It's toys keeping time again and Ethan is procrastinating again. The mess on the hallway is not much, but as we have a rather small hallway, it impedes movement - a lot. I have spent about an hour getting him to keep the toys and have now retired to the kitchen to prepare meals for Jethro - another headache point which I will blog (I think) in my monthly report... er update. So Jianming took over, and I heard the following interesting conversation.
Jianming has got him to start keeping the toys by 激将法 - he would say if Ethan would not keep, then he would do all the keeping. Somehow, Ethan feels threatened by that and would always fall for it. (I do not really like Jianming's method that much, because in his darker moods, it bothers on sarcasm. But as Ethan is innocently unaware, I refrain from commenting on it much.)
JM: Keep the piano.
E: But I only have two hands, Dad. I can't carry so many things.
Somehow, Jianming must have just noticed that Ethan is keeping away other things.
JM: Oh, ok, keep your hat first.
E (still on about it, very 啰嗦 one): Two hands can't, Dad. Two hands can't.
Yes, you are right, Ethan. And nobody would fault you for that.
Friday, 20 March 2009
The 'Education' of Ethan
Writing
I suppose it's still too early to teach him to write letters. Especially since he does not show any interest in following strokes.
(In relation to this, I should also mention an incident. I was reading this book called 'Mia's Story' to him. The book has both printed and cursive fonts for the letters. Ethan pointed the cursive ones to me and asked me what's that. I said those were just another way of writing the alphabets. The next time he drew some squiggles and told me they were some letters of the alphabets. I told him there was a proper way to write them and the ones he 'wrote' weren't recognisable. He told me vehemently that that's his way of writing them and brought me 'Mia's Story' to show me the cursive writings. I was stumped and tried to point out recognisable forms of 'C' or 'O' to him but it wasn't convincing enough for him.)
In a 'successful' attempt to write 'E', after much cajoling and bargaining - if he would try, we would let him make a card as he had asked for - he finally got something that was sort of a lateral inverted E, with a few more lines than necessary. This triumph has not been repeated since. However, recently he showed me some squiggles that looked like 'w', 'm', 'n', 'p'. He said the 'p' was 'D' and I was so pleasantly surprised that I hesitated to tell him it looked more like 'p'. Of course, I still am a spoilsport at heart and could not resist telling him so in the end.
Time
a. The clock
It's tough to tell Ethan to get ready for nursery by keeping his toys, having lunch, change - he would always say, 'it's not time yet', which is true. So I bought a book (one of 4 that sold for 2 for 50p from the charity shop PDSA) that has a clock in it. And he is able to move the hour hand when I told him to, to the correct hour up to 9. And I tried to explain how he should be ready about 15 minutes before school starts as it takes some time to get to school. In vain. After awhile, he loses interest in it, as expected.
b. The calendar
Ever since the approach of Christmas last year, when the whole of Edinburgh was rife with Christmas things, he's been saying it's Christmas (all except on Christmas Day - I suppose we told him too many times 'not yet' that he did not believe us when we told him it's the day). When it snowed in February, he was talking about Christmas again. So I tried to tell him how long we would have to wait before the next one - MarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 10 months. Then one day early this month he suddenly said, 'I like March, because I like marching.' Spot on, Ethan, spot on. They do have the same spelling.
About heat
Sometimes, when the dish is still hot, we'll ask Ethan to wait for awhile, let it get warm. Later, when we start giving him warm caffeine-free tea or horlicks, he'll say, 'um, I like warm drink.' One night, I was giving him a shower. The water, when it first started to flow, was always too hot. So he said, 'Wait for it to get warmer.' I was confused for an instant. Warmer? Don't you want it cooler? Then it dawned on me, to him warm is cooler than hot, of course. So I tried to explain that he should use 'cooler' instead, but as is with all such explanations, no one got the wiser for it.
Counting
There is this Sesame Street podcast, at the end of it there is a counting song. One morning, Ethan was bargaining with Jianming. Jianming wanted him to watch 2 sesame street podcasts, Ethan wanted 4. Jianming said no, so they settled on 3. After finishing one, Ethan showed 2 fingers and said '2'. After the second one, he said, 'Now, it's just the last one.' He seemed to have gotten some notion of subtraction after watching the counting song. Only, as Jianming related to me, that was not the last one, they had another really last podcast.
Pick-up Sticks
Somehow we got around to playing pick-up sticks (using magic pens) with Ethan and it was rather fun while the interest lasted and we thought it teaches a few useful things:
1. take turns
2. rules of games
3. counting (to see who has more)
4. dexterity of hands
What's more important is that we actually had fun learning.
I suppose it's still too early to teach him to write letters. Especially since he does not show any interest in following strokes.
