Jul 18, 2008

circling as practice

This summer I have been using my children as guinea pigs. Not really, but I have put some of the new skills I picked up during the workshop into practice at home.

First, my younger son has had an aversion to talking. My theory is that he has not had a need to talk because his older brother will supply everything he needs speech-wise. So, I have started a game, where I ask him to show me something (body part, color, etc.) and then I ask his older brother to show me something similar in Spanish. So, I will ask the younger one to show me his eyes, and then I will ask the older one to show me his nariz (nose). That way they are both being asked to participate on their own level and big brother isn't tempted to answer for younger brother. :)

Yesterday, after I realized how much Spanish my older one understands I decided to try circling with him. I was reading a book about colors to him, and just started translating it aloud. I would say "Benjamin's hat is green." "Is Benjamin's hat green?" "Yes, his hat is green. Is Peter's hat green?" "No, Peter's hat is not green, Benjamin's hat is green!" and we went on and on. He really did grasp what was going on and gave correct answers most of the time! But, I also realized how much I need to slow down.

He had trouble when I started adding the clothing to the circled questions. I would ask, "Is Benjamin's hat green?" And he would answer, "No, he's brown!" So then I would go back and remind him in English that sombrero means hat, and we would go on. I would ask, "Is Benjamin green? No Benjamin isn't green, his hat is green!"

I think if I could be consistent in this that he would actually be able to converse in Spanish relatively quickly! And even if that isn't true, I can use the practice with this painful skill. (I think we all hate going slowly and repetitively!)

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