Blog entries tagged phase 0

Let's compare books!

Tue, 17 Jun 2014 03:53:00 +0100

Lady and the Tramp. Two books written in different languages (English and Romanian). It was interresting in the end. I am saying "in the end" because my daughter was hard to convince to use Lady and the Tramp in our comparison activity. She wanted other stories, but unfortunately this is the only book that she have in two languages. I have to fix this in days to come.
First of all I asked her to compare the two books by the criteria of size, color, format, consistence. Then we talked about images. What are the differences between the way the characters are drawn and the similarities. We looked at the writting (she knows the letters and she can read only some short words in Romanian) and page numbers and in the end we read the stories in both languages.
This are a few of the observations that she made. The English book is smaller, thicher (even if it has a smaller number of pages), it is narrow, yellow, it is not new, and the scene images are different. One of the scene from the book written in Romanian is missing.
The Romanian version is blue, is bigger, thiner, new and and it has more writting and more images and scenes. About the images she observed some diferences, little ones, on the cover. Both of the books are soft and she said that it has the "Disney" logo on the cover. While reading the story in Romanian, she watched carefully the images and we talked about the way they are drawn/represented. I read also the English version and i asked her several times to try to "guess" what I read analyzing images.

Nursery rhymes

Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:25:00 +0100

We had a great experience in learning English with Nursery rhymes videos. My daughter likes songs and it was a pleasure to hear her sing in English... I discovered that PASS suggests to listen Nursery rhymes in learnin English on the phase 0 cards. It is funny and entertaing and a good way for children to learn English. After listening for a while I realised that my daughter's pronunciation is better. Next time I will make her listen an English song and after that the same song but in the mother tangue. I am sure it will be interesting to hear her point of view about what sounds different or maybe similar.

English in the game

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:07:00 +0100

I proposed Teona to play a game that we never played before. We used her kitchen set and 7 toys (a bear, a doll, a cat, two dogs, a cow, a deer) and we played "Lady cook in kindergarten". We agree on this name. One of the toy, Pluto, the dog, is a mediator. He helps her in the kitchen. The deer (one of the Santa's raindeers) is a visitor from the North Pole and he can only speaks English. The deer wants to know Teona's secret recipes for children in kindergarten.

Deer: Hello Teona!

Pluto: What does it mean?

Deer: (repeting) Hello!

Teona: Hello! He is saying "salut" (Romanian word).

Pluto: Hello deer.

Pluto: What should we cook for the kids today, Teona?

(everything is already arranged)

T: Let's see...The first one is Milka, the cow.

P: What does she eats?

T: Milka eats grass. But we don't have grass. We should have taken from the park.

P: What else can we do?

T: I don't know.

P: It's a baby cow. What else does she eats?

T: Milk.

Deer: Milk. Milk.

P: What is he saying?

Deer: Milk.

T: (repeats the word) Milk.

Me: He said "milk". It means "lapte" (the word in Romanian).

T: Let's boil the milk and put it in the pink glass.

Deer: Pink

Teona looks surprised and in a way "lost".

Deer: Pink.

Teona: Pink the girl? (She means the singer Pink)

Deer: (head denies) No

Teona: No means "nu" in Romanian.

Me: Pink means "roz" (Romanian word). The color.

Teona: (repeats) Pink.

Pluto: Who's next?

Deer: Who's next?

It is difficult for Teona to repeat exactly. But she tries.

T: Beethoven, the dog. we can give him a bone. But I don't have a bone in my fridge.

P: What do you have in the fridge that can be good for a dog?

T: Meat. I will heat the food at the microwave.

P: Let's use the cooker stove. It's more healthy.

Teona gives the plate to Beethoven.

T: The next one is Garfield, the cat.

Deer: Cat. Cat.

T: it means "pisica". (Romanian word) Cat.

P: Good Teona. What does a cat eat.

T: We still have chicken in the fridge. I will prepare it right away.

...

T: Next one is Ramona, the doll.

Deer: Girl. Girl.

T: A doll. It means a doll.

Me: No, it does not mean a doll. It is the English word for "fata" (Romanian word). Repeat the word Girl.

T: Girl. Girl.

P: What can we cook for Ramona?

T: She can eat anything. We can give her a cake with strawberries or grapes.

P: No sweets before meal.

T: I will cook her a soup.

P: I will take a pen and write the recipe.

T: You take a meat and cut it like this (showing)... You boil it. After that you put some noodles (she describes how her grandma makes them), salt and cabbage.

