Bath time is Hugo's favorite moment of the day, he feels in the bath like a little diver, loves splashing water and pouring from one bowl into another.
Last Sunday, he shocked us so much that we were looking at him with eyes wide open.
As usual, he took his plastic bowl and starting pouring one from the small one into a bigger one, but this time he also started counting from one to five. I'd heard him doing this before but in no order at all, it'd seemed that those were just words for him carrying not much sense, until last Sunday. He started with ONE and got to FIVE without any trouble, we looked at each other surprised but that was not the end. He carried on counting precisely pouring water and saying SIX, SEVEN (our eyes were getting bigger and bigger), EIGHT (we even opened our mouth in astonishment) NINE...
He looked at us proudly and both my husband and I were at a loss for words for a few seconds, then I managed to say: You're my little prodigy;)) and gave him a big hug and kiss. Daddy commented: You can count to nine in English but only to five in Polish?? Let's learn to count to nine also in Polish;)
I know now that all those situations when I was counting boxes, steps, socks, pegs etc. made Hugo remember numbers in the right order;)
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Mommy, be good;)
Picture this:
whenever I leave home, I always tell my son that I'll be back and that he's staying with his daddy, granny or Magda, then I give him a kiss and tell him to be good. Nothing unusual or extraordinary someone will say, maybe not, but last Sunday before leaving for lectures at university I put on my boot and coat, kissed Hugo and said: Bye bye, sonny, I love you! but before I even finished the sentence, he looked at me with his big blue eyes and said with a smile: MOMMY, BE GOOD;))
My husband and I were so astonished and amused that we couldn't help laughing; Hugo made me smile all the way to Poznań and today he said the same to daddy when he was going out: Daddy, be good!
He really gives us so much joy;)
whenever I leave home, I always tell my son that I'll be back and that he's staying with his daddy, granny or Magda, then I give him a kiss and tell him to be good. Nothing unusual or extraordinary someone will say, maybe not, but last Sunday before leaving for lectures at university I put on my boot and coat, kissed Hugo and said: Bye bye, sonny, I love you! but before I even finished the sentence, he looked at me with his big blue eyes and said with a smile: MOMMY, BE GOOD;))
My husband and I were so astonished and amused that we couldn't help laughing; Hugo made me smile all the way to Poznań and today he said the same to daddy when he was going out: Daddy, be good!
He really gives us so much joy;)
Thursday, March 21, 2013
questions
Questions are the key to communication, without them it would be impossible to learn new things or extend our vocabulary. The same is true for children.
Yet, it's not only about asking questions it's about asking the right questions which stimulate a child to think or utter some words.
Let me give you an example: When I want Hugo to drink something I say: Would you like something to drink? then he usually answers: Yes. The next step is the choice of drink; I never ask him: What would you like to drink? because then he could start inventing things so I teach him to make choices and say: Would you like tea or juice? (Giving a limited choice is still A CHOICE but it saves parents' trouble of satisfying the endless list of kids wishes;)) Now he can say the words tea or juice; yet, before I simply showed him tea and juice and asked: This or this? In this way, I managed to kill two birds with one stone because I taught him to make decisions related to his needs and stimulated him to speak. If I had simply asked him: Would you like tea? he wouldn't have had to think and he would only say Yes or No.
For us the tactic of asking open questions (those beginning with Who?, what?, why?, whose? etc.) worked prefectly and proved very effective.
P.S. It also works well for all learners of English, it stimulates them to speak, my students always know that there is the magic follow-up question WHY?
Yet, it's not only about asking questions it's about asking the right questions which stimulate a child to think or utter some words.
Let me give you an example: When I want Hugo to drink something I say: Would you like something to drink? then he usually answers: Yes. The next step is the choice of drink; I never ask him: What would you like to drink? because then he could start inventing things so I teach him to make choices and say: Would you like tea or juice? (Giving a limited choice is still A CHOICE but it saves parents' trouble of satisfying the endless list of kids wishes;)) Now he can say the words tea or juice; yet, before I simply showed him tea and juice and asked: This or this? In this way, I managed to kill two birds with one stone because I taught him to make decisions related to his needs and stimulated him to speak. If I had simply asked him: Would you like tea? he wouldn't have had to think and he would only say Yes or No.
For us the tactic of asking open questions (those beginning with Who?, what?, why?, whose? etc.) worked prefectly and proved very effective.
P.S. It also works well for all learners of English, it stimulates them to speak, my students always know that there is the magic follow-up question WHY?
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
snow**************
Winter this year seems to be endless. I get the impression that it's not gonna leave us...
and it's not really about the road services that are always surprised as if winter was in July or August, it's not even about the low temperatures, because today it's not that bad...
maybe, it's just me-I love spring and can't wait for it.
