I wanted to bring all of Ashus books to Zurich from Bangalore more than her toys and clothes. English books are sold only in certain book shops and they are very expensive here. Finding a library and commuting might also be a problem. So I brought most of her books. (Remember the heavy fine for overweight baggage to Lufthansa? Now you know why.) I bought around 10 books just before coming to Zurich. My sister and friends have bought her loads of books. I also bought a few Tamil rhymes and alphabet books. So to cut the long story short, it seems like she has a million books now in her room. She has never seen them all together before. So the little Missy is happy beyond words. She wants to hold 4 books at a time and see pictures from all of them. She is also calling out letters like A, W, C, Q,... whenever she recognizes the letters. The other day she pointed out the word WILD in one of her books and said Dabbudabbu-I-Ellu-Dheeee and I almost had a heart attack. She has these flash cards with alphabets and pictures and madam can say all the 26 words now. Apple, Baoon, Cat, Doggeee, Naanai(for elephant), Fishy, Guita(r),Hat, Iggoo, Jar, Kite, Lemon, (she says tomato first and then when I ask her again she says Emon), Mitten, Nest(and immediately says "Kuvvi irukum" meaning "A bird lives in it"), Ottopus, Piggy, Qeen, Ring, Sun, (T)able, Umbella, Vioyeen, Dabbudabbu first and then Wagon, X(ray), Yoyo, Zeeba. And these flash cards I gave her only in the flight for the first time 3 weeks back. Of course she knew most of the words already having seen them in one or the other dozen alphabet books she has and the websites. Its hard to figure her out. She likes mostly picture books where she can point and say what they are or listens when I tell her what they are. But theres this Pooh story book she loves to look at and also lets me read it to her for few minutes. But she wants none of the nursery rhymes book to be read to her. Its OK if I sing to her when we are playing or I'm changing her diaper or dressing her up. But if I open the book and start singing a rhyme, she grabs it and closes it and says "Aachu" (finished) and keeps the book back in the shelf. I have to say it hurts my ego big time! Then there are these paper books which I keep on the top shelf as I'm afraid she ll tear them up. And those she loves needless to say. But I am always near her when she looks at them. Every time she turns the pages, I want to snatch the book from her and run as she creases the pages very badly. But then, these are her books. So I let it go! I know, I have a big heart! I bought two Noddy story books in Bangalore because she loves Noddy. I think I should prepare myself to accept him as my future son-in-law. Yes, that much lurve! Those are her favorites now. But we lost one in Ikea last week. So we are hanging on to the last Noddy we have currently!! My dad said he can courier a dozen Noddy books but I pretended not to hear him!
Anyway, I have a few Qs. Mommies help me out if you can.
1. So those nursery rhymes books are for the parents to memorize and sing to them later is it? Why is Ashu looking at me as if I'm copying in an exam when I sing the songs from the book? Or is it for older kids and shes trying to tell me that?
2. How does/did your toddler turn a paper page? This badly? Will she improve or should I hide the books which are MY favorites?
3. Ashu always likes it when I tell her a story in Tamil. So even when I read out from an English book, I tell her in Tamil after every sentence. Is that okay?
4. Whats with kids and animal pictures? She can say Iguana looking at a picture of Iguana and I have nt even heard of an Iguana before. But show her an Orange and she says Apple.
5. Do toddlers forget easily? I remember Ashu was doing this puzzle book with Numbers on them very easily. Now she does nt know how when she saw the book 4 months later. Does it mean I have to show those damn ABC flash cards to her every day? Let her as well learn in School then, whats the hurry? ;)
Wow!!! She is a bright little girl and you are a great mother to spend time teaching her. I am too exhausted with the pregnancy to sit and read all the time to the Brat... but he turns pages wildly and so yes, the pages are in a bad shape but I dont hide the books away - they are after all his and he will soon get more limb coordination.. i hope this love of books you are giving her is carried through life...
my four month old is a very fast learner.....i have this peekaboo baby book that i bought for her...she can be calmed ,when she is fussy, only with this book...and man is she showing her personality or what! she squeals when i put the book away to wipe off her drool! I love giving books to babies and i think u are doing the right thing.....
actually, you must be proud that ashu understands in tamil....after sometime it will be tough for her to pick up tamil than english...
so i feel english can wait....and a fast learner that she is....am sure she can learn english pretty fast!