(In relation to this, I should also mention an incident. I was reading this book called 'Mia's Story' to him. The book has both printed and cursive fonts for the letters. Ethan pointed the cursive ones to me and asked me what's that. I said those were just another way of writing the alphabets. The next time he drew some squiggles and told me they were some letters of the alphabets. I told him there was a proper way to write them and the ones he 'wrote' weren't recognisable. He told me vehemently that that's his way of writing them and brought me 'Mia's Story' to show me the cursive writings. I was stumped and tried to point out recognisable forms of 'C' or 'O' to him but it wasn't convincing enough for him.)
In a 'successful' attempt to write 'E', after much cajoling and bargaining - if he would try, we would let him make a card as he had asked for - he finally got something that was sort of a lateral inverted E, with a few more lines than necessary. This triumph has not been repeated since. However, recently he showed me some squiggles that looked like 'w', 'm', 'n', 'p'. He said the 'p' was 'D' and I was so pleasantly surprised that I hesitated to tell him it looked more like 'p'. Of course, I still am a spoilsport at heart and could not resist telling him so in the end.
Time
a. The clock
It's tough to tell Ethan to get ready for nursery by keeping his toys, having lunch, change - he would always say, 'it's not time yet', which is true. So I bought a book (one of 4 that sold for 2 for 50p from the charity shop PDSA) that has a clock in it. And he is able to move the hour hand when I told him to, to the correct hour up to 9. And I tried to explain how he should be ready about 15 minutes before school starts as it takes some time to get to school. In vain. After awhile, he loses interest in it, as expected.
b. The calendar
Ever since the approach of Christmas last year, when the whole of Edinburgh was rife with Christmas things, he's been saying it's Christmas (all except on Christmas Day - I suppose we told him too many times 'not yet' that he did not believe us when we told him it's the day). When it snowed in February, he was talking about Christmas again. So I tried to tell him how long we would have to wait before the next one - MarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 10 months. Then one day early this month he suddenly said, 'I like March, because I like marching.' Spot on, Ethan, spot on. They do have the same spelling.
About heat
Sometimes, when the dish is still hot, we'll ask Ethan to wait for awhile, let it get warm. Later, when we start giving him warm caffeine-free tea or horlicks, he'll say, 'um, I like warm drink.' One night, I was giving him a shower. The water, when it first started to flow, was always too hot. So he said, 'Wait for it to get warmer.' I was confused for an instant. Warmer? Don't you want it cooler? Then it dawned on me, to him warm is cooler than hot, of course. So I tried to explain that he should use 'cooler' instead, but as is with all such explanations, no one got the wiser for it.
Counting
There is this Sesame Street podcast, at the end of it there is a counting song. One morning, Ethan was bargaining with Jianming. Jianming wanted him to watch 2 sesame street podcasts, Ethan wanted 4. Jianming said no, so they settled on 3. After finishing one, Ethan showed 2 fingers and said '2'. After the second one, he said, 'Now, it's just the last one.' He seemed to have gotten some notion of subtraction after watching the counting song. Only, as Jianming related to me, that was not the last one, they had another really last podcast.
Pick-up Sticks
Somehow we got around to playing pick-up sticks (using magic pens) with Ethan and it was rather fun while the interest lasted and we thought it teaches a few useful things:
1. take turns
2. rules of games
3. counting (to see who has more)
4. dexterity of hands
What's more important is that we actually had fun learning.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Cereal Killer
Despite the less than original title, I feel I must note this down for my own benefit, as something to remember by.
There is this particular brand and particular flavour of cereals that I really like: Jordans Country Crisp 4 nut crunch, a 'crisp cereal clusters with flaked almonds, roasted hazelnuts, brazil nut pieces and chopped pecan nuts'. I love the really crunchy grains (unlike some crisp which is more chewy than anything), and the really delicious blend of nutty flavour. I have eaten brazil nuts from other cereals before but it is here that I actually like it so much. It has a hint of sweetness that is just right for the amount of nuts thrown in. It is expensive though, so whenever there is half price or buy one get one free offer, I would buy quite a number of packets.
Okay, this sounds too much like a commercial. But of course, my liking it does not necessarily mean you would like it. It has been said before, I have whimsical taste. And I don't remember seeing this back home either.
There is this particular brand and particular flavour of cereals that I really like: Jordans Country Crisp 4 nut crunch, a 'crisp cereal clusters with flaked almonds, roasted hazelnuts, brazil nut pieces and chopped pecan nuts'. I love the really crunchy grains (unlike some crisp which is more chewy than anything), and the really delicious blend of nutty flavour. I have eaten brazil nuts from other cereals before but it is here that I actually like it so much. It has a hint of sweetness that is just right for the amount of nuts thrown in. It is expensive though, so whenever there is half price or buy one get one free offer, I would buy quite a number of packets.
Okay, this sounds too much like a commercial. But of course, my liking it does not necessarily mean you would like it. It has been said before, I have whimsical taste. And I don't remember seeing this back home either.
