Sunday, February 28, 2010

escolinha-feb 26, 2010

I think this week I left my head at home. I know I left it right next to the computer. God only knows how I did my errands, and then went (late) to the Escolinha. So, I was tired, grouchy and airheaded when Monica did her teaching. I know the theme was "a summary of the month" but I cannot tell what she did... except for the songs and activities that always happen. So, I have asked Suzanna to write as a guest here. I will come back and post when she gives me her text.Okay? So sorry, I swear I will put my head on, for next class.
                  Here is what wonderful Suzanna wrote. Thank you Suzanna!
Ultimamente quando temos chegado na aulinha, a Monica ja esta na garagem dancando com a galera toda.  Enquanto esperamos todas as criancas chegarem, Monica aproveita e faz suggestoes simples: "Bota a mao na cabeca!", "Agacha!" "Pula!".  As criancas adoraram, e e uma maneira de envolver os que nao falam, mas que ja entendem. 

Muitas maes participam tambem, e eu acho que nao so e uma manifestacao de solidariedade com a Monica, mas ajuda as criancas, ja que nem todos estao olhando para a professora constantemente para seguir as instrucoes.  No mundo ESOL chamamos isto de TPR, ou Total Physical Response.  Nem sempre e feita com musica.  O jogo Chefinho Mandou (Simon Says) e outro exemplo de TPR. 

Outra vantagem, claro, e que todo esse movimento cedinho cansa os meninos e ajuda eles a manterem mais concentracao durante as outras atividades.  Bem, normalmente funciona assim!  Tem dias que mare nao esta pra peixe...

Na sexta passada, Monica preparou uma especie de "best hits" de 2010!  Cantamos a musica da formiga (Fui ao mercado, comprar batata roxa...) fazendo todos os movimentos.  Lemos o livro Meus Amigos do Taro Gomi.  Cada crianca ganhou uma plaquinha  que Monica imprimiu com um dos personagens do livro.  Tinham que manter atencao para colocar sua plaquinha no quadro na sua vez.  Espero que Monica tente de novo na sexta que vem, ja que a atencao da turma nao estava 100%, e a atividade foi super valida. 

Para acabar, queria mencionar que a atividade do trem, em que as criancas tem que achar suas "passagems" usando so os seus nomes, sem se referenciar as fotos esta ficando cada vez mais facil.  Tem uns pequenininhos que ja estao achando os seus nomes.  Um garotinho de 2 anos identificou logo o "W" do seu nome.  A felicidade dos meninos quando colocam os crachazinhos no trem alegra qualquer coracao!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Portuguese Verbs/Verbos em Portugues

I found this great resource in the internet. It is a Pdf file full of drawings of Portuguese verbs. They have all kinds of verbs... Unfortunately at the time I did not think of writing down the web address so I cannot give credit (I have the file so I can email to whoever wants it--just leave a comment asking for it). If you know where it is from, please let me know and I will post a link and/or give credit. I printed everything on cardboard, cut and laminated. It turned out great. See picture below:

From escolinha

A few tips: to save money print every other sheet on regular paper. Then when you laminate put two cards (a cardboard and a regular paper) against each other. This will save you money, time and it the "book" will be smaller than mine. I am embarrassed to say I only thought about this trick halfway through my laminating ....:(

 The verb "pegar" is mispelled. So I fixed it and no problem..I have around 90 of verbs for my son to practice! And for my husband to learn portuguese! Just to give you a taste here are some of the verbs: surfar, nadar, pagar, comprar, fritar, perguntar, comer, tomar, derrubar, brigar.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

I found two great resources that connect the alphabet and animals in Portuguese. The first one can be printed and cut. I am in the process of making it as a little book. I am going to cut, laminate and then connect with a book ring.
Here is where you can find the cards
http://lereescrevercerto.blogspot.com/2009/09/alafabeto-dos-animais.html

It is missing the X-- but that is easily fixed by downloading a picture of Xexeu or Ximango (two different birds). For instance if you go here you can learn about birds from Brasil and download your picture of the Xexeu
http://www.criadourokakapo.com/index.php?secao=artigoab000065