P: Cabbage? Why not any other vegetables?

T: This is the only vegetable I have on my fridge.

P: The next one is Lino, the bear.

T: He likes honey.
Deer: Honey. Honey.

T: I don't know what he is saying.

Me: Repeat the word. Honey. (she repeats) It means "miere" (Romanian word)

T: we don't have honey in my fridge. But I will imagine that we have.

P: What can we cook with honey that the bear would like?

T: I don't know. Maybe if we mix it with some milk. I still have milk...

Deer: Enjoy your meal! Enjoy your meal!

Me: It means "pofta buna" (Romanian word)

After she washes the dishes, Teona and Pluto do the same thing with giving them some desserts and something to drink. She does not want to share her muffins recipe with Pluto. The deer says often words like "water", "tea", "milk" etc.

Teona repets them correctly.

When the game was over I asked her if there was a word that she remember and she can repeat.

T: I don't remember.

Me: Try. For example he said a lot the English word for "apa" (water).

T: I don't remember.

After a few seconds she says: Let's go!

Me: The deer did not say this expression. Do you know it from the kindergarten?

T: No. I heard it at Baby TV. (it is in English)

It surprised me when she translated it correctly to me.

T: I know also "Good bye". Again she translated correctly

We will give it another try using other strategies.

About ingredients

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 10:08:00 +0100

While my daughter was eating her favorite soup made by her grandmother, I thought it will be a good opportunity to ask her about ingredients.

Me: Teona, this is your favorite soup. I never asked you if you know what makes it so delicious. Why do you like it so much?

T: Because it is my favorite. Grandma makes it for me.

Me: What do you think grandma puts in it?

My mother usually cuts the vegetables very finely so it takes her a little time to observe them.

T: She puts a lot of noodles. They are my favorite.

Me: Do you know how grandma makes the noodles?

T: I don't know.

Me: Let's give it a try. The spaghetti for example, they are made from...?

T: Flour.

Me: Do you think grandma uses also flour?

T: Yes and salt.

Me: Ok, what else?

T: I don't know (again).

I explained her the way grandma does the noodles.

Me: What else can you see and taste in this soup?

T: Carrots, tomatoes, cherry pepper, salt

Me: This green leaf, what is it?

T: Parsley.

Me: Good. There is something else that grandma puts in a soup at the beginning, but you don't have it now in your plate, what do you think it is?

T: Salt.

Me: No. Grandma boils it to give flavor.

T: Meat. Chicken meat.

Me: Good. Why do you think this soup has this color?

T: I don't know.

The next questions asked were givin' the same answer "I don't know". I let her eat.

I guess this was not so challenging to her.

The second day, I changed the soup with one that she does not like, also made by my mother. It is a traditional soup "zer cu cartofi" (it is called in Romanian; a kind of buttermilk with potatoes). The vegetables are also cut finely. To make her eat it I challenged her. I said that if she can give me than 5 ingredients, I will try to give her another three and the one who said them correctly wins a chocolate croissant. We will also call grandma to ask about the correct ingredients.

I let her say first 5 ingredients because three of them were easily to see but the others were hard to guess... So, I wanted to encourage her even to win (and to eat the soup). Next time we will change the strategy.

Me: Let's hear the ingredients.

T: Potaoes. Salt. Tomatoes. Carrots.

Me: I don't think grandma put carrots. We will ask her.

So, you said three. I do not agree with the carrots. Anything else?

T: I can't see anything else.

Me: (I helped her) What's this green leaf?

T: Parsley.

Me: Ok! So you have four. Look at the color of the soup.

T: It looks a kind of orange.

Me: Ok. Good. What do you think gives this color?

T: Oranges (the fruit)?

Me: I don't think grandma put oranges in this soup.

T: Potatoes?

Me: Are potatoes orange? Don't guess, just think. It's something that I put sometimes also in soups.

T: Cream?

Me: Yes. It has cream and... To give this orange color...

T: I don't know.

Me: I mix sometimes cream with what? In a bowl with a fork...

T: Eggs?

Me: Yes. Cream and eggs. Anything else?

T: I said five. Your turn.

I said oil, dill and green onions.

We called grandma and she confirmed that there were no carrots in the soup. But also she said another ingredients that the soup have: lovage, celery and buttermilk.

An unfinished salad

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 08:49:00 +0100

I gave Teona the idea of making a salad on her own, to surprise her daddy. I also said that at the end she can give a name to her salad, because it would be her recipe. She took her little chair, open the fridge and selected the vegetables for the salad.

