Note: This is another one of those posts where I unabashedly fawn over my daughter. I’ll try not to be too sloppy.
“To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while.”
~Josh Billings
Last week was our parent-teacher conference for Mia. As some of you know, Daisy and I send our daughter to a dual immersion program where eighty percent of her day is in Spanish. She’s in first grade now. Last year, that number was ninety.
Daisy and I were keen to hear what her teacher had to say. We felt we had a clear idea, for better or worse, but were looking forward to a dot at the end of our sentence.
Our daughter, it turns out, is quite the the little wordsmith. Her magnificent maestra is pleased when students can line up three well articulated sentences. Mia is penning five paragraph papers… in a second tongue. She has a mature grasp of punctuation, and an apparent fondness for the quotation mark.
Mia isn’t a genius, but she is willing to work hard, and push through most any barrier impeding her comprehension. She’s been drawing, or writing since she could hold a pencil. She is rarely afraid to try, and therefore most often succeeds. For Daisy and I, this is a calliope of validating inspiration.
We’ve known Mia for seven and a half years, if we travel back to when she was no larger than a grain of rice, which I think is perfectly fair. Even then, she was dangling the strings and making us dance.
We were thrilled to have a discussion with an outstanding practitioner who spends the better part of seven hours with our daughter, each and every weekday. At school, Mia is undaunted. She’s fearless, and flies without worry, unafraid to fail, but anxious to produce.
At home, Mia sometimes moves with the mayhem of a tornado, juggling several ventures at once. She twirls from table to table, coloring Christmas ornaments, writing a letter to Santa, all while playing the architect to one of her famous “contraptions.”
It is easy to picture her in the classroom, and we acknowledge our fortune that Mia has a teacher who understands her student and wishes to articulate her productive, capable mind, yet also knows that her enthusiasm must be channeled. Our maestra will help teach Mia to be organized without squelching her spirit.
Mia’s a wonderful writer because she has an example to follow, and for this I am certainly proud, but there is a caveat.
I sometimes juggle topics like a sideshow attraction, and Mia’s a good enough listener to know that I frequently work on many different things at once. I must not only crow about the kudos, I must also look upon the side of the coin that is kissing the ground.
Our children are reflections in a puddle; rippling with an image not quite ours, but no doubt our distant double. To truly know who they are, we must have a clear understanding of who we are. Only then can we walk them toward their best.
Writer Dad
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Beautiful post. Thanks for sharing.
I wish my children had the opportunity of an immersion program. Lucky her. Instead I will settle for at least Spanish class once a day for my olders, and once a week for my younger.
GreenJellos last blog post..Wordless Wednesday
Beautiful post. Thanks for sharing.
I wish my children had the opportunity of an immersion program. Lucky her. Instead I will settle for at least Spanish class once a day for my olders, and once a week for my younger.
GreenJellos last blog post..Wordless Wednesday
Beautiful post. Thanks for sharing.
I wish my children had the opportunity of an immersion program. Lucky her. Instead I will settle for at least Spanish class once a day for my olders, and once a week for my younger.
GreenJellos last blog post..Wordless Wednesday
You know before the age ten , children don’t actually relate foreign language sounds as foreign. Just more sounds to make. The muscles that do those things only start becoming a little more inflexible after ten.
Tigre contra tigre. Try rolling those r’s. Like a purr or a growl. Now ask a 7 year old to do it. If you’re southern it’s easier too.
Okay , how many of you did I get to play?
I am so FOR second languages in schools here in the states. We are put to shame internationally and have been for decades. It’s just silly. Our children can do it while they play and learn everything else, just like sponges.
Janice Cartiers last blog post..Hi Ho Hi Ho
You know before the age ten , children don’t actually relate foreign language sounds as foreign. Just more sounds to make. The muscles that do those things only start becoming a little more inflexible after ten.
Tigre contra tigre. Try rolling those r’s. Like a purr or a growl. Now ask a 7 year old to do it. If you’re southern it’s easier too.
Okay , how many of you did I get to play?
I am so FOR second languages in schools here in the states. We are put to shame internationally and have been for decades. It’s just silly. Our children can do it while they play and learn everything else, just like sponges.
Janice Cartiers last blog post..Hi Ho Hi Ho
Marelisa: You’re absolutely right. There is no valid reason why we shouldn’t expose our children to more than one language at a time. NONE. And what you said about teachers is a home run landing atop a bulls-eye.
