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Hello Mommies! This is part two of my post a couple of weeks ago. If you were not able to read the first part last time, I suggest you read it here.

Ok. Let's proceed.

Ronan and I have tried our best to incorporate English words every time we talked to our little one, Chesska. Like what I mentioned in my old post, Speaking English is an important skill for a child to develop.

We mainly focus teaching English, rather than our own dialect, Visayan,  because, I know, Chesska could easily learn the "latter" when she gets older through the influence of neighbors, playmates, or even her classmates soon. Remember, we live in a bilingual-country which uses two major languages, our native-tongue and English.

However, along the road, there are factors which may interrupt her learning the language. One example is, my mom is a fan of the so-called "Teleserye", so Chesska couldn't avoid to watch it.  Another example is during "adult-talk", we couldn't avoid her listen to our conversation in Visayan. Well, I didn't say,  we all talked English at home (which sounds awkward since we were not used to ), but we only talked to our little girl in English.

The need of learning "English" as early as her age is quite important , especially that, Chesska will  start to school next year (hopefully). So she has been trained to get familiar with the things around her in English (which I elaborate below). Here's my step-by-step advice.

Disclaimer: I'm not an English-expert, nor an English teacher.  However, my prior knowledge on teaching approach and method helps me create this topic. 

1. At the age of 6 months,  I let her watch any English-based educational and interactive shows such as Barney, Dora the Explorer,  Alphabet Songs, Number Songs,  Animal Sounds, and Nursery Rhymes. 

Toddlers have lots to gain from listening to music, much more on watching educational and interactive shows. Apart from they're amusing, they also encourage toddlers to make movements by dancing with the tune, and help stimulate the process of "talking".





2. I teach to mastery,  using concrete examples and charts.

Child's learning is all about repetition, isn't it ? I say first the Alphabets and Numbers and let her follow after. I do it daily and consistently. Also, if a toddler has lots of opportunities to see pictures, chances are,  she will learn easily.








3. I often talk the routines she is doing daily such as bathe, sleep, brush, drink, comb, play, eat, watch tv, etc. 


This is Chesska's book about different actions.  I've always asked her what the characters(cat and mouse) are doing.  

During mother-child conversation, you may say:

a. Drink your milk.
b. Eat your food.
c. Let's sleep.
d. Brush your teeth.

4. A child can only speak English once she is familiar of the things around her. So I begin by:

a. Naming the foods she eats like biscuit, fruits, juice, candy, lollipop, rice, etc.

b. Naming the people, things, animals within her immediate surrounding, like mama, papa, friends, baby, dog, cat, tv, chair, table, door, window, curtain, etc.

c. Identifying the body parts  like eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Do it daily until she will remember, then have her identify body parts herself.

d. Identifying her personal belongings like shirt, short, skirt, panty, jogging pants, comb, toothbrush, etc.

e. Recognizing her toys such as bear, doll, car, xylophone, puzzle, etc.

f.  Distinguishing shapes and colors.

5. I would sometimes act out what she usually does like run, jump, smile, play, walk,  hop, close, open,  hide, seek, etc. 

It is sometimes necessary to stoop down to her level by jumping, running, walking, and playing together.
Act them out with her and say the words aloud.

6. More importantly, begin teaching good values by saying polite expressions like, "Thank you", "Sorry",  "Please", "Excuse me", "May I".

7. I teach her memorize her complete name, address, and age in a complete sentence. 

8. The time my toddler had already learned plenty of words,  I started incorporating the 5 w's (What, When, Where, Why, Who) in a sentence.   

Examples:

What letter is this? Where is your toy? But don't expect a 2-year-old child to answer your question which starts with "Why and When"?

9. I integrate "please", in making a request like:

a. Please close the door.
b. Please arrange your toys.
c. Please put back your things inside the cabinet.
d. Please help mama.

10. I teach her how to greet .

a. Good morning!
b. Good afternoon
c. Good night!
d. Hi
e. Hello

11. I am generous with praises even the small effort my toddler does. I use "Very Good", "Good", "Nice", "Looks Good" with feelings.

