Nathanael is now in nursery, and so two hours of every week are spent entirely away from me. I'm not even sure who all the leaders are down there. So today a sister in the ward came up to me and told me that Nathanael made her laugh today. I asked what he did and she simply said, "We were just talking together."
I love it when people love my baby!
I also love it when he learns something new. It just clicks in his brain and I see his face light up. That's the best mom moment so far. Well, it ties with giggling tickles.
Lately most of the "light-up moments" have been new signs and words that he adds to his repertoire. Our old favorites: milk, more, please, (so cute! It consists of a sign that looks a lot more like the sign for 'bath' and sounds like 'bah, bah.' He likes to do the two-sign combo "more, please.") banana, bath. The newbies: thank you, mom, dad, eat, diaper. I think that's it. It seems like more when I see him do them! :)
New signs that I've learned: turn on/off the light, dog, horse, airplane, bird, Jesus, music, no (I've held out on this one!), sleep, home, bathroom, and extra emphasis on please, thank you, mom, and dad. :)
We're having a fun time and I can honestly say that his shrill yodels of distress are significantly decreased because of his new found communication skills!
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Feast or Famine (or This is a Very Long Post)
I have a confession to make.
Although I have only updated this blog once in the last four months, I write a blog post almost every day. I write as I'm driving, I compose the perfect sentence while showering, I even imagine what I will say next while I'm standing at the sink, washing the dishes.
However, once my daydream bubble is popped and before I can make it to a keyboard, I am distracted by Real Life. This is very distressing to me, as I know that my fantastical musings are more interesting to write about than picking up the living room before the visitors arrive or rushing downstairs to do a load of laundry so that Nathanael can wear something other than his pajamas all day. However, my sense of cleanliness usually wins in the battle with my creative juices.
But! It is Naptime. That blessed gift to all mothers. And so I write.
My true topic of the day is A Really Great Idea. Or, Why I Like to Capitalize Random Words (which, in truth, are not random, but specifically chosen in order to convey more specifically my true meaning.)
So, for several reasons and because of several benevolent people, I am taking Visual Arts Studio 330R next semester!!! This class is quite possibly the best class on BYU campus, and duly coveted by all who know about it. (My husband pointed out that this does not include the vast majority of the College of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Their loss.)
The class teaches traditional methods of hand bookbinding. Basically, I get to make my own books--the real way! Not with a stapler or three-ring binder or plastic comb binding: with real stitches! (I feel like Pinocchio the way I'm going on and on about "real.") This was all very exciting to me when my primary motivation was the artistic value of such cool books, but now I have an even better reason to be thrilled (now we're getting to the aforementioned Idea).
So, a few of you may know that I'm a huge fan of Glenn Doman and his programs of early childhood development. If you don't happen to be familiar with this amazing concept, let me give an overview.
Glenn Doman has studied brain-injured children for several decades with the intention of teaching them normal skills (mobility, speech, reading, etc.). He and his team of scientists have had such great success with these injured kids that they started out-performing the healthy kids. That led them to use similar techniques to teach the healthy kids and learn about what their brains were capable of.
In short, although we all know we don't use the full potential of our brains, Mr. Doman proposes a method to do so. He explains that brain growth is almost entirely completed by 5 or 6 years of age. He teaches that the key to using more or our brains' capacity is using it sooner. So he teaches parents to teach their babies how to read, do math, learn facts about the world, learn languages and to be physically superb. He has a school in Pennsylvania where he teaches some kids and hosts seminars for parents to learn about the programs. What the kids there are able to achieve is absolutely inspiring!
I could go on and on, but this is not the point. For more information, visit The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential or email me and I'll lend you my copy of his books.
The point here is, that the reading program proposes that tiny kids can learn written language in the same time frame as spoken language if it is presented to them in a way they can perceive. That is to say, the words need to be big enough because babies' visual pathways aren't developed enough to read small print. So, for moms teaching their children to read, they prepare various materials, all with 3" tall red letters and as the child's eyes develop both from practice reading and from normal development the letters get smaller and gradually switch to black to provide greater contrast.
