Complex Negotiations Between Parent And Child

Beth has a new proposal.

"I want Mommy to teach me piano!"

Who, me?

I said I was going to be really strict if I were her teacher.

Beth: "As strict as you are with H and J?" (my music students)

Me: "Yes."

Beth: "That's not very strict."

Cheeky.

What Do You Do If Your Child Says "I Hate Chinese"?

This is an issue we come up against every other month.

If we were living in Sg, it would never happen. I mean, when all you know is bilingualism, you take it as a given and don't question it. It's when you have a choice and realize you are doing something extra that your peers aren't, that problems arise.

I just reminded Beth that this Sat is the start of Term 2 of her Chinese classes.

She went "I Hate Chinese!"

She hates that it's 3 hours long and takes up her entire Sat afternoon. (Fair enough.)

She hates that the break is only 2 mins long. (I'm sure it's 20, but I accept her perception of the brevity of it.)

She wants to study a 2nd language but NOT Chinese. (I try to explain what 'commitment' means: not giving up on something just because you're tired/feeling slack. Got nowhere.)

I don't want to take the easy way out and let Beth go monolingual. Not until I have tried everything. It's hard that I didn't start out speaking only Chinese to her, like what language experts recommend for raising a bilingual child. By the time I heard from my ex-colleague that this was what he and his wife were doing with their son, it was too late.

Even now, I can't bring myself to speak just Chinese to J or Beth, so how do I motivate and inspire my kids to love Chinese?

The Musical Journey Begins

I get so excited and so happy when I see J climbing up to the keyboard by herself or singing along to one of Beth's Yamaha DVDs.

She knows the lyrics to many of the songs, can identify the song the moment she hears the opening chords or sees the introductory image come on, can say do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti, tries to guess the notes and chords that the presenter asks, and just demonstrates so much enthusiasm for music that I think she's ripe to join Yamaha when she turns 3 next year.

I have a feeling music is J's primary language of communication.

She responds very well to any kind of music. Turn on the radio and she will bounce along to the rhythm. Play a Fairies video and she will try to copy the dance moves and the singing.

It's an absolute joy to watch her.

Keeping Mentally Fit

CA and I were joking recently that soon we won't be able to competently supervise the girls in their schoolwork because Beth is learning so much everyday.

Example:

Beth's teacher gave her a crossword puzzle to do.
Clue: A platypus is a ---------
Beth scribbled next to the question: MONOTREME.

Me: What's a monotreme?

Beth: It's what a platypus is.

Me: What qualifies a platypus to be a monotreme? What does 'monotreme' mean?

Beth: A monotreme is a mammal that gives birth by laying eggs.

Apparently, this was something Beth learned when we visited Tassie last year. :-)
(Jen: remember our visit to Platypus World?)