soda - this is the second thing he recognized, and I didn't realize how many Arm and Hammer products we have in our home!  This logo surprised me the most because it happened so quickly from when we were baking and then doing laundry using baking soda that he could transfer between the two contexts.

Aunt Jemima - He really surprised some people in the pancake aisle when he read this logo!
Bass Pro
John Deere
Dr Pepper - which he calls DP, just like I do.

Counting

Daniel can recite the numbers to fifteen consistently, and often he can count to twenty.  I don't think its actual one to one correspondence between object and number once he is past five or six., but I could be wrong.  For instance, we were washing some potatoes on Friday and he counted them correctly twice, but other times he came up with 12 and 15, when it was really 13.  During this particular counting time, he initiated the counting as he washed potatoes and transfered them between bowls.  He called a nine a five once, and when I corrected he did it correctly the next time.

Its so neat witnessing his learning grow. We've invested a lot of time and resources into his brain and now its bearing fruit!  He is able to show us his ideas.

Early Literacy

Daniel and I read each day, and I work on many print concepts like location of title, directionality of print, and that letters make up words and words make up a story.  I notice him tracing along the text from left to write, saying his version of the ABCs.   I also notice him proclaiming, "De End!" when he completes most stories.

I have started to work on orthographics  (the representation of the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols) with him.  For instance, reading the book Dazzling Diggers we point out the D and say, D. Digger. D. Dddddd. Digger. DDDDDigger.

Today when we were reading before naptime, he selected the Little Golden Book Picture Dictionary.  We were on the T page, which is a favorite because it has a truck, tractor, train, and tiger.  We made the ttttt sound before identifying each image.  Then we moved to the R page.  Daniel said, "TTT-rabbit."  I giggled because it was unexpected.   He continued to do this as we moved to other pages, "Tttt-bed.  Ttt-cat."

I really love teaching reading to this kid!

Line Up Game

Dear Dee Dee,

One of your new games is called LINE UP!  Usually you just line up all the vehicles, but sometimes you line up blocks. too.  Lining up can mean they are neatly parked next to each other or that they are lined front to front or that they are side by side.

I unintentionally taught you this when I was trying to count how many cars you had.  You noticed me sorting them from the jumble into an orderly row and you thought it was the coolest thing ever.  So sweet to see you pick up a game from me!  Usually your Dad is more fun, Daniel.

You play LINE UP!! several times per day, and often ask your parents to participate in it. You really prefer to line up on the car rug, but other places will do, too.

I'm planning to put more educational value on this game by having you line up according to size, color, type, etc.  Watch our, little pre-pre-school brain! You are about to grow again!


Love you and like (not love, that's a stretch) playing this game with you!
Your Mama Bethany

He Knows Our Names!

Last month, Daniel picked up on the fact that his dad's name is Dan.  I was hollering for Dan to come help us with something, and Daniel copied me.

"Daaaaaaaan!" I said.
"Dannnnnnnnnnne! Daaaaaaaaaang!" he said.

Last night Dan asked Daniel what Mommy's name is.  He said, "Bes-shagee."  I love it!!!


So as a recap, our family's names according to Daniel are:
Dane/Dang
Bes-shagee
Elsie/Eshie
DD


Ee-shee (Rachie)
Nanny
Poppy
Ha-nah - (Ayhan)


Uncle Wessie/Fessie
Zekey/Popzekie
Deck-EE


HayEE


We're working on some more of the family member's names!  I can't wait to hear what he calls the rest of our family!

Looking At the World Through Rose Colored Glasses (Plastic Lids)

Daniel is so curious about colors and peeking through all kinds of objects these days.  I wasn't surprised to see him be so silly with this lid. 

More Snow Day Fun (aka Fun with Fuff)

We got nearly 10 inches of snow this third week of January.  The old snow had almost melted, so this was fresh!  Daniel played with a variety of scoops and a hollow ball, but the toys weren't as much fun as the mittens or tasting the snow was.

After this snow play, we changed clothes, read some books, and took a nap.  It was a great activity to tire him out!

September Adventures - 13 Months

 Any morning he is awake before 7:30 AM, he is allowed to watch Curious George.  I know the warnings about TV before the age of two.  However, 7 AM is kind of early and I do need some selfish time to get our mornings started.  And to justify it further, we turn the TV off when the annoying Cat and the Hat show is on at 7:30 AM.  So.  There.  But, if he weren't sleeping during Seasame Street, that would probably also be on. Or on instead. I am a sucker for  Murray and that Litlle Lamb school segment.  Oh, and I also enjoy the vintage parts of episodes that I watched 25 years ago!

 And here are photos from the ONLY time I permitted him to climb into the dishwasher to figure out how the spinner works.  He has been trying to get a closer look at this thing for months.  Now we rarely keep it open (usually its dirty while he's awake).   Maybe this will curtail his extreme interest in the dishwasher!

This month has been a self feeding adventure.  He points to what he wants.  He enjoys muffins (or cupcakes) with strawberries and blue berries, cheese, most types of bread, bean and cheese burritos, noodles, and every type of liquid.   He does NOT enjoy the chunky baby foods.

He walks EVERYWHERE.  Sometimes he grabs our hands to pull us in the direction he wants us to go.  Usually he just goes that way with or without us.

He becomes OBSESSED with certain things.  On this trip to my parents' house, he was fascinated by the water fountain.  He pointed at it, told us to look at it, and begged to go next to it.  He is also really interested in flags, pinwheels, mailboxes, and our neighbor's house.

He usually loves anything with steering wheels.  My dad was going to mow the lawn, so he drove over to us.  Daniel sat on his lap while the engine was going.  He was not thrilled.  My mom reached for him and he dove into her arms for a hug.

Bath time is the highlight of the day, aside from when Dad arrives home from work.  Daniel explores water droplets, tries

Daniel still enjoys the climbing toy; however, he rarely uses the slide.  Instead, he perches son top the base part and enjoys being 4 feet tall.

 He can open and close doors.

 He can climb into chairs.

He understands how to turn on the hose, but his wrists are not always strong to move the spicket.

 He can play his own tunes on the miniature piano.  Sometimes he can follow the pattern of a scale I play.

He also understands about picking tomatoes and would pick all of them if I allowed him to!

Yes, Daniel is really growing up and becoming an independent man full of his own desires and capabilities.