When my little one sees a yummy food set on the table, she would say "wow", or when her dress is pretty, she would say "Nice". She has started appreciating little things.


12. I use "Yes" for approval  and "NO"for disapproval. 


13.. I buy plenty of picture-books for her to scan. 

Mind you - your little kiddo would pretend turning the books from one page to another. Also, she will enjoy naming things seen in the picture books.



14. I also orient my toddler with the words hot, dirty, slippery/slide, etc. for her safety. 


15. I teach her how to follow directions like right, left, up and down. 


Do you find my tips useful? Please do them slowly but consistently. It is not an easy process though, and it takes time before your toddler can absorb all of these. Even I have troubles making her understand the concepts. Just be patient and do it with "LOVE"...Most importantly, you enjoy what you are doing!

Some more tips? Maybe you can add "yours" by leaving your comments below.  






















Gee, today is your Birthday!  Seems like it just happened yesterday when you were "22".  Time flies so fast indeed!

But who says you are 32? haha!


By the way, I have a revelation to make. Ronan, is a type of guy who never broadcasts his birthday to his friends. Nor he celebrates his birthday extravagantly. It's not because he is the thriftiest among the thrifty, it's because he simply likes to celebrate birthday simple and practical.

Actually,  my original plan was to make a birthday card for him. However, while at the middle of writing from a scratch of paper, lots of things suddenly popped up in my mind. If I would insist to write them all in a single card, surely, they wouldn't fit. So I finally decided to write here on my blog.

Well, happy 32nd birthday my luvs! Holy Crap, you're already 32 just like me! Seems like we want to forget our birthdays since it often reminds us that we're on our way to aging (huh!)..Don't worry, we belong to the majority.

By the way, here's my fake-birthday-cake just for you. I just grabbed it somewhere and I forgot a photo credit.(I hope the owner of this photo won't find me, otherwise...)  Anyway, being 32 just happened once in a lifetime. So claim it wholeheartedly..hehe

I believe God has given you another year, to savor life to the fullest and continue exploring life beyond 32.

I believe He has abundantly blessed you (both tangible and intangible), so you can also be a blessing to others.

I believe, you deserve to celebrate your 32nd birthday today.

Because of that, allow me to share my birthday wishes.


Wish no.1  My ultimate wish is that may our Almighty Father provide you more strength, long and prosperous life, and the best of health.




Wish no. 2.  Hopefully, you will gain more weights and fats. (haha)

Do you see a bulging muscle? Well, courtesy of Photoshop...lol



Wish no. 3 May you achieve your short-term and long-term goals in life.

Long-term Goals


Short-term Goals



Wish no. 4 As always, be the the best dad ever and faithful-husband.



Wish no.5 Stay cool and humble as what you are now.



Once again, happy happy 32nd Birthday. More cakes to eat and candles to blow.



Hello everyone! This is part two of "My tot's funny stories". If you miss reading the first part last time, here it is. I can't say it will make you laugh until your belly hurts, but one thing I am sure of, it will make you smile.

So the part two story goes this way....

Everyone was busy watching TV, except, of course,  Chesska who was busy tinkering the cabinet where her toys were kept.

It was summer time so the day was extremely hot which made our little girl to be somewhat cranky.

The electric fan did not help.

 At all!

 To settle her down.

The rotational power interruption also added to that uncomfortable and annoying day.

Chesska who felt agitated, approached me.

She tried communicating to me, but I could hardly understand (seems a mixture of different languages and didn't know where in the world she got that)

Looked so pissed,  she took my hand and pulled me over to our room.

She demanded.....

Chesska: Pointing to our door....

Me: Figuring out what she was trying to tell me. I assumed she wanted me to close the door, so I did!

Chesska:  Looked satisfied, but she again demanded and pointed to our window.

Me:  She might want me to close the window, I thought.  So here's again the poor mom, obeyed her little bug, so she closed the window.