KittyTown: You may call her a genius, and I will smile. If I do it, I’m bragging.
Green Jello: There’s only three schools in our (large) city, all with long waiting lists. We were very fortunate, and it shouldn’t be so hard. It should be as regular an option as sack lunch or cafeteria.
Janice: WORD.
Marelisa: You’re absolutely right. There is no valid reason why we shouldn’t expose our children to more than one language at a time. NONE. And what you said about teachers is a home run landing atop a bulls-eye.
KittyTown: You may call her a genius, and I will smile. If I do it, I’m bragging.
Green Jello: There’s only three schools in our (large) city, all with long waiting lists. We were very fortunate, and it shouldn’t be so hard. It should be as regular an option as sack lunch or cafeteria.
Janice: WORD.
I can sense how proud you are that some day, Mia might follow in your footsteps and become a professional writer. My own daughter has a natural talent for writing too. I couldn’t be more proud. :)
I can sense how proud you are that some day, Mia might follow in your footsteps and become a professional writer. My own daughter has a natural talent for writing too. I couldn’t be more proud. :)
She has a fondness for question marks, eh? :D
I think she and my little guy would get along famously. he makes wonderful contraptions. We should arrange a play date. How’s Wyoming? ;)
Jamie Simmermans last blog post..The Lobby or the Lounge
She has a fondness for question marks, eh? :D
I think she and my little guy would get along famously. he makes wonderful contraptions. We should arrange a play date. How’s Wyoming? ;)
Jamie Simmermans last blog post..The Lobby or the Lounge
I think that is wonderful that you’re seeing to it that your daughter learns another language.
In all my life, I’ve never heard anyone say: “you know – I really do have a regret… “Oh yeah, Charlie, what is it?”
“Well, you know – I’m bilingual because my parents saw to it when I was young that I become proficient in another tongue.”
“That’s terrible Charlie.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Doesn’t happen.
Bamboo Forests last blog post..Choose NOT To Get on The Negativity Train
I think that is wonderful that you’re seeing to it that your daughter learns another language.
In all my life, I’ve never heard anyone say: “you know – I really do have a regret… “Oh yeah, Charlie, what is it?”
“Well, you know – I’m bilingual because my parents saw to it when I was young that I become proficient in another tongue.”
“That’s terrible Charlie.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Doesn’t happen.
Bamboo Forests last blog post..Choose NOT To Get on The Negativity Train
Hi again,
For the moment my son speaks mainly Dutch (being in contact with that language through me and my parents the most) and French (via his dad and daycare). He is 2 and a half and when he goes to kindergarten next year he will learn Luxembourgish (the official language of Luxembourg where we live). Later in primary school, classes are mainly taught in German and French is taken up as a first foreign language (so he will have an advantage on other kids there). Later on in high school English is added. I went through this system myself and speak now 7 languages. I must admit I also have a ‘language brain’ and my brother, who is more of a mathematics/technical brain is less eloquent in languages – still he gets by.
We go with the OPOL system (one language one parent) – I have written about it
Mindful Mimis last blog post..EU’s bureaucracy keeps money away from developing countries
Hi again,
For the moment my son speaks mainly Dutch (being in contact with that language through me and my parents the most) and French (via his dad and daycare). He is 2 and a half and when he goes to kindergarten next year he will learn Luxembourgish (the official language of Luxembourg where we live). Later in primary school, classes are mainly taught in German and French is taken up as a first foreign language (so he will have an advantage on other kids there). Later on in high school English is added. I went through this system myself and speak now 7 languages. I must admit I also have a ‘language brain’ and my brother, who is more of a mathematics/technical brain is less eloquent in languages – still he gets by.
We go with the OPOL system (one language one parent) – I have written about it
Mindful Mimis last blog post..EU’s bureaucracy keeps money away from developing countries
<a href=”http://mindfulmimi.blogspot.com/2007/09/on-raising-bilingual-children.html” title=”here”
Mindful Mimis last blog post..EU’s bureaucracy keeps money away from developing countries
<a href=”http://mindfulmimi.blogspot.com/2007/09/on-raising-bilingual-children.html” title=”here”
Mindful Mimis last blog post..EU’s bureaucracy keeps money away from developing countries
Yay, for having your daughter in a dual language program!!
Yay, for having your daughter in a dual language program!!