The other great site that I found is a wikemedia site. It is the Teenager Sister to Wikipedia (you know...the hot young one). It is totally worth your time to check it out!!! Children will love it! I love because it has little guessing games for the children to see if they know what is the next animal...plus the pictures are real (no drawings).If you notice you can click on a printer friendly version. I decided not to print because I thought the pictures were too beautiful and would not come out right, plus too big for a book.
http://pt.wikibooks.org/wiki/Alfabeto_dos_animais

UPDATE!! Here is the picture of my book
From escolinha

Friday, February 19, 2010

Escolinha- tema Carnaval

This past week was Carnival in Brazil. So, in our preeschool we did a Carnival theme.
Very wisely, Monica started the teaching by writing our schedule in the board. Therefore, counting to seven in Portuguese, writing, and drawing was presented to the children.
From escolinha

We also sang our regular songs (more on this at a later post). Then we danced to some carnival/samba songs. The children had a blast dancing!

A puppet show was next. We watched as the puppets talked about carnival and their costumes. Look at how creative the puppets were!
From escolinha

Then the puppets dressed as a pirate and a princess. Isn't that what every little boy and girl want to be? I still think I want to be a princess some day (don't tell anyone!).

From escolinha
After fun with puppets it was craft time. They got to color a princess and a pirate. Play time and yummy food followed that. Boy, are we tired....

Clube do Livro- tema Eu quero, Eu quero

Wednesday we had our Clube do Livro or Book club (literal translation). We did a play based on the book
"Eu quero! Eu quero!" by Shirley Souza.

The book was about this little girl that has a tantrum every time she wants something. By the end she learns that others are not as privileged as she is. Here is the summary in Portuguese ("Tudo o que Júlia quer ela ganha e quando não ganha, apronta um escândalo de arrepiar. Até que vê um menino de rua brincando em uma praça. Júlia nota que ele não tem muita coisa: brinquedos, casa, talvez nem pai, nem mãe. E assim ela percebe que possui coisas demais e algo mais importante que tudo: o amor de sua família."). It has a great message as it teaches that love is more important than material things.
The play was lots of fun...and entertaining. I especially liked that I played the dad... even though my mustache did not allow me to speak as well as I hoped. I particularly liked that I was an extremely good looking dad (my mustache made me sexy) and that I could have a daughter the same age as me (LOL). The kids played attention to the play so I declare it to be a success! Enjoy the picture:


Susanna and Daniella did a great job singing traditional Brazilian songs with the children. The songs teach vocabulary and passing on of Brazilian culture.  I took pictures of some of the songs and you can see them here.

From escolinha
From escolinha

Suzanna reminded the children of the instruments used in our last Clube do Livro and also introduced some new instruments. I was pleasantly surprised when my son remembered the name of reco-reco.... This time they learned about the triangulo.
By the way, we used our Mala Magica to store the instruments. The magic bag is Monica's creation. For it I give Monica the "Fashion Hip Mamae Award".. it is similar like the Oscars but without the fancy dress... and the public, and the money... and the naked man statue...Oh well..okay..it is nothing like the Oscars but it is still a great Award for a Great Mala. (someone had too much coffee and is having too much fun with this blog today). Now, back to topic: Here is why I go on and on about the magic mala. Totally fun!
From escolinha

When we finished singing the children were divided into three groups (different reading levels) and we all read at least one story to our children. It was really good!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

So, I am in love with Lapbooks/Livro de Colo. I have been obsessively printing, cutting, gluing, laminating and creating things out of free lapbooks lessons. I have several favorite sites. Tonight I had the idea of searching for portuguese lapbooks. I was happy to find a few! Here they are for ideas:

Lapbook about Brazil..and its difference/similarities to USA
http://www.waldsfe.org/Snap%20Shots/brazil_flapbooks.htm

A bunch of lapbooks in portuguese with a christian theme
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandramac/2269814956/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandramac/

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Pesquisa para as Mamaes Brasileiras nos USA

Gente, por favor cliquem no link abaixo e respondam a nossa pequena pesquisa! E rapidinho (prometo).
Click here to take survey