Still my son seems to enjoy this state of affairs, the snow outside and his lovely red jacket;)
He can spend some time with his nose almost glued to the window saying: Mommy, snowing; Mommy snow. Then he runs to the door takes his winter jacket and says: Put on;)
Most of the time, I do give in, put it on and take him out sleighing. If only he didn't get tears in his beautiful blue eyes when we're outside; I guess that's because of wind and white snow glittering in the sun.
Hope that next week we'll enjoy the warm spring sun and we'll have forgotten about winter;)
and it's not really about the road services that are always surprised as if winter was in July or August, it's not even about the low temperatures, because today it's not that bad...
maybe, it's just me-I love spring and can't wait for it.
Still my son seems to enjoy this state of affairs, the snow outside and his lovely red jacket;)
He can spend some time with his nose almost glued to the window saying: Mommy, snowing; Mommy snow. Then he runs to the door takes his winter jacket and says: Put on;)
Most of the time, I do give in, put it on and take him out sleighing. If only he didn't get tears in his beautiful blue eyes when we're outside; I guess that's because of wind and white snow glittering in the sun.
Hope that next week we'll enjoy the warm spring sun and we'll have forgotten about winter;)
Monday, March 18, 2013
alphabet
Recently, I've bought for our son a really useful toy-a wooden alphabet board, which despite presenting letters also has objects associated with them. Once he got it, he got down to taking out the elements and carefully looking at the pieces. Without any problems he was able to put the proper piece into the right slot.
Having seen his joy doing this, I decided to accompany him and read the letter to him along with the picture for it; so it was like: A is for an astronaut, B is for a bear, C is for a cow...
He enjoyed it even more and at the end he was able to name a few letters,; now even when he's eating a cooking in the shape of W or M he's examining the cooking carefully and saying: Mommy, this is M. Then, when i put the letter upside down he goes: This is W.
You may think I'm crazy, but I believe only in educational toys and so I try to take an advantage of any situation to teach our Little Prince various things. For sure, it'll be beneficial in the future.
Having seen his joy doing this, I decided to accompany him and read the letter to him along with the picture for it; so it was like: A is for an astronaut, B is for a bear, C is for a cow...
He enjoyed it even more and at the end he was able to name a few letters,; now even when he's eating a cooking in the shape of W or M he's examining the cooking carefully and saying: Mommy, this is M. Then, when i put the letter upside down he goes: This is W.
You may think I'm crazy, but I believe only in educational toys and so I try to take an advantage of any situation to teach our Little Prince various things. For sure, it'll be beneficial in the future.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
socks
Washing is one of our sonny's favorite activity. He's always liked it because even when he was a few months old I used to take him out to hang out the washing with me-his role was to give me pegs. Now, his role has changed a little bit and he helps me collect dry clothes. This is both a great way to teach him housework-his wife one day will have a real helper at home;)) and a funny way to teach him names of different clothing items and the possessive-because I always ask him: Whose is it? and then he goes: Hugo's socks, Daddy's T-shirt and so on.
Today, as always, he assisted me but what's more he helped me pair socks and I realized how quickly he was able to find the same socks out of maybe 12 different pairs with various patterns. Again involving him was enjoyable for both of us and he learned the notion of: the same and different. I'm so proud of him;)
Today, as always, he assisted me but what's more he helped me pair socks and I realized how quickly he was able to find the same socks out of maybe 12 different pairs with various patterns. Again involving him was enjoyable for both of us and he learned the notion of: the same and different. I'm so proud of him;)
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
babysitter;)
A few days ago, Hugo stayed for the first time with his new babysitter. So far my parents had been looking after him, but for some time they won't be able to do it, so we needed to find someone to replace them and so we did.
Magda is a friendly and caring person who agreed to come to our house and be with Hugo. It's very convenient for us since we don't need to take Hugo anywhere. He's in his own house, with his own toys.
At the beginning I was apprehensive about his reaction, but surprisngly it wasn't so bad;))
On the second day, however, he decided to test how much he could manipulate her. When she forbade him something he wrinced his face, but when even this didn't help, he came up with another idea. He took her hand and led her to the front door...;) I was amazed when she told me this after my return. Now I know he can really communicate his needs;)
Magda is a friendly and caring person who agreed to come to our house and be with Hugo. It's very convenient for us since we don't need to take Hugo anywhere. He's in his own house, with his own toys.
At the beginning I was apprehensive about his reaction, but surprisngly it wasn't so bad;))
On the second day, however, he decided to test how much he could manipulate her. When she forbade him something he wrinced his face, but when even this didn't help, he came up with another idea. He took her hand and led her to the front door...;) I was amazed when she told me this after my return. Now I know he can really communicate his needs;)
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