She chose: tomatoes, letucce, cucumbers, green onions and carrots (I don't usually put carrots in a salad, so it was something new). I suggested her to take also radishes, but she refused! :-) She does not like radishes.

I helped her wash and clean the vegetables. She took her little knife, the one she usually use when she helps me in the kitchen and starts to cut the carrots.

Me: So, you started to cut the carrots in this way (slices).
Why is that? Can you cut it differently?

T: I don't know. This is the way that you do it.

Me: Let's try differently.

T: Let me do it this way now.

She does the same thing with the tomatoes (diced), cucumbers (slices), green onion (also slices). She does not want to try it differently. She does the way she saw me doing it.

Regarding lettuce, she put her little knife down and started to tear lettuce by hand. Also the way I do it all the time.

Me: Why do you think I don't use a knife?

T: I don't know.

I explained to her why I tear the lettuce with my hands.

Me: What should you do next?

T: I don't know.

It was clearly that she was not in a mood for thinking or talking. Even though she was excited at the biginning.

Me: Let's look again in the fridge. What else can be mixed with the vegetables?

T: Cheese and olives.

Me: Ok. Perfect. Let's try.

Teona cuts the cheese (diced) and puts the olives in her salad.

Me: The next part?

T: (again) I don't know.

Me: What else do you have to put in your salad to be more tastier?

T: You can put some salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon, mommy. I am tired!

I said that if she wont finish her salad, it won't be her recipe and she can not give a name to this salad. She did not finished.

I was a little bit disappointed because I did not expected her to give up. I thought that making a surprise to her daddy and giving the salad a name would motivate her. But I am sure that it was no challenge for her. And the way she cut the vegetables, the way I do it, she did not want to try another way. Should I show her different ways to cut vegetables or try another time?

Dialogue about Pinocchio

Thu, 18 Jul 2013 02:02:00 +0100

Before afternoon sleep I let Teona choose a book from her library to read to her. This time I used a mediator, Peppa pig.

She chose Pinocchio.

Peppa: Why did you chose Pinocchio?

Teona: Because I like when Pinocchio becames a real boy. He is not from wood anymore. He is real!

P: What book do you think your mommy would have chosen?

T: The Beauty and the Beast.

P: Why do you think so?

T: Because it is a beautiful story about a princess.

P: I have heard about some donkeys in this story about Pinocchio...

T: Yes. It is a carriage with a lot of boys including Pinocchio and Jiminy standing on a wheel. They are taken to Neverland. (She makes a confusion about the place. it is about Neverland from Peter Pan and Pleasure Island from Pinocchio. Peppa could not correct her because she doesn't know the story. I did not know if I should interfere in the dialog. I did it later)

They are transformed into donkeys. Pinocchio will have a big tail and very big ears.

P: I don't know the story. What happend before?

T: Pinocchio met two cats Gideon and John and they brought him to Coachman, so that he could not find his way back home.

P: What happened after Pinocchio become a donkey?

T: He got away and went to save his father from the Monstro's belly.

Teona is getting bored but Peppa insists in asking her because she had never heard about this story and it will make her happy to hear it from her. She promised to ask three questions more.

P: Can you describe Pinocchio?

T: (looking at one picture from the book) It has a big nose now, because he lied. He has a hat with a feather, blue eyes like mine, a blue bow on his T-shirt, white gloves and he is made from wood. He also had an apple and a book from Geppetto when he went to school.

P: What character would you remove from the book and why?

T: The coachman. He is bad, transforms the kids into donkeys and take them to Neverland (again the confusion)

P: Who is your favorite character?

T: Blue Fairy. She has a magic wand and transforms toys into people. She is Jiminy's friend.

After a few minutes she felt asleep. No time for reading... I did it later.

While reading I asked her about the confusion... She remembered. Also I told her that I heard when she was saying to Peppa that she doen not like the Coachman. I asked her: What can the Coachman do for her to like him?

T: Love the children.

Me: What is your favorite scene from this story.

T: (I am sure that she asociated with the noun scene) The one in which Pinocchio dances on the scene with the dancers. He sings and everyone is having fun.

Me: What about the cover? Do you like the cover of this book?

T: I would put a bigger image of Blue Fairy, bigger than Pinocchio. (She likes more Blue Fairy)

Me: What about the pictures. What if it had no picture?

T: It would not be so beautiful.