吵！
这一个月，靖恺还挺吵闹的。要睡的时候号啕大哭，看不见人的时候也哭。抱着哄他睡觉，却总想把手往嘴里送。除了哭，最近还会在你怀里挣扎乱踢。如果把他放回床上，又会把手放进嘴巴里。难道真的要给奶嘴？几乎每次哄他睡觉都在跟他比赛谁喊得比较大声。等到他终于听到你的声音后，才静下来，呻吟着睡去。尝试给他吃粥，萝卜等食物。但他不象靖恒那么爱吃，进展挺慢的。对于这点，只好一步一小步来啦。
靖恒呢，简单的一个“嗯”，已经‘骗’不了他 - 让他以为你在听他说话。有时，他会一直重复到他看到你注意他为止。他也真多话，我都没精神去想更新鲜一点的答复。他现在很少讲华语了。虽然，我常常都是用华语跟他交谈，他还是以英语回复。最受不了的是有什么不顺心的事，如球收不好，或是玩具车因为倾斜的地板滑下来，还是找不到玩具/手巾，会突然啼闹起来，直到你去帮他。而且，不知是不是因为我们太希望他独立一点而比较少插手帮他做事，他常说的一句话就是 "I can't" （我不行），还有另一句： “I want ... (something) now" （我现在就要。。。（什么什么））。
那有什么是值的赞扬的呢？靖恒已经比较独立了，可以一个人玩玩具玩一阵子。虽然仍老爱嚷我们读故事书给他听，但有时也会自己看故事书（的图案）。衣服也会自己脱，大部分也可以自己穿。他这个人话这么多，总能自圆其说，或讲故事，有他醒着时家里决不会寂静。当然，也会顶嘴啦。叫他做什么，或是不要做什么，他如果不同意，就会'but,but,but...'的一堆理由出来。当然，最喜欢还是‘敲锣打鼓’，大展歌喉。
The classic pose:
非理勿听：
曾经，我在厨房忙着，靖恒会这样陪靖恺（现在已经不见他这样了，没有新鲜感了吧）：
自得其乐：
与弟弟共乐：
杯盘狼藉：
睡姿百态：
‘今晚想吃。。。’
1. 肉‘菜粄'：
2. moussaka (it's party time - again - for Ethan) :
倒。。。
再到博物馆：
最早开的花出来了：
‘哥哥怎么睡了？’
Ethan's artwork:
(It's an aeroplane. It is big and strong, it carries aeroplanes that can't work. It's for people, but when there are aeroplanes in it, people can't go on the big one, they must go on the small one.)
'The tower and the castle':
三个男生：
2月28日，靖恒跟建明去看演出：
Insidiously, the two boys are demanding greater attention. No longer is Jethro easily soothed and no longer is Ethan naively deceived. Jethro cries when he wants to sleep, and when he can't see anyone about him, not even for one moment. Most of the time, getting him to sleep involves the crier and the carrier trying to outcry each other. When he seems to finally hear your cries, he settles into a prolonged, but softer whine, then sleep. Have started giving him solids two weeks ago and we are still trudging along, he is not yet taking a full meal yet.
Ethan, the older one, will make sure you are fully attending to his talk and questions by repeating them for as many times as required to get the response that satisfies him. When you explain that you are engaged in something else, he will stop for a second, then resume. In his most irritating moments, he would break into a whine from a seemingly good humming mood, when things do not go the way he intended. Such are the usual exchanges between him and me (as you can see I am not a sweet mother):
E: Eh....(in a wailing tone)
M: What was that? How can I know what you need when you just whine? Can't you speak?
E: I want (something) now!
M: Can you wait? I am busy.
E: I can't wait!
M: Cannot wait? Then do it yourself.
E: But I can't... (wailing)
E:I can't ... (do something, like taking of his clothes, wearing clothes, socks, keep toys etc.)! (wailing)
M: (silence) or
M: You can, you did it before.
E: No, I can't!
Sometimes in my better mood, I will try to give him verbal instructions.
M: (Ask him to do something, such as) What a mess, can you keep your pictures?
E: But, but, but, I am (doing something, such as) looking at them (and proceeds to trying to look at the drawings and playing the guitar he was holding at the same time).
M: It's time to brush your teeth and take a shower.
E: But I still want to play!
M: Stop jumping on the bed!
E: (ignores)
On more pleasant things, he can play by himself for longer periods now, and although still craving for our attention (and I will grant that it is only right he should be doing that), he can also settle down to his own imaginary play, story telling, reading books or music performance (which generally consists of him banging something loudly and singing at the top of his voice). And he definitely can wear his t-shirt and socks now, if he wants to.