1. My 31/2 yr old would never let me read the rhyme books either :) 2.Yes, it will get better and ofcourse they learn by you example..instead of correcting her..just let her watch you 3. Ofcourse..they say encouraging language development at a young age is extremely appropriate. 4. :)
1. Ayaan goes through phases and normally like one book read to him over and over for days and sometimes that book is the nursery rhymes book so no, I don't think he has a problem with it.
2. I have had to throw away atleast 3-4 books because they were in such bad shape. I usually prefer to buy him board books but I don't deprive him of his paper ones either. I just tell him not to tear them and he is getting better and better at not doing that. Life-the-flap books though I keep away as they have a shelf life of half a day when in Ayaan's hands!
3. I read somewhere that the earlier you expose kids to multiple languages, the better they are will languages in general as they grow up. Ayaan hears English, Hindi and Marathi everyday and know many words from each of them. He knows the English and Hindi words for water and will use the right word with the right person too. (Note to self: stop boasting)
4. Oh yes! Ayaan knows a rhino from a deer but all fruits and vegetables are apples.
5. I wouldn't worry about flash cards and memory retention so much. Just talk to her and read to her and she will pick up things as she goes along.
hi boo .. my 14 month old doesn't like it when i sing rhymes looking at a book either but he loves it when i sing them at other times .. i have learnt most of them and sing them to him while bathing him, while rocking him to sleep or during our playtime together. he also likes listening to them on the DVD player with the music et al. Hope this helps. Cheers :)
:-) So sweet! Very soon, you'll be buying Nancy Drew and Secret Seven! ;-)
And I've seen (heard?) my friend sing 'Itsy bitsy spider' to her kid to put her to sleep - donno about the kid, but I couldn't get that rhyme off my head for a week after that!
P.S: Hope you're doin' better, Boo. That fall really freaked me out.
Boo, I can see myself ask the very questions a few months down the line. Ananya used to love looking at pictures when she was littl-er-4-5 months old. Then she graduated to phase of wanting to eat all the paper pages and chew on all the board books. Now she spends some time looking at the pictures before starting the thumping, pulling, tearing. I am hoping this is a phase which all children go thru and she will grow out of it. She likes to hear me sing nursery rhymes.
MM - To be honest, I am not spending as much time as I should. And shes in a learning phase now and I feel more guilty coz of that!
IBH - Thats my reasoning too. I want her to learn Tamil first. English - she ll pick up anyway! But one of my friend was telling that it might be difficult for the child when they start going to school. So I was just thinking aloud.
Orchid - My sister would never give her books to me when we were growing up coz I caused serious damage to them. Even in my teenage! She must be really happy now!! ;)
@ - Thats a good idea. All mommies can write about their childs favorite books. She just went WILD with the word WILD I guess. It was a one time thing. She has a fascination for the letter W though. ;)
Rohini - May be its my singing which is causing the problem!! ;) And oh yeah! Tell me about those lift the flap books! Its more like rip the flap books for the kids I suppose!
Shobha - I never tried the rhymes on TV. It might work. Good idea!
Priya - Imagine our plights! Im humming Noddy and Dora songs even in my sleep!! And yeah I am ok now except for a little chewing problem which is getting better though!
SM - They are very picky too, are nt they? Has Ananya got a favorite too? I remember Ashu liked only a couple of books when she was littler and was nt even curious to look at some books.
1. I never managed to get Abhay to sit and have me sing him rhymes either. He used to hate it and go "No No No". Try the music CD's instead - they work wonders.
2. Don't hide books Boo. Abhay used to be so so horrible when it came to handling books. They learn better by just watching you do things. Everytime you turn thepage of a book - whichever book that may be - not just Ashu's book - say out aloud - that's how you turn the page.
3. I personally think its perfectly alright to be multilingual. They learn to channelise speech into English once they start nursery/KG.