Me: What's your favorite cover from the Disney collection books? (Each book has on the back the covers of the others books from collection)

T: The Aristocats. It has funny.

Me: How do you think the story continues?

T: I don't know.

I insist, she gaves me the same reply for 3 times.

Me: Do you think is a big man now?

T: I guess. I don't know. Maybe he is in Neverland with Peter Pan.

In a mood for a TV show...

Wed, 10 Jul 2013 02:57:00 +0100

She likes now the TV show named Lazy Town. I proposed her a day before to watch together a new episode while I drink my morning coffee and she drinks her milk. Like girls do! :-) And have a little talk. She was excited by the idea. I did not know when to use the questions or when to discuss with her. During the show, at the beginning, at the end... So i tried to do it in all the moments. Sometimes it disturbed her, because she could not pay attention to the show. When I felt that I am annoying her I stopped for a while. Her favorite character is Sportacus. Initially I called him Spartacus (like the Roman gladiator) for a few times. It seemed more logical to me. She corrected me until I understood. At the beginning I asked her why does she like Sportacus.

T: He is handsome, he helps a lot children in need and because he makes acrobatics.

I asked her to describe it to me. Because I don't know the character.

T: He is all blue, tall, he has glasses, mustache and a costume like a robot. He must sleep before eight o'clock in the evening because he needs energy to save and to help the children.

During the show I tryed to make her see (without naming) another features of Sportacus but she could only see the acrobatics that this character does (he runs, jumps, stays in one hand etc).

Another thing that surprised me is the fact that she invented something. She considers that Sportacus is Stephanie's father. I told her that they are only friends.

T: No. Sportacus is Stephanie's dad. He has a Airship and he rescues her all the time. Also all the children.
I asked her also which is the character she doesn't like and why.

T: I don't like Robbie. He is naughty, he takes all the toys, he is really bad.

Me: Don't you think that he might also have a good part?

T: No. He keeps people closed in his airship...

I think it would have been a good idea if I knew more about this tv show.

She also will exclude Robbie if she will have the chance.

Me: Why?

T: Because he is bad, I already told you ten times...

:-)

My next questions were answered with the same words.

She likes it when we talk but she is feeling sometimes suspicious about all this questions. Even though the questions sound natural. I told her that I care about what she thinks about different things.

We will have to still practice!

Guess again...

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 03:05:00 +0100

When my daughter asked me to play a game with her ("the show" game) it was my chance to ask her why should I play this game with her. But again, she looked at me really strange. :-) She is often used with responds like "ok", "in a few minutes", "ask dad because I have to cook" and so on...

I asked her again. Give me some reasons why I should play with you this game. The word "reason" really gave her trouble. She asked her dad "What does she mean by reason?" (I guess she wanted to ask "What's wrong with mommy?!" I encouraged her to try.

Reasons:

1. Because I like it!

2. Because it is a nice game.

3. Because it is ridiculous.

I insisted to gave me one more reason why it should be interested to me.

She said that it is funny. It makes us laugh.

But she change her mind quickly because she said she is tired! :-)

I asked her, while we were sitting on the sofa if she wants to play a new game. So, we played "what toy I am thinking about". All the toys were at their places, on the bags and so on... So it was a little difficult to think of a toy that you I not see and then to describe it. I wrote down all of the questions. It was strange doing that while we played but she didn't noticed. She was into this game!

I was the first one thinking of a toy and she asked me 5 questions:

1. It is yellow? Yes

It has something on his head? No

Does it have ear? Yes

Tail? No

She is in a hurry to guess... And she guess because she have a doll which is yellow... :-) The doll named Seli.

Her turn to think of a toy.

2. (My questions) It is an animal? Yes

It makes noise? Yes

It has more then one color? Yes

It is soft? Yes

It is an domestic animal? She said No

No chance to other questions. And I had no idea. It was Santa's reindeer

My turn to think, her turn to ask:

3. It sings? No

It has ear? Yes

Tail ? No (she repets questions with ears and tail) :-)

It speaks? Yes

It's an animal? No

It surprised me because she guessed! It was her baby doll named Agatha!

Her turn to think of a toy, my turn to ask questions:

4. It is noisy? No

It is a doll? Yes

It is a "Barbie" doll? Yes (she wanted the name of one of her "Barbie" dolls.

It was a present from Santa? No

It is blonde? Yes

I had again no idea. So wins again. She is really happy. It was the "Barbie" doll named Alesia, a present from her aunt.

