Chinese daycare

Over the past couple months, I have been sending our daughter to a Chinese daycare twice a week.  The childcare here is notably different from your typical American daycare for the following reasons.

1. There are weekly Chinese, Math and English quizzes for attendees (2-4 yr olds)
2. Much of the instruction includes reading and writing.
3. During each 15-20 minute lesson 25 little kids sit appropriately in there seats, supervised by 1 adult who enthusiastically presents the material.
4. The kids are very "advanced" in linguistic development.  The two year-olds can recite ancient Chinese poetry beautifully and understand what it means.  The three year-olds can write entire stories in Chinese characters.
5. The kids are very excited about learning and are always having a great time whenever I pop in.  They participate and when a volunteer is asked to go to the board, they ALL shout MEEEE!  When their peer gets the answer right, they jump out of their seats and spontaneously do a little dance in recognition.  They are very involved enthusiastic.

When I first visited the school with my 15 month-old, I was quite shocked.  I had expected the less structured daycare model with baby songs and games where you 'find your nose'.  Won't a 15 month-old feel bored and left out during the lesson?  It didn't seem right, since my kid can't even talk yet, much less write Chinese characters and do math problems.  But the head teacher, a loving 66 year-old Chinese woman who previously ran a daycare in Shanghai for 30 years assured me that everything would be fine.  "She will watch the other kids and want to learn just like them."

The first couple weeks this grandmotherly woman, Nainai,  patiently held my daughter in her arms through each lesson, since my daughter was timid and afraid of this unfamiliar environment.  It broke my heart that she cried at the start of each day when my parents dropped her off.  But Nainai told me that it would take a little time to adjust.

Now, our daughter enjoys playing with the other kids.  They treat her like their younger sister and charmingly greet her each day, Nihao Lan-Lan!!!  Many of them run over to hug her the minute she steps in the door. And just like Nainai said, Lan-Lan is eager to sit in her own chair and pay attention to each lesson.  Even though she is not learning to write like the other kids, she is still learning.  There is a huge benefit to being with and imitating kids of different age groups.  Nainai even told me that when the other kids are practicing writing characters, our daughter walks around, points at other students' notebooks and babbles advice (in baby language of course), as if she were the teacher.

The bottom line is, I think that there is something to this daycare.  Yes, silly playtime is valuable.  Children learn from playing.  And these kids do have plenty of free play at this place as well.  They enjoy every minute of it, just like any other kid.  However, children can have fun together doing all sorts of things.  If we expect a little more from them and give them a positive, friendly environment, they might just amaze us with what they can learn.  So while goofy games are important, even little kids are capable of and love serious learning.  Let's not underestimate them.

Mamma Tip: Sign Language

At 16 months, our daughter is able to communicate with us primarily through signing.  She can tell us if she wants to eat (and sometimes specify what she wants to eat), if she wants more of something, if she wants us to hold her and a few other things.

Since multilingual children acquire speech later than monolingual children, I am thankful that she can communicate with her hands.  Before she started signing, she used to yell a lot more, and it was difficult to figure out what she wanted.  To teach her signs, we simply showed her the relevant gesture (you can learn ASL signs online or make up your own), and after a few times she learned to imitate.  Once we knew that she was able to use the sign, we would not give her what she wanted until she could appropriately sign to us.  Now she is picking up new signs every day.

Even if you are raising your child to be monolingual, signing is a great way to start the communicating process.  It will build a stronger bond between you and your little one and help you to understand each other.  Of course, don't push signing too early.  Make sure that your child is developmentally ready before you insist that he/she signs.  However, introducing the signs from an early start won't hurt!

Happy signing :)

Life is cyclical

Today a neighbor shared with me a piece of advice regarding exercising:

"Life will happen and you will get out of shape.  Then you go back to it.  Then you will get distracted.  But the important thing is to keep going back to it."

I found this very helpful.  Because I often get into a 'rut' where I lack motivation (check out my exercise log to clue you in!).  But eventually something will spark a light inside and I will go back to the gym or to running or swimming, walking or rollerblading.

I believe that life is not perfectly linear, but cyclical.  Although we are always growing, we get distracted from our habits and good ways.  We get bent out of shape and forget who we are and where we are going.  But that's ok.

The important thing is to pick up where you left of.  Get right back to it.  Or even take a few steps backward.  Start small again.  And then once again tackle those habits that are important to you.  Stay true to your life and give yourself a chance to get back on the path.

This is the moment

My sister has a gift.  Whatever song she is listening to at the moment is her favorite song.  Whatever food she is eating at the moment is her favorite food.  Whatever movie she is watching at the moment is her favorite movie.

How can this be?

Well, she enjoys the moment so much that she forgets about other "better" things and focuses on the bliss of what she has in front of her.  She has a way of appreciating whatever is given to her at any particular point in time.

What if we all could do this?  We wouldn't want to escape from challenges, but rather would view them as opportunities.  We wouldn't be greedy for more, but instead grateful for what we do have.  We wouldn't feel insufficient, but rather capable for what we do well.  We wouldn't be critical of others, but rather supportive and loving.

Every moment is a gift and pushes us to attain our greater self.  Every moment is the best moment.