http://qik.com/video/242504
Thanks Daddy....
Posts
Health Nut Vegan Chili
3 hours ago
29 August 2008
28 August 2008
Does your child sign in French?
As the mother of triplets, I belong to a bunch of different elists for the exchange of information about raising multiples. One particularly active list is the MMOTC - the Manhattan Mothers of Twins Club (http://www.manhattantwinsclub.com/) A recent thread in the discussion had to do with one mother being made to feel as if she were not doing enough for her children because she hadn't been taking them to language classes. The other mother (of a singleton I might add) said that her little one was three and already spoke three languages and was signing. This woman posted to the group to see if she was ready to be reported to child protective services for not giving her children language lessons. I was pleased to see that the group was very supportive of her; they said that every family has their own priorities and values and she should go with what she feels. As a Linguistic Anthropologist, I had to add my two cents to the discussion. Here is what I said...
"Yes, the best time to teach a child multiple languages is when they are learning the first one. However, given the risk of language acquisition delay in multiples, partially because of the development of their own “twin” language which is not well understood although well documented, I think trying to teach them multiple languages when you are not multi-lingual at home is playing with fire. All the studies say that children raised in multilingual environments have some language delay but they catch up by school age, speaking both languages fluently. If you add that to the risk of language delay found in multiples to begin with and the competitive nature of schools in NYC, this is just creating a problem where there does not need to be one. In the US, we are so English-oriented that there is no reason to feel that your children will be disadvantaged if they do not speak three languages by the time they hit first grade. You can enrich them with music, art, swimming and interpersonal skills without messing around with their first language acquisition task. So, I am not taking my girls to French class and they are not even going to watch Maya y Miguel. If you do speak more than one language at home, I would say do not change your pattern. Learning more than one “mother tongue” is great. However, without the children being multiples, you would expect there to be a language delay when there is more than one language in the home. This is perfectly ok but you have to be prepared for it. They sort of speak the languages together for a while and then all of a sudden they differentiate the languages and speak grammatically in both. It is an amazing process that is imperfectly understood. The good news is that their brains know what they are doing so you don’t really have to do anything but watch in amazement. However, you can’t expect them to be totally on target for language development. When they are tested, you need to let them know that another language is being spoken at home. If they say it has no impact on language acquisition, take them elsewhere. The people doing the test do not know what they are doing. "
I got several private emails thanking me for my response but one mom was still concerned because she was speaking English, her nanny was speaking Spanish and they had taught the twins Baby Sign Language. I guess I needed to allay her fears that like the rest of us she had done something to damage her children. This is my summary -
"This is what we know for sure:-
Children are wired at birth to learn languages - any and all human languages-
Deaf children if not taught sign language will develop their own-
Multiple birth children will develop a means of communicating amongst themselves even before they acquire the adult languages.
Multiple languages spoken in the home delay full language acquisition of all the languages but it happens eventually and fully in each of the languages.
There is no definitive research that says one way or another about the mix.
I think that language lessons to teach small children are not necessary and bordering on counterproductive. If you aren't speaking the language in the home, then it is not developing first language acquisition the way the children are wired to do so. There are different processes at work when you learn your first language(s) and subsequent languages. That is one of the reasons why it is harder for adults to learn a language. (There are others) Language lessons to small children use the second language acquisition paradigm and that to me is not what you need to do to help your kids.
If our babies were developing 50 -60 -70 years ago, I wouldn't think this would be an issue - if a kid didn't talk until s/he was 3, they would have thought that s/he was just quiet. Now, everyone is tested, tested, tested and the competition to get into pre-school is great. Yes, there are a great many things that are caught early which is wonderful. However, the competition makes any delay in anything, even if it is within normal range but at an extreme will put the children at a disadvantage. Many of our (multiple birth) children were premature putting them at risk for delays to begin with. In addition, the nature of the multiple sibling relationship gives them the opportunity to develop their own sign language and spoken language which do not get counted in the testing except as a negative. It is for these reasons that I am not and will not give my girls language lessons until they have reached school age.That being said, I do wish that we spoke another language in our house."
"Yes, the best time to teach a child multiple languages is when they are learning the first one. However, given the risk of language acquisition delay in multiples, partially because of the development of their own “twin” language which is not well understood although well documented, I think trying to teach them multiple languages when you are not multi-lingual at home is playing with fire. All the studies say that children raised in multilingual environments have some language delay but they catch up by school age, speaking both languages fluently. If you add that to the risk of language delay found in multiples to begin with and the competitive nature of schools in NYC, this is just creating a problem where there does not need to be one. In the US, we are so English-oriented that there is no reason to feel that your children will be disadvantaged if they do not speak three languages by the time they hit first grade. You can enrich them with music, art, swimming and interpersonal skills without messing around with their first language acquisition task. So, I am not taking my girls to French class and they are not even going to watch Maya y Miguel. If you do speak more than one language at home, I would say do not change your pattern. Learning more than one “mother tongue” is great. However, without the children being multiples, you would expect there to be a language delay when there is more than one language in the home. This is perfectly ok but you have to be prepared for it. They sort of speak the languages together for a while and then all of a sudden they differentiate the languages and speak grammatically in both. It is an amazing process that is imperfectly understood. The good news is that their brains know what they are doing so you don’t really have to do anything but watch in amazement. However, you can’t expect them to be totally on target for language development. When they are tested, you need to let them know that another language is being spoken at home. If they say it has no impact on language acquisition, take them elsewhere. The people doing the test do not know what they are doing. "
I got several private emails thanking me for my response but one mom was still concerned because she was speaking English, her nanny was speaking Spanish and they had taught the twins Baby Sign Language. I guess I needed to allay her fears that like the rest of us she had done something to damage her children. This is my summary -
"This is what we know for sure:-
Children are wired at birth to learn languages - any and all human languages-
Deaf children if not taught sign language will develop their own-
Multiple birth children will develop a means of communicating amongst themselves even before they acquire the adult languages.