My turn again to think. She asks:

5. Does it has ear? (again ears :-)) Yes

It is a domestic animal? Yes

It is a doll (she is not paying attention anymore...) No

It is fluffy? Yes

It has a part which is tough? Yes

She guess again. The pink bunny named Stefi.

She thinks of a toy, I ask:

6. It is a surprise toy from the sweets? No

It is a doll? No

It is made from bears? Yes

It is bigger than Seli (the doll)? No

It eats meat? Yes

No idea, again... It was about Garfield, the cat.

That was it! She wanted to play next "the show" game... So, we played. :-)

Our first attempt

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 13:39:00 +0100

We go to the park every day. It is very close to our home. From time to time we change the location and choose another park. Yesterday morning I decided to take her to the biggest park in our home town. I know she likes it. We had to take the bus. It was a good chance to do with my daughter thinking activities related to "being / going somewhere". I started to ask her questions (in Romanian, our language) in order to make some comparison between the two parks. I have to say that my daughter, T., is 4 years old.

Me: It's very nice in here, isn't it?

T: Yes, it is.

Me: What do you like about this park?

T. It is beautiful and it has more playgrounds than ours.

Me: Anything else? Why do you think it is beautiful?

T: Why do you ask?

She just looked at me seriously...

Me: I try to find out why do you like more this place.

T: (again seriously) Why do you ask?

...

So, I didn't say anything. I felt like I had failed somehow. I let her play.

...

On the way home, we took the bus. Suddenly I remembered another "game"- question about the surroundings (three properties given and guess). It was succesful. 20 minutes of playing on the bus plus another few hours at home... Exhausted me and my husband. But it felt good. And I am pretty sure that I gave this idea to people from the bus to play with their children. We had fun.

Playing this game, she discovered a lot of things on the bus that she hadn't seen before. At the beginning, while she thought at an object and started to describe it, she was looking at it, so it was very easy to guess. Also she used for a few times as a feature "beautiful". I explained to her that it is not a good criteria because people see things differently, not everything that it is beautiful to her is beautiful to others. I have noticed that she uses frequently aspects related to size, shape, color and it has difficulties when it comes about the material (wood, glass, plastic, iron etc) even though she knows about them. We have to still practice.

Even if I had some trouble with comparison things, I will try to do it later with her, with another topic, not parks.

Reading to the child (part 3)

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:15:00 +0100

BOOK N. 2

The second book we read is titled “Dany the fawn”: this story is about a family of rabbits consisting of Daddy Rabbit, Mummy Rabbit and two bunnies.

One day, Daddy Rabbit brings the bunnies to school; while he’s coming home, in the wood, he sees a fawn named Dany, which looks hungry and frozen.

So, he offers it a shelter in his house.

While Dany is drinking a cup of milk, Mummy Rabbit and Daddy Rabbit realize that outside is starting a blizzard, and they worry for their bunnies, because they have to come home from school.

Dany is very kind, and it runs through the snow to help the bunnies, which can finally come home.

A. likes the fawn very much, in fact she looks carefully the cover of the book, on which there is a nice picture of the animal.

This animal reminds her the fawn Bambi, the Walt Disney’s character, in fact she never says Dany, but Bambi.

Even in this case I refer to the pictures, at which she looks with interest.

QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE CONTENT:

I constantly ask her some questions, to stimulate thinking and to involve her in the story’s interpretation:

F “Daddy Rabbit, while he is coming home, sees somebody: a little fawn! Look at the picture: does it look happy or sad? Why?”

A “It’s sad, because it’s frozen and it wants its mother!”

F “Yes. And what could happen after it?”

A “He takes Bambi to his home!”

F “Yes. Now, look at this picture: what’s happening to Mummy Rabbit? She’s looking out of the window, and she looks worried! Why?”

A “Because it’s snowing, and the bunnies are at school!”

F “So, what could happen after it?”

A “Bambi va les chercher!”

F (turning the page) “You’re right! So, what do you think about the fawn?”

A “Bambi is very kind because it takes the bunnies at home!”

F “Would you like to be one of the characters? Why?”

A “I would like to be the fawn, because it’s very nice and kind.”

OTHER

F “Do you like the cover of the book?”

A “Yes, I like it very much. Why don’t we draw a picture of the fawn?”

F “Ok!”

Observations:

I’m satisfied with the activity, because I noticed that I had child’s interest and attention.

We often read together, and A. likes listening very much, especially if I imitate the characters’ voices and I add details to reading, always referring to the pictures.

A. also likes listening the same book several times.