Summer is slowly coming to an end

I cannot believe summer is almost coming to an end and I go back to work on august 27th!  I feel like summer just started. It has been a busy summer. Potty training for Sofi and learning to walk for Timmy. I started this blog so I could record Sofi's second language acquisition.  It seems like she is in her Spanish "silent period".  Her English vocabulary has exploded since she was 18 months old.  At 18 months old she could only say about 10 to 15 words in Englsih and now I'd say she says hundreds of English words.  

In Spanish she is counting to ten, singing some traditional Nursery songs like De Colores, La arana pequenita and Un elefante.  She understands all commands and is slowing adding phrases to her repertoire of Spanish. We ask her "ronde esta la abuelita" and she responds "en las casa". Slowly but surely she will become Bilingual.  This is very exciting for me. I want to spend some time in Mexico when in a year or two and I think the immersion experience will be helpful to reinforce her second language acquisition.

Timmy just started walking alone this week and he will be a year and a month in a few days.

We just got back from McGowan fest in Michigan and we all had a great time.  I have lots of summer photos to post.  

 Downtown at the Picasso statue with Victor.

Sofi looking out the window at a parade walking by the Chicago Public Library. 

Sofi loves the book "Goodnight Chicago".  We are currently making her own copy of Goodnight Chicago.  These are some of the pictures we will include in the book.   Sofi did finish the Summer Reading Challenge and we are supposed to get our goody bag from the librarian on Monday.  

Busy, Busy with Common Core

Yes, Common Core is keeping us busy!  On our first week in January we worked on CCS RI 2.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events.  So we have been busy reading about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and learning about biographies and timelines.  Because my students are transitioning into English I always let them choose what language they want to read and write in.  I want them to feel comfortable reading and writing in English but I can tell when they just cannot understand what they are reading so I provide the material in their native language or it's just time wasted.

In this assignment my students were able to read about four events in the life of Dr. King and pull out the important details. (Of course after I modeled and we did our guided practice together.)  The tough part was making the connection from one event to the next.

This week we also had the famous ACCESS testing.  A test that measures English Acquisition in Listening, Reading and Writing.  Next week is a three day week!!!

Snow Day in Chicago

I thought Sofi would be the only one at play group today but we were surprised by three other kids who attended! What a freezing day! It was -14 degrees at 9:00 a.m. this morning.  Thank GOD our local school district let us stay home and stay warm.  My maternity leave went on for an extra day (I'm hoping for tomorrow as well). 

I'm glad Sofi had one more day of play with mommy.

I wanted to share some of the photos we took at The Peggy Noteabart Nature Museum yesterday.  We had the place all to ourselves.

Sofi had so much fun.  She got to sort shells and rocks.

Back to Work

After six months of maternity leave I am due to return to work on Monday, January 6, 2014.  It's bittersweet for me.  I have a sweet daughter who just turned two years old in December and I have a wonderful little boy who will be 6 months old in two days.  I've had so much fun going to playgroups, music classes, drum classes, birthday parties, Halloween parties and just taking naps!

I also have a class of 25 second graders who are anxiously awaiting my arrival.  I don't want to let them down and I am planning some fun activities to build our class community.  It's like starting the year all over again in January! I have to get to know them and they have to get to know me.  It's exciting and it will be exhausting but I am humbled at the opportunity to be there and learn with them as well.

I started this blog not only to record my daily observations as a second grade bilingual public school teacher but also to record the growth in language development of my own children.  I've spent a lot of time learning and taking some classes in Early Childhood Development and I really need to record what I observe.  I am even thinking of quitting my 16 year career as an inner city teacher.  Early Intervention needs more Developmental Therapists and it's something that I am definitely interested in.  For now, I'm going to hang in there for another year or two.