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Trabalho de turma

A Monica (ela devia ser guest blogger here) comecou um trabalho legal para as nossas criancas. Como sempre ela fez uma coisinha linda. Vou mostrar a foto.


escolinha

A capa do livrinho tem uma foto de cada crianca. Quantas criancas nos temos! Nao tem como nao ter orgulho vendo tantas criancinhas bonitas e seus sorrisos! Bom, dentro do livro cada crianca tem sua pagina com frases sobre a crianca.  Cada semana uma crianca decora a sua pagina. Ficou muito lindo. Todos amaram. Esta semana e a vez da "Daughter" decorar!!! Fotos da decoracao dela coloco depois. Fui!

Aulinha que me faz pensar--ai ai

A nossa aulinha ontem foi otima. Cantamos as musiquinhas, lemos o mesmo livro e fizemos um Valentine's day craft.
Esta semana meus filhos so querem escutar duas musicas:
"O que e que tem na sopa do nenem"



e "A canoa virou". Os dois da palavra cantada. Bom, acontece que a Monica escolheu  "A canoa virou" para cantar na escolinha. De forma que tudo que escuto no momento e a musica. Ja ate decorei. Resolvi que e outra musica que se encaixa nos padroes de musicas que so o brasileiro entende.
olha so o que diz:
Rema, Rema,
A canoa virou porque deixaram ela virar
Foi por causa da fulana que nao soube remar
Se eu fosse um peixinho e soubesse nadar eu tirava a Fulana dofundo do mar
Siri pra ca, siri pra la (algumas versoes falam ti-ri-ri)
A Fulana e feia e quer casar.

Okay, agora olha so o que estamos ensinamos as nossas criancas:
1- quando algo de ruim acontece, sempre tem um culpado. Esse culpado, deixa que as coisas ruims acontecam ou seja ele nao tem controle nenhum sobre o ocorrido. Hum... sera que estamos ensinando falta de responsabilidade pessoal?
2- Se eu pudesse eu ajudava e participava. Mas como nao posso eu fico na minha e deixo a fulana se afogar. Afinal ela e culpada mesmo, nao sabe remar. Eu claro, nao sou culpada pois so nao sei nadar. Os outros sao culpados, so eu que nao! Rensposabilidade pessoal? Nenhuma.
3- Quem e feio, nao casa. Conheco gente muito feia casada. Independentemente insinamos que beleza e importante se quisermos ter outros na nossa vida. Humm... Tudo bem, que muitas dessas escolhas foram feitas pela rima... Eu adoro uma rima...mas sera que nao tinha jeito de dar uma mensagem melhor?

Em resumo, ensinamos as criancas, que beleza e importante e responsabilidade pessoal nao. Independente disso tudo, meus filhos adoram a rima e a musica. Isso com os gestos... irresistivel! Entao, conclusao so brasileiro que escuta esta cancao ha muito tempo nao se ofende. Eu, nem me atrevo a traduzir!!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tips to Raising a Bilingual Child

From 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child, by Naomi Steiner and Susan Hayes

1. Start little by little. Be aware that your child might resist an abrupt change of language.

2. Initially, you might be supporting understanding by translating, but the goal is to stop doing this little by little.

3. Start speaking the language during chosen times or activities when you're not rushed and there is plenty of extra time for explanations. For example, Sunday morning breakfasts might be a time when you feel relaxed. You don't want to put yourself in the situation of being stressed to get the kids out the door and teaching vocabulary. Then add on one activity at a time. For instance, add on bath time and teach the vocabulary words related to bath time.

4. Switch to reading simple books in the second language, simplifying and translating if needed. Books are a great way to teach new words.

5. Gradually extend the amount of time you speak the language and add on resources and activities that your kids can do on the computer or TV, for example.

6. Encourage your child to respond to you in the second language.

7. Don't give up! Remember, time is on your side.
Motherhood is like juggling. Womanhood is the same you just have to look a little prettier. I often have so much on my plate that I feel like a little busy bee flying around going nowhere. So, I moved from the Dc area cause I was tired of the snow/cold/winter. Now, that they are being bombarded by the biggest snowstorm --I am actually jealous. I could do with the rest. No driving anywhere, no commitments. I could talk more about this but I am off to take a break. Motherhood instructions would say--breaks are necessary for the sake of sanity--yours and theirs.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Today Daughter and I did two activities.
The first was inspired by one of my favorite blogs of all time "Confessions of a Homeschooler". She got paint chips colors and did an activity for her preschooler to categorize colors (with different shades). I got her idea and changed up a little. You can read about what she did here

http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2009/10/paint-chip-phonics.html

For us I wrote the colors in Portuguese. I let her try doing the lines to separate the colors.
From Oops they forgot to give me a Manual
Then talked to my daughter about all the colors. We worked on our pronunciation.  It was so funny because when I was a kid I could not say "amarelo" (yellow) well..my daughter has the same issue. Everytime she would try saying "amarelo" it sounded like "amalelo" which sounds much like "yellow"... LOL! In this activity my goal was for her to learn/practice the colors in Portuguse.
From Oops they forgot to give me a Manual

We were having so much fun that we decided to count all the colors (as a total) and then each color and write down the number. So in the end we worked on gluing, counting, color, pronunciation, and line drawing. But more importantly we had fun! Motherhood instructions definitely would have a chapter on fun.
From Oops they forgot to give me a Manual
Another activity we did today, was to learn the location of Brasil and USA. Then we glued hearts in both places. So cute! So reflective of how I feel...hearts in both places.
From Oops they forgot to give me a Manual

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Brazilian Preeschool--Escola dos Brasileirinhos

For about 7 months now some Brazilian moms (and one grandma) have been getting together to teach their kids Portuguese. We are all native Brazilians, some married to Americans some to fellow Brazilians...but all living in the USA. It has been such a fun journey! I am so thankful to God for putting such a special group of people together. We each have our own personalities and talents and we make a great mix. I feel so blessed that I wanted to share the love. So I am going to post here once a while about what we do in our group. But here is a first lesson for all of us-- If there was such a thing as a Motherhoood Manual---it would say--- raising kids is much easier with good friends!
Anyway, yesterday at our meeting we studied about FRIENDS or AMIGOS as we say in Portuguese. Monica read a wonderful story to the kids.It talks about how we learn things from animals and how they are our friends.
Here is the book she read (this book is in Spanish and English--not Portuguese-but she translated it so it worked perfectly)
My Friends/Mis AmigosMy Friends/Mis Amigos

Then later, we sang a song about the ant (formiga)in the story. Part of the song said
"FUI AO MERCADO COMPRAR LIMÃO
E A FORMIGUINHA SUBIU NA MINHA MÃO
EU SACUDI, SACUDI, SACUDI
MAS A FORMIGUINHA NÃO PARAVA DE SUBIR"

This song is about someone going to the store to buy items and an ant biting a part of the body that rhymes with the items bought. Kids love it because they can move together with the song as the singer tries to get rid of the ants. Moms love it because it teaches parts of the body and names of food items. Perfect all around!
After singing, Creative Monica had the kids do a craft. They glued a picture of a lime (LIMÃO)then stamped their hand (MÃO) on the paper. The kids had to draw an ant (FORMIGA) moving up in the hand. It went so well with the song. The kids loved it! Unfortunately I forgot my camera...so pictures will start next week.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

It has been a year and a half since my last post (or more...I send my math on a vacation this morning). The way this blog is going it will feel like the Moses walking in the desert. You know...40 years to get to where you are going. Anyway, much has happened in my life. I am going to try to be faithful here and blog. I guess at this point in my life I feel the lack of a manual in how to raise my kids to be bilingual and bi-literate. I am Brazilian (we speak Portuguese), but my kids were born in the USA so it would be great if they could not only speak Portuguese but also write/read in Portuguese. So, here I will post about this struggle that it is to teach a language in another culture. So, from now on I may post in both languages...or in only one. We will see how this goes. Another thing that I will be posting a lot of is about Christian Life. That is a big part of my life and I realize that not having a manual again has led me to not be as proactive as I would like with my kids. So, you now know my plan. It is February so I figure it is not a New Year's resolution anymore.... I bet that increases my changes of being sucessful!