4. :-) that's a toddler for you :-)
5. Don't really worry your head about flashcards and puzzles. Maybe just an "off" phase - they go thru that many a times. They dont want to do something - they dont show any interest. As regards puzzles, with Abhay, even now, give him floor puzzles and he absolutely does not have the patience to fix them. Give him puzzles to do on teh PC and watch him go !! It will come with time - don't worry.
Hi Boo!Just got to know that you have returned back to Zurich.I can absolutely understand with you in the reason you paid a heavy fine and bought the books frm India,its very difficult to get english books here and the price,Oh God!
Boo i dont have much answers to your queries,but thought of sharing something that U Im aware of...I have heard that its good to teach small children to identify colours.
I should be reading your blog more regularly...I do it once a week, and there's so much to catch up on...I missing out on all the fun...
Loved your post on books and reading to Ashu! I should send you an invite to contribute on ST...Will be so interesting to read your reviews! Do you think you'd be up for it? sorry to ask this on a comment - i should also email you with a personal request!
Also, as @ suggested, let's do a tag on children's books - and also post the link on ST...
interestingly - we have the same books almost - the tiny turtles, (read that a zillion times when my duaghter was close to 1 and a half...) and ofcourse a bunch of dr.seuss - that we still do, clifford etc..we did that for my older one when she was between 1 and 2 - now with my little one, I am doing all of that again! Would be a great idea for all of us to post pictures from our bookshelves, isn't it? Try Eric Carle's books - you would love them! :-)
sorry about my multiple comments - i process info slow! :-) will get back to you on the questions after recollecting what my 4 yr old did when she was 2- ..
1. So those nursery rhymes books are for the parents to memorize and sing to them later is it? Why is Ashu looking at me as if I'm copying in an exam when I sing the songs from the book? Or is it for older kids and shes trying to tell me that?
16 comments:
Wow!!! She is a bright little girl and you are a great mother to spend time teaching her. I am too exhausted with the pregnancy to sit and read all the time to the Brat... but he turns pages wildly and so yes, the pages are in a bad shape but I dont hide the books away - they are after all his and he will soon get more limb coordination.. i hope this love of books you are giving her is carried through life...
my four month old is a very fast learner.....i have this peekaboo baby book that i bought for her...she can be calmed ,when she is fussy, only with this book...and man is she showing her personality or what! she squeals when i put the book away to wipe off her drool! I love giving books to babies and i think u are doing the right thing.....
actually, you must be proud that ashu understands in tamil....after sometime it will be tough for her to pick up tamil than english...
so i feel english can wait....and a fast learner that she is....am sure she can learn english pretty fast!
1. My 31/2 yr old would never let me read the rhyme books either :)
2.Yes, it will get better and ofcourse they learn by you example..instead of correcting her..just let her watch you
3. Ofcourse..they say encouraging language development at a young age is extremely appropriate.
4. :)
is this a tag? no? well nvm, I'll take it up as one and make a post out of it!
Ashu is spelling already!! and how so cutely! tape it, pls, the audio at least and share with us!
1. Ayaan goes through phases and normally like one book read to him over and over for days and sometimes that book is the nursery rhymes book so no, I don't think he has a problem with it.
2. I have had to throw away atleast 3-4 books because they were in such bad shape. I usually prefer to buy him board books but I don't deprive him of his paper ones either. I just tell him not to tear them and he is getting better and better at not doing that. Life-the-flap books though I keep away as they have a shelf life of half a day when in Ayaan's hands!
3. I read somewhere that the earlier you expose kids to multiple languages, the better they are will languages in general as they grow up. Ayaan hears English, Hindi and Marathi everyday and know many words from each of them. He knows the English and Hindi words for water and will use the right word with the right person too. (Note to self: stop boasting)
4. Oh yes! Ayaan knows a rhino from a deer but all fruits and vegetables are apples.
5. I wouldn't worry about flash cards and memory retention so much. Just talk to her and read to her and she will pick up things as she goes along.
hi boo .. my 14 month old doesn't like it when i sing rhymes looking at a book either but he loves it when i sing them at other times .. i have learnt most of them and sing them to him while bathing him, while rocking him to sleep or during our playtime together.
he also likes listening to them on the DVD player with the music et al. Hope this helps. Cheers :)
:-) So sweet! Very soon, you'll be buying Nancy Drew and Secret Seven! ;-)
And I've seen (heard?) my friend sing 'Itsy bitsy spider' to her kid to put her to sleep - donno about the kid, but I couldn't get that rhyme off my head for a week after that!