Chesska:  For the third time around, she demanded,  "urtain". (Our curtains then were tied in the middle to allow extra light to the room.).



Me: My third guess was that,  she wanted me to untie the curtains so the room would be a little dimmer like at night when the light was off) , so I did again.

Chesska: "Ncune"

Me: What? What's ncune? (Yes you heard it right, I asked in English..)

Chesska:  Pointing straight to our aircon.  And she demanded, "ncune".

Sorry for the messy background...

So that’s how my tot's funny story ends….













"Speak English" was one of our school policies several years ago when I was still a  Math teacher of a certain school, actually a private school.  Anyone who violates the rules will pay one peso. Because of that, students tried their best not to speak vernacular, otherwise, their "baon" would easily run out.

That particular experience gave me an idea last week to do similar in our own home: "Speak English" to my little girl,  of course with exemption "No Fine Policy". (hehe).

I know it sounds awkward and baduy (uncool) for a typical Filipino Family like us to use the said language.

I guess most of you would react "why bother" in fact,  we have our own dialects where we are already comfortable of? Well, I did not say it's mandatory, what I was trying to say is to interact with your child while still young using "BASIC ENGLISH", is it difficult?

Moreover, you don't need to be like an American dude who can speak fluently in order to teach your child the "most basic and common English", right?

Unless, you grew up in a family who is speaking English well.  Unless you were raised in English-Speaking countries.  Unless  your parents sent you to a prestigious school and the medium of instruction is pure English.

Frankly,  it has always been a daily struggle since it is not the usual thing we do (with my husband). Even though we learned English concepts in school half of our life (from Kinder to College), but the fact that we did not practice the concepts to real-life conversation, then we can't say we can speak  English spontaneously!

That's why when Ronan and I  started talking English to our little girl for the first time, we both laughed when our tongues would sometimes twist, or mistakenly pronounce the words. However,  we refuse to give up for the sake of our child's welfare.  "Practice makes perfect, dba? "

The bottom line is "it's all about our child who may benefit from it in the long run".

There are two main reasons why it made us decide to do such thing:

First, English has been very important in academic success.  Learning the language is a vital skill to develop while your "kiddo" is still young. So when the time comes that Chesska is ready to school, she'll comprehend her lessons easily.

Second, it is a valuable asset for your "kiddo" to possess in order to succeed in job and or business as well in the near future.

I don't foresee yet the disadvantages of using the said language in our own home. All I know for now is that it has lots of advantages over disadvantages. Why not start speaking "Basic English" (I reiterate "basic") at home with your child right now? Do not mind other's criticism. Just focus on your child's success.

Good Day and God Bless!










Chesska's wit shown each day has continued to amaze us (including my husband). You and I both knew that toddlers including Chesska, are typically curious about anything seen, heard, and touched. But there was a special action which surprised me on a particular day that  almost no one could ever imagine.

Ask me why?


Ok, one weekend, my little girl, aged two years and five months, was too busy pressing her new dressed-chicken toy, since it made a sound when pressed. The sound was awful,  much like a slaughtered chicken - but has a bit raspy sound. (hehe)







Ok back to Chesska's story...


Chesska has already a prior knowledge on human body parts and alphabet. (In fairness to her, she can sing the alphabet with confidence.) So while Chesska was busy inspecting the chicken's body parts such as nose, eyes, etc, a moment later, she came to me and showed the inverted dressed-chicken and specifically pointed the chicken's  feet and said aloud, "Dabolyo" (in her language) or a letter in an alphabet "Double-U (W)".. haha! Well, she is absolutely correct. That is the concrete representation of letter "W" in real-life.



A round of applause for Chesska!

Have you ever had that imagination when you were her age? Ask your parents. Me?? Seriously, I have never been thought of that in my entire life.

How about you? What are your tot's funny stories? I'll be glad to hear from you by leaving your comments below.






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ABOUT ME


I've managed to juggle different roles: as a mother, wife, teacher to my children, VA, and follower of Christ. Everything falls into place with 100% satisfaction, no regrets so far.

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