"Kicking" the ML out of our home
Jan 29, 2020 6:41:44 GMT 9
Post by Amy on Jan 29, 2020 6:41:44 GMT 9
Latest update:
My eldest:
31-day Read Aloud challenge
The challenge required a minimum reading of 25 days. My eldest is delighted to have achieved 26 days so far and requested the reward on the chart which we had so far not got round to discussing. I asked her what she wanted and after first mentioning a toy she immediately changed her mind to a book (dunno though if I did not unconsciously influence her by repeating “a toy?”) of the Geronimo Stilton Thea Sisters series. It is a multiple-fold reward for me:
1. she enjoyed the challenge
2. she did not get put off by the higher level of the Thea Stilton book she’s currently reading to the point of asking for another one
3. she enjoyed the reading to the point of choosing a new book as a reward
As regards the reward, my eldest chose "Thea Stilton and the Spanish Dance Mission”, which she had seen at the back of the book we are currently reading. I got it in ml1 as the reading level seems a bit easier for her, which will hopefully enable her to enjoy it even more. It will also help to balance out our languages in our home library, since 90% of our books are in ml2!
ml magazine
A success. My eldest is reading it all over again right now as I type the draft of this entry.
Writing
Part of my new year's resolution is the idea of having my daughter write 2 lines a day in a notebook. At first, I thought of a diary, but I'm not sure she is mature enough for it yet. So I opted for another option I had on my mind and that strangely enough my daughter suggested herself: writing her own stories! Funny as I had once tried that in the past and she plainly refused.
ml exposure
Eldest was invited to her ml2 friend’s birthday party and there were an awful lot of ml2 parents and kids present. When I stepped in to pick her up, there was so much ml2 in the background (though mostly adults). I was so happy for her as she could be with other bilinguals like her.
Balancing the ml
Such a challenge! My eldest always tries to read a little in ML. I have to chase ML books and ask her to keep them for lunch-break reading at school. It makes me feel a little sad to have to do that.
Reading
Getting to the end of the "Thea Stilton and the Legend of the Fire Flowers” we borrowed from our local library. Just 10 pages to go! My eldest is so proud of having read a 150-page book. Though the level of English is a bit of a stretch for her, the whole experience seems to have been positive for her. I think in the long-run this could be the beginning of a new home run-book series.
My youngest
Literacy skills
Of late, she loves “reading" her bedtime story, turning the pages and narrating in her own words. I find that brilliant: how much goes in that little head. 
The post ml1 holiday effect
Okay so that is official: we have a post ml1 holiday effect…little one came up with a swear word picked up from a cousin who himself picked it up from school! lol
. Might not be encouraging her to keep that new idiom in her vocabulary though…lol 
Generally
Raising bicultural kids
New book (102 españoles geniales) came through and caught my eldest’s attention. For some reason, the girls are obsessed with Rosalia’s story (singer). Lol. So much so I struggle to get them interested in the rest of the book! Lol
ml exposure
Trilingual after-school babysitter is such a star and is super eager to help with this whole journey. Every day, she plays ml1/ml2 Disney music or shows ml cartoon trailers to the girls. She gets my eldest reading and even writing in the mls. Such a wonderful influence.
My eldest:
31-day Read Aloud challenge
The challenge required a minimum reading of 25 days. My eldest is delighted to have achieved 26 days so far and requested the reward on the chart which we had so far not got round to discussing. I asked her what she wanted and after first mentioning a toy she immediately changed her mind to a book (dunno though if I did not unconsciously influence her by repeating “a toy?”) of the Geronimo Stilton Thea Sisters series. It is a multiple-fold reward for me:
1. she enjoyed the challenge
2. she did not get put off by the higher level of the Thea Stilton book she’s currently reading to the point of asking for another one
3. she enjoyed the reading to the point of choosing a new book as a reward
4. she asked me to print off the reading tracker again to repeat the challenge in February (!) - and this time she wants the tracked in English (lucky the blogger did both a Spanish and English version!).
I certainly had not expected to reap such a positive experience. Thank you ever so much Marta for mentioning this challenge!
It also made me realise that my eldest reads a lot more than I notice. The fact that you track the reading helped me better assess her reading. Some evenings I reminded her that she should read to keep up with the challenge and she’d remind me she had already read to her sister or with her dad or babysitter.
ml magazine
A success. My eldest is reading it all over again right now as I type the draft of this entry.
Writing
Part of my new year's resolution is the idea of having my daughter write 2 lines a day in a notebook. At first, I thought of a diary, but I'm not sure she is mature enough for it yet. So I opted for another option I had on my mind and that strangely enough my daughter suggested herself: writing her own stories! Funny as I had once tried that in the past and she plainly refused.
ml exposure
Eldest was invited to her ml2 friend’s birthday party and there were an awful lot of ml2 parents and kids present. When I stepped in to pick her up, there was so much ml2 in the background (though mostly adults). I was so happy for her as she could be with other bilinguals like her.
Balancing the ml
Such a challenge! My eldest always tries to read a little in ML. I have to chase ML books and ask her to keep them for lunch-break reading at school. It makes me feel a little sad to have to do that.
Reading
Getting to the end of the "Thea Stilton and the Legend of the Fire Flowers” we borrowed from our local library. Just 10 pages to go! My eldest is so proud of having read a 150-page book. Though the level of English is a bit of a stretch for her, the whole experience seems to have been positive for her. I think in the long-run this could be the beginning of a new home run-book series.
My youngest
Literacy skills
She wants to do everything like her sister, and said she wanted to have a basket with little notes like her (see earlier entry where I mentioned notes with words in our 3 languages to teach my eldest to search in our dictionaries). I did so last night with letters. Every time she picks one, I ask her the name and sound it makes. She surprises me by how many letter name she knows. Phonics are not there yet. Room for improvement. She still enjoys writing and does squiggly lines and loves being spelled out names.
The post ml1 holiday effect
Okay so that is official: we have a post ml1 holiday effect…little one came up with a swear word picked up from a cousin who himself picked it up from school! lol
. Might not be encouraging her to keep that new idiom in her vocabulary though…lol 
Generally
Raising bicultural kids
New book (102 españoles geniales) came through and caught my eldest’s attention. For some reason, the girls are obsessed with Rosalia’s story (singer). Lol. So much so I struggle to get them interested in the rest of the book! Lol
ml exposure
Trilingual after-school babysitter is such a star and is super eager to help with this whole journey. Every day, she plays ml1/ml2 Disney music or shows ml cartoon trailers to the girls. She gets my eldest reading and even writing in the mls. Such a wonderful influence.
But what is sure is that she loved it and knows a lot of letters and sounds. I also played some jolly phonics songs. I also quiz her outside of activity time. Asking her to search for a letter in a page of a story I’m reading to her, or a letter spotted around us. She also counts to 20 in ml2 (with a few mistakes in her 15-16, 18-19).