P.S: Hope you're doin' better, Boo. That fall really freaked me out.
Boo, I can see myself ask the very questions a few months down the line. Ananya used to love looking at pictures when she was littl-er-4-5 months old. Then she graduated to phase of wanting to eat all the paper pages and chew on all the board books. Now she spends some time looking at the pictures before starting the thumping, pulling, tearing. I am hoping this is a phase which all children go thru and she will grow out of it. She likes to hear me sing nursery rhymes.
MM - To be honest, I am not spending as much time as I should. And shes in a learning phase now and I feel more guilty coz of that!
IBH - Thats my reasoning too. I want her to learn Tamil first. English - she ll pick up anyway! But one of my friend was telling that it might be difficult for the child when they start going to school. So I was just thinking aloud.
Orchid - My sister would never give her books to me when we were growing up coz I caused serious damage to them. Even in my teenage! She must be really happy now!! ;)
@ - Thats a good idea. All mommies can write about their childs favorite books. She just went WILD with the word WILD I guess. It was a one time thing. She has a fascination for the letter W though. ;)
Rohini - May be its my singing which is causing the problem!! ;) And oh yeah! Tell me about those lift the flap books! Its more like rip the flap books for the kids I suppose!
Shobha - I never tried the rhymes on TV. It might work. Good idea!
Priya - Imagine our plights! Im humming Noddy and Dora songs even in my sleep!! And yeah I am ok now except for a little chewing problem which is getting better though!
SM - They are very picky too, are nt they? Has Ananya got a favorite too? I remember Ashu liked only a couple of books when she was littler and was nt even curious to look at some books.
Hi Boo
1. I never managed to get Abhay to sit and have me sing him rhymes either. He used to hate it and go "No No No". Try the music CD's instead - they work wonders.
2. Don't hide books Boo. Abhay used to be so so horrible when it came to handling books. They learn better by just watching you do things. Everytime you turn thepage of a book - whichever book that may be - not just Ashu's book - say out aloud - that's how you turn the page.
3. I personally think its perfectly alright to be multilingual. They learn to channelise speech into English once they start nursery/KG.
4. :-) that's a toddler for you :-)
5. Don't really worry your head about flashcards and puzzles. Maybe just an "off" phase - they go thru that many a times. They dont want to do something - they dont show any interest. As regards puzzles, with Abhay, even now, give him floor puzzles and he absolutely does not have the patience to fix them. Give him puzzles to do on teh PC and watch him go !! It will come with time - don't worry.
Hi Boo!Just got to know that you have returned back to Zurich.I can absolutely understand with you in the reason you paid a heavy fine and bought the books frm India,its very difficult to get english books here and the price,Oh God!
Boo i dont have much answers to your queries,but thought of sharing something that U Im aware of...I have heard that its good to teach small children to identify colours.
Boo -
I should be reading your blog more regularly...I do it once a week, and there's so much to catch up on...I missing out on all the fun...
Loved your post on books and reading to Ashu! I should send you an invite to contribute on ST...Will be so interesting to read your reviews! Do you think you'd be up for it? sorry to ask this on a comment - i should also email you with a personal request!
Also, as @ suggested, let's do a tag on children's books - and also post the link on ST...
interestingly - we have the same books almost - the tiny turtles, (read that a zillion times when my duaghter was close to 1 and a half...) and ofcourse a bunch of dr.seuss - that we still do, clifford etc..we did that for my older one when she was between 1 and 2 - now with my little one, I am doing all of that again! Would be a great idea for all of us to post pictures from our bookshelves, isn't it? Try Eric Carle's books - you would love them! :-)
sorry about my multiple comments - i process info slow! :-) will get back to you on the questions after recollecting what my 4 yr old did when she was 2- ..
Post a Comment