Jianming was so flummoxed by his endless 'whys' that he went to google about it. So we were told when children ask 'why', they don't mean 'why' (really!). It is just their way of getting you to talk to them about things. So, contrary to our logical thinking, we need not reply with 'because...' when they ask 'why', but we can talk a lot of myriad stuff about the topic and they will feel happier. Which assures me a little to know children all over ask a frustrating number of 'why's, but doesn't make my job easier now that I need not (and in fact, should not) always answer it in the straightforward sense.
靖恒呢，简单的一个“嗯”，已经‘骗’不了他 - 让他以为你在听他说话。有时，他会一直重复到他看到你注意他为止。他也真多话，我都没精神去想更新鲜一点的答复。他现在很少讲华语了。虽然，我常常都是用华语跟他交谈，他还是以英语回复。最受不了的是有什么不顺心的事，如球收不好，或是玩具车因为倾斜的地板滑下来，还是找不到玩具/手巾，会突然啼闹起来，直到你去帮他。而且，不知是不是因为我们太希望他独立一点而比较少插手帮他做事，他常说的一句话就是 "I can't" （我不行），还有另一句： “I want ... (something) now" （我现在就要。。。（什么什么））。
那有什么是值的赞扬的呢？靖恒已经比较独立了，可以一个人玩玩具玩一阵子。虽然仍老爱嚷我们读故事书给他听，但有时也会自己看故事书（的图案）。衣服也会自己脱，大部分也可以自己穿。他这个人话这么多，总能自圆其说，或讲故事，有他醒着时家里决不会寂静。当然，也会顶嘴啦。叫他做什么，或是不要做什么，他如果不同意，就会'but,but,but...'的一堆理由出来。当然，最喜欢还是‘敲锣打鼓’，大展歌喉。
The classic pose:
非理勿听：
曾经，我在厨房忙着，靖恒会这样陪靖恺（现在已经不见他这样了，没有新鲜感了吧）：
自得其乐：
与弟弟共乐：
杯盘狼藉：
睡姿百态：
‘今晚想吃。。。’
1. 肉‘菜粄'：
2. moussaka (it's party time - again - for Ethan) :
倒。。。
再到博物馆：
最早开的花出来了：
‘哥哥怎么睡了？’
Ethan's artwork:
(It's an aeroplane. It is big and strong, it carries aeroplanes that can't work. It's for people, but when there are aeroplanes in it, people can't go on the big one, they must go on the small one.)
'The tower and the castle':
三个男生：
2月28日，靖恒跟建明去看演出：
Insidiously, the two boys are demanding greater attention. No longer is Jethro easily soothed and no longer is Ethan naively deceived. Jethro cries when he wants to sleep, and when he can't see anyone about him, not even for one moment. Most of the time, getting him to sleep involves the crier and the carrier trying to outcry each other. When he seems to finally hear your cries, he settles into a prolonged, but softer whine, then sleep. Have started giving him solids two weeks ago and we are still trudging along, he is not yet taking a full meal yet.
Ethan, the older one, will make sure you are fully attending to his talk and questions by repeating them for as many times as required to get the response that satisfies him. When you explain that you are engaged in something else, he will stop for a second, then resume. In his most irritating moments, he would break into a whine from a seemingly good humming mood, when things do not go the way he intended. Such are the usual exchanges between him and me (as you can see I am not a sweet mother):
E: Eh....(in a wailing tone)
M: What was that? How can I know what you need when you just whine? Can't you speak?
E: I want (something) now!
M: Can you wait? I am busy.
E: I can't wait!
M: Cannot wait? Then do it yourself.
E: But I can't... (wailing)
E:I can't ... (do something, like taking of his clothes, wearing clothes, socks, keep toys etc.)! (wailing)
M: (silence) or
M: You can, you did it before.
E: No, I can't!
Sometimes in my better mood, I will try to give him verbal instructions.
M: (Ask him to do something, such as) What a mess, can you keep your pictures?
E: But, but, but, I am (doing something, such as) looking at them (and proceeds to trying to look at the drawings and playing the guitar he was holding at the same time).
M: It's time to brush your teeth and take a shower.
E: But I still want to play!
M: Stop jumping on the bed!
E: (ignores)
On more pleasant things, he can play by himself for longer periods now, and although still craving for our attention (and I will grant that it is only right he should be doing that), he can also settle down to his own imaginary play, story telling, reading books or music performance (which generally consists of him banging something loudly and singing at the top of his voice). And he definitely can wear his t-shirt and socks now, if he wants to.
Jianming was so flummoxed by his endless 'whys' that he went to google about it. So we were told when children ask 'why', they don't mean 'why' (really!). It is just their way of getting you to talk to them about things. So, contrary to our logical thinking, we need not reply with 'because...' when they ask 'why', but we can talk a lot of myriad stuff about the topic and they will feel happier. Which assures me a little to know children all over ask a frustrating number of 'why's, but doesn't make my job easier now that I need not (and in fact, should not) always answer it in the straightforward sense.
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