Archive for January, 2009

Multilingual Parenting- A sharing experience

Last year I started on this project. I had this idea of documenting  my experience of teaching the boys to speak, read and write in three or more languages.  However as the year progressed I got caught up with other projects that this particular one got shelved.

This year I am taking it out of the cupboard and shaking off the dust on it. Hopefully even with my more taxing work schedule I will be able to complete this e-book by Christmas 2009.

Just a run down on my experiement so far. My boys have been introduced to English, Mandarin and Cantonese since birth.

Ryan can now speak  and read very fluently in English. He too knows how to read and write in Mandarin. His Cantonese, however, is not as good. He does understand perfectly well when we speak to him in Cantonese but is very hesitant to reply in the same language. He often opts to answer in English as he is more comfortable with it.

He will be learning Japanese this year with Roy and will be taught how to read and write Japanese while I will only focus on spoken and recognition of Japanese words with Roy.( No writing till he is 3.5 to 4yrs old)

Roy can speak and read English. He understands when we talk to him in Mandarin and Cantonese too. I feel that he has more affinity with Cantonese as he is more willing to talk in Cantonese as compared to Ryan.

I intend to introduce the boys to other languages like French, German later on as they progress through elementary/secondary school.

I am looking for contributors to share their stories on how they teach their children in their native language/second or third language and the difficulties /achievements that they went through.  If you are interested in sharing your story please drop me an e-mail at admin@dominiquegoh.com and I will get in contact with you.

Showing Appreciation- Blogger Style

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to found that I was awarded two awards from fellow Mom bloggers.

The 1st award- Noblesee Oblige was awarded to me by Melissa.

Here’s a breakdown of this award.

click to read more

5. The Blogger must display the Award at any location at the Blog.

Maintaining this site has been a learning experience for me.  I’ve met many wonderful bloggers and made lots of new friends. I’ve gain a lot of technical knowledge in regards to tweaking Wordpress themes, website designing, setting up and maintaining blogs and websites, newsletters and e-mail marketing.

Besides the technicality learning part. I also grew in maturity as through interacting with others online I gained fresh knowledge in how to improve my parenting skills, how to work more efficiently.  I love been up-to-date with the latest development in the world and be informed about the newest technology and highlighted to the latest health issues/findings via twitter.

I feel that it is important to be able to keep up with the latest news so that I can be in a position to make an informed decision regards matters which will affect my family and my kids in particular.

Through blogging on this website it has given me a clear idea on how I wish to educate my boys and the direction that I will/am taking with them in regards to acadamic, physical, emotional and spiritual development. I do hope that my readers too share my sentiments and that we learn from each other on how to be better parents.

The 2nd award that I received is the Lemonade Award from Sophia she runs the Work-At-Home site which you see on my recommendation list on my sidebar.

“When Life Gives your lemons you make lemonade out of it “

Here’s how the Lemonade Award works:

1. You must link back to the person you received the award from.
2. You have to nominate 10 bloggers who are deserving of this award.

I’m going to do a combination this time by nominating these 10 great bloggers for both these awards at the same time.

1. Angeline
2. DomesticGoddess
3. Shelby(Willow)
4. Melinda
5. Cindi
6. Angel
7. Irene
8. Vanessa
9. Bloom
10. Shihui

How do you show your appreciation to fellow bloggers?

Talking about Respect (Part 2)

Photo by Flickr

Showing respect means :- Be tolerant of differences • Use good manners, not bad language • Be considerate of the feelings of others • Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone • Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements

In my last post on Respect I received an interested comment on how it was most important to instill self respect in yourself before you are able to respect others. I agreed with the commenter’s view to an extent but in order for a child to have a clear idea of Self-Respect they will need to be taught or shown how to respect others.

CharacterCounts.org has a list of books which touch on the topic of Respect.

These are some books which are recommended reading on the topic of Respect.

I recently managed to borrow The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle.

This book talks about this bad tempered Ladybug who thinks it is that it is better then everyone. It goes all out to try to pick fights with insects and animals that are bigger then it. As it moves about throughout the day children explore the concepts of time, size ,shape and manners.

A Quest for Respect with the Grouchy Ladybug is something that you can carry out with your school going kids.  There are some activities at that site which help Grade 1 and 2 kids learn about the meaning of Respect.

Besides using the Grouchy Ladybug to teach on respects , Kiddyhouse has a series of  lessons plans where you can teach your kids on the concept of time and on insects.

Building up Virtues- Talking about Respect

A smile brightens up your day. I found this photo while sorting out the boy’s old photo. This picture was taken when Roy was about 5mths old.

Since the boys are now 2 and 4 I find that it is time that we start on educating them on the important of virtues and values.

In this post I will be addressing the virtue of Respect.

Respect- An attitude of caring about people and treating them with dignity.
Respect is valuing ourselves and others by speaking and acting courteously. When we are respectful we treat others the way we want to be treated.

Respecting Others

I strongly believe in this aspect of  showing respect to others. If one is respectful to another he/she will earn the other person’s respect.  I feel that it is important for them to learn from young their Ps and Qs.

Please ,thank you  and excuse me should be part of their commonly used vocabulary.

I make it a point for the boys to ask politely before they will be given whatever they request for.

Roy loves shouting ” Give me!! Give me!! I want it” when he sees something he fancies.

I would prompt him to ask nicely or he wouldn’t get what he desired.

“Can I have [it] please mummy?” I would say and repeat it a few times to get him to say after me.

If  I do not hear at least a “please mummy/daddy” he would not get what he wants. Even all the fussing, crying and screaming that comes with him showing his frustration in not getting  the item does not make me waver from my stance.

” No you didn’t ask nicely you won’t get it”  would be my final answer to Roy.

I don’t believe in giving in to him each time he kicks up a fuss as it would only mean that his attempt at manipulating the situation to his advantage has work.

Roy turning on the waterworks has little effect on ” Stone Heart”  Mummy.

Respecting the Elderly

Showing special respect for the elderly is highly emphasized in our culture.

Addressing and greeting the elderly is a must when the kids go and visit their grandparents and greatgrand mother.   I will make sure that they greet everyone duing our visits and say goodbye to all when it is time to leave.

Self Respect

Showing self respect is important especially for a young child. It makes sure that no one hurts you or abuses you, even an elder.

I got Ryan this book -

when he was 3yrs old which explains to him how he should respect himself by protecting his own body. I intend to share this with Roy too when he is older.

How do you impart the value of Respect to your kids?