All of this to say, I have a plan! I have a very smart baby (just as all babies are, but what mom doesn't want to brag?) and I am very excited to be able to provide materials for him as he learns to read. Of course, he won't start with books, he'll start with individual words on cards and gradually move to couplets, three-word phrases and then sentences. We'll gradually increase his vocabulary and one magical day, he'll be ready to read a whole book. And then my bookbinding skills will be truly a great boon. I will be able to re-make books with too small of print for him so that he can read them!!!
I am overjoyed!
Okay. So it's time to post this and get on with the day, (Real Life and such), but I can't shake the feeling that my enthusiasm and energy for Nathanael is much more real than any cleaning chore. And (this is a-whole-nother post but) it's so spiritually uplifting to make these plans and carry them out.
I'll write about that one while I go wash the dishes.
Although I have only updated this blog once in the last four months, I write a blog post almost every day. I write as I'm driving, I compose the perfect sentence while showering, I even imagine what I will say next while I'm standing at the sink, washing the dishes.
However, once my daydream bubble is popped and before I can make it to a keyboard, I am distracted by Real Life. This is very distressing to me, as I know that my fantastical musings are more interesting to write about than picking up the living room before the visitors arrive or rushing downstairs to do a load of laundry so that Nathanael can wear something other than his pajamas all day. However, my sense of cleanliness usually wins in the battle with my creative juices.
But! It is Naptime. That blessed gift to all mothers. And so I write.
My true topic of the day is A Really Great Idea. Or, Why I Like to Capitalize Random Words (which, in truth, are not random, but specifically chosen in order to convey more specifically my true meaning.)
So, for several reasons and because of several benevolent people, I am taking Visual Arts Studio 330R next semester!!! This class is quite possibly the best class on BYU campus, and duly coveted by all who know about it. (My husband pointed out that this does not include the vast majority of the College of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Their loss.)
The class teaches traditional methods of hand bookbinding. Basically, I get to make my own books--the real way! Not with a stapler or three-ring binder or plastic comb binding: with real stitches! (I feel like Pinocchio the way I'm going on and on about "real.") This was all very exciting to me when my primary motivation was the artistic value of such cool books, but now I have an even better reason to be thrilled (now we're getting to the aforementioned Idea).
So, a few of you may know that I'm a huge fan of Glenn Doman and his programs of early childhood development. If you don't happen to be familiar with this amazing concept, let me give an overview.
Glenn Doman has studied brain-injured children for several decades with the intention of teaching them normal skills (mobility, speech, reading, etc.). He and his team of scientists have had such great success with these injured kids that they started out-performing the healthy kids. That led them to use similar techniques to teach the healthy kids and learn about what their brains were capable of.
In short, although we all know we don't use the full potential of our brains, Mr. Doman proposes a method to do so. He explains that brain growth is almost entirely completed by 5 or 6 years of age. He teaches that the key to using more or our brains' capacity is using it sooner. So he teaches parents to teach their babies how to read, do math, learn facts about the world, learn languages and to be physically superb. He has a school in Pennsylvania where he teaches some kids and hosts seminars for parents to learn about the programs. What the kids there are able to achieve is absolutely inspiring!
I could go on and on, but this is not the point. For more information, visit The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential or email me and I'll lend you my copy of his books.
The point here is, that the reading program proposes that tiny kids can learn written language in the same time frame as spoken language if it is presented to them in a way they can perceive. That is to say, the words need to be big enough because babies' visual pathways aren't developed enough to read small print. So, for moms teaching their children to read, they prepare various materials, all with 3" tall red letters and as the child's eyes develop both from practice reading and from normal development the letters get smaller and gradually switch to black to provide greater contrast.
All of this to say, I have a plan! I have a very smart baby (just as all babies are, but what mom doesn't want to brag?) and I am very excited to be able to provide materials for him as he learns to read. Of course, he won't start with books, he'll start with individual words on cards and gradually move to couplets, three-word phrases and then sentences. We'll gradually increase his vocabulary and one magical day, he'll be ready to read a whole book. And then my bookbinding skills will be truly a great boon. I will be able to re-make books with too small of print for him so that he can read them!!!
I am overjoyed!
Okay. So it's time to post this and get on with the day, (Real Life and such), but I can't shake the feeling that my enthusiasm and energy for Nathanael is much more real than any cleaning chore. And (this is a-whole-nother post but) it's so spiritually uplifting to make these plans and carry them out.
I'll write about that one while I go wash the dishes.
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