Multiple languages spoken in the home delay full language acquisition of all the languages but it happens eventually and fully in each of the languages.
There is no definitive research that says one way or another about the mix.
I think that language lessons to teach small children are not necessary and bordering on counterproductive. If you aren't speaking the language in the home, then it is not developing first language acquisition the way the children are wired to do so. There are different processes at work when you learn your first language(s) and subsequent languages. That is one of the reasons why it is harder for adults to learn a language. (There are others) Language lessons to small children use the second language acquisition paradigm and that to me is not what you need to do to help your kids.
If our babies were developing 50 -60 -70 years ago, I wouldn't think this would be an issue - if a kid didn't talk until s/he was 3, they would have thought that s/he was just quiet. Now, everyone is tested, tested, tested and the competition to get into pre-school is great. Yes, there are a great many things that are caught early which is wonderful. However, the competition makes any delay in anything, even if it is within normal range but at an extreme will put the children at a disadvantage. Many of our (multiple birth) children were premature putting them at risk for delays to begin with. In addition, the nature of the multiple sibling relationship gives them the opportunity to develop their own sign language and spoken language which do not get counted in the testing except as a negative. It is for these reasons that I am not and will not give my girls language lessons until they have reached school age.That being said, I do wish that we spoke another language in our house."
27 August 2008
Mike Wesch on Teaching
The more I see of his work, the more I am impressed by him.... A really smart guy -
Here he echoes my frustrations with teaching and then offers a solution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4yApagnr0s&feature=user
Here he echoes my frustrations with teaching and then offers a solution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4yApagnr0s&feature=user
21 August 2008
Anthropology in PC World
Finally what I have been saying all these years is becoming commonplace!!!!
Anthropology's Technology-driven Renaissance - Ken Banks
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/148564/anthropologys_technolog
Anthropology's Technology-driven Renaissance - Ken Banks
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/148564/anthropologys_technolog
07 August 2008
A Day at the Pediatrician
They say that among a woman's great loves are her obstetrician and the pediatrician for her children. My obstetrician was Terri Edersheim MD at Cornell. I adore her. How could I not? - it is not every day that you find another person with your exact personality. She kept me and my babies safe. My other love is our pediatrician, Michael Rosenbaum MD We saw him yesterday for the babies' 15 month check up. Now for a parent of a singleton, this is put child in carseat - drive to doctor - park - put child in stroller and wait - see doctor for 15 - 20 minutes - get shot - pay leave. This can all take an hour or less. With triplets this is a carefully orchestrated excursion.
First, the night before, the diaper bag must be packed to include at least 6 diapers, wipes, burp clothes, a change of clothes or 3, toys, and binkies. The morning of the appointment food and drinks must be added to the diaper bag. Once that is done, all three have to be cleaned and dressed. Now this doesn't sound like a lot but usually by the time the third one is done, the first one has a dirty diaper and you have to start again.
Next the car has to be loaded. This means that the stroller has to be put in the back, the children in their car seats with toys and appropriate food or drink. People with single babies think, what is she talking about putting the stroller in the car? You just fold it and toss it in the trunk. This is what we are talking about http://www.bergdesign.net/runabout.htm To get it in the back of a Honda Oddessey or a Toyota Siena, you have a choice of pushing the handle all the way down and thus removing the hand brake or taking off one of the wheels. Either way, this is not trivial. It isn't difficult but it is yet another task that eats in to the day. So, off we go. Now I voluntarily go to Dr. Rosenbaum in Manhattan. My rationale is that I know him and trust him. The only difference in going to a local doctor is the extra time spent in the car which is only important in emergencies and for that I have a wonderful pediatrician in Mt. Kisco, Dr. Jill Ratner at MKMG. I am willing to spend the extra 30 minutes in the car to go see Dr. Rosenbaum for monitoring my girls.
Well, once we get there, the stroller and stuff gets unloaded. The stroller is then reassembled and readied for the girls and we put them in. Hopefully it wasn't raining because the rain shield is yet another step that has to be performed. My wonderful nanny, Jo goes in to the doctor's office with the girls. We arrive exactly at noon for our appