Mi Gringo

We've sure had a busy week around here! MWF our family is attempting to speak only Spanish, with an hour of instruction thrown in the day. TTH I am teaching preschool here at home to three energetic little 3 year olds. It is exhausting, but rewarding!

PRESCOLAR
So Ethan is learning quickly...except for the fact that his is unfortunaltely a GRINGO through and through. Ever since he could talk we have been trying to get him to roll his r's, with still no such luck. I thought it would come naturally to him but I was wrong. Here are a few words he says funny because of his Spanish disability: Glacias (for gracias), Glamone (for Ramone - in a car in Cars the movie), Lojo or Lajojo (for rojo), Tenel (for tener), carlos (for carros). We have been working on the verb tener this week, which he has learned quite well, as well as a few colors, writing the letter A (with vocab such as abeja, astronauta, arana, and arbol), and a few different commands. It has been fun, but Ethan a few times throughout the day misses our conversations in English and says, "Mommy, you need to talk. I want to talk to you." Not that I'm not talking to him, but he can't understand everything I say, nor can he express himself with Spanish, but we'll get there. It's fun.

PRESCHOOL
Dylan, Alex, and Ethan. Out of the three Ethan is the most exhausting. All three finger painted with paint and salt (we were working on touch and it was a way for them to paint with texture) and what resulted was a mirror into their personalities. Dylan's was very methodical, softly rubbing his fingers around and sure to not mix his colors too much. Alex was lightly brushing his fingers in a swaying motion only using blue and green. Ethan's (no surprise to me) looked like a dark blue storm cloud. For him it was a full-contact sport. Ethan doesn't approach very many things daintily....they are always intense and bold. That's my Ethan. I know those personality characteristics will take him far in life, if he survives toddlerhood that is (or more importantly if I survive it). He is a natural born leader, intense, driven, and fun....very fun. He has a contagious laugh, a smile that will melt any passer-by, and a sense of humor. There is never a dull moment around here, never a dull moment.

 

Our fridge contains things that we had done this past week. Time to wipe the slate clean and begin again.

 

This is a sheet I made to track their measurments and a puppet they made of themselves.

 

Here they are making "noodles".