Thursday, October 8, 2009

I can haz a read?

So I finished reading "How to Teach Your Baby to Read" and MAN! It blew my mind! Defintely going to try to teach little homey to read using the method described in the book- which coincidentally, is not like learning ABCs and then small words and then reading... it starts by having kids memorize words that they know and use... like "Mommy", "Daddy", "nose", "toes", etc. Which makes sense, because those are things that babies are interested in... and its kind of difficult to explain what a "C" is.

Doman, the guy that wrote the book called it "The Gentle Revolution", which is to say that we can teach our kids to be excited and in love with learning, if we make it fun and exciting for them early on. And that you really can't start too early with trying to teach children. The majority of brain development takes place before the age of 8... so now is the time for him to learn. Even more amazing, is that the book talks about kids learning language and how easy it is for them to pick it up, just by hearing it. Makes me wish that we didnt live here. If we lived in India or Mexico or China and had an Nanny- Nico would grow up speaking Hindi, Spanish or Chinese. Since Dave's only second language that he is conversational in is French, I guess that means I need to learn French so that we can be conversational in the house... either that or Dave needs to learn Chinese with me (What? Dude- one in five people on this planet speaks Chinese, and that is not going to change in HIS life time. It really is the language of the future. My mother calling me a commie socialist pinko in 3....2....1....)

Got the chance to go to the gym last night. Managed to run about .75 miles and walk 1.25 miles, did some time on the ellipitcal and did some weights. Consequently, I am hobbling around like an old lady today. But it was nice- I'd almost forgotten how much I love the gym. Of course, I get home to find out that Nico had been screaming for the last four hours, non-stop. Which brings me to Nico's first ever Likes/Dislikes list:

Likes:
The Jimmy Buffett/Eagles/Van Morrison Genre
Sleeping on Mom
Showers
The Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack
Windows down
My beanbag stuffed dog
Dislikes:
Mom tutoring
Mom eating spicy foods, foods containing lots of garlic, or Mom drinking Milk.
Big dumb trucks honking while he is sleeping.
Riding back from Wakulla
Being in his carseat.
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4 comments:

  1. Martha Drake BishopOctober 9, 2009 at 6:01 AM

    There are probably more mexican nannies in this country than in mexico.

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  2. Nicole BOctober 9, 2009 at 9:47 AM

    ok...you're motivating me to be a better parent..time for me to get that book.

    I think you guys should learn Spanish...although China will probably own the US in another couple of years...but surely they wouldnt change the dominant language right?

    ReplyDelete
  3. J.J.October 11, 2009 at 10:48 PM

    In a couple of years? They already do...

    It is funny how much Nico is like his Uncle J.
    My dislikes also include: riding back from Wakulla and riding in a carseat.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SlattsOctober 12, 2009 at 8:33 AM

    we're going to start putting spanish flashcards on things around the house (like the word for stove is taped to the stove, etc.). that's how i learned spanish (my dad was learning when i was an infant/toddler). and todd and i try to speak it around the house (well, except i keep answering in english so i guess that doesn't help much).

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