I remember posting a similar story way back when, when Mcclellan learned to dump out and pick up Cheerios...
Here is Verity putting napkin holders into a tall skinny pasta jar...and attempting to replace the lid. This is riveting stuff, folks.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Foreign Language
So, I've been wanting to start teaching Mcclellan Spanish for a while now. Or at least start teaching him. I plan to also teach Latin and maybe Greek with the planned classical approach. I'm not sure when/how to teach Spanish along with the ancient languages, but I'm gonna stop fretting about it and just start with Spanish NOW. I know some Latin, but am much more fluent in Spanish and use it sporadically around the house. I'd like to do some immersion with him, but get a little foggy with my own use of the language...especially those future tense verbs!
Sooo, we are going to start with vocab, naturally. Verbs can definitely wait. The words I do use around the house everyday, Mcclellan has picked up on really well ("My camisa is red, Mama," or, "I need pantalones."). I'd like to teach him the Spanish word for all the classic preschool busyness: shapes, colors, parts of body, etc. But I feel like he is still so new at learning them in English that Spanish would be confusing. But then, I remember that this is why his age is the BEST age to learn things like these. He won't question why red is also rojo. Or cat is also gato. He loves talking and plays with his words all the time, that I have no doubt he will also love learning words in Spanish. So, colores, numeros, y partes del cuerpo...here we come!
I did order a book off Amazon that I'd been reading about on one of my language sites on the side. For nothing other than to keep me organized and help me remember my own vocab! I'd LOVE to become more fluent and use the language more regularly. I am always wanting to speak Spanish to people using it in public, but am afraid of conversation! "Mas despacio, por favor," is all I need to remind native speakers.
So, maybe with the help of my language-learning children, I too, can become a better foreign language speaker! Sometimes, I wonder why there is such a focus on Latin and Greek in classical ed. Would it not be more practical to teach Japanese, Russian and Spanish? I put a great value in learning the ancients, but wonder why there is such a big thrust for them in today's highly globalized society. We'll see what happens with our own family as we go along, I suppose!
Edited to add: So I came across this article: Why Teach Latin? Granted it's written by Memoria Press, but nonetheless...
Sooo, we are going to start with vocab, naturally. Verbs can definitely wait. The words I do use around the house everyday, Mcclellan has picked up on really well ("My camisa is red, Mama," or, "I need pantalones."). I'd like to teach him the Spanish word for all the classic preschool busyness: shapes, colors, parts of body, etc. But I feel like he is still so new at learning them in English that Spanish would be confusing. But then, I remember that this is why his age is the BEST age to learn things like these. He won't question why red is also rojo. Or cat is also gato. He loves talking and plays with his words all the time, that I have no doubt he will also love learning words in Spanish. So, colores, numeros, y partes del cuerpo...here we come!
I did order a book off Amazon that I'd been reading about on one of my language sites on the side. For nothing other than to keep me organized and help me remember my own vocab! I'd LOVE to become more fluent and use the language more regularly. I am always wanting to speak Spanish to people using it in public, but am afraid of conversation! "Mas despacio, por favor," is all I need to remind native speakers.
So, maybe with the help of my language-learning children, I too, can become a better foreign language speaker! Sometimes, I wonder why there is such a focus on Latin and Greek in classical ed. Would it not be more practical to teach Japanese, Russian and Spanish? I put a great value in learning the ancients, but wonder why there is such a big thrust for them in today's highly globalized society. We'll see what happens with our own family as we go along, I suppose!
Edited to add: So I came across this article: Why Teach Latin? Granted it's written by Memoria Press, but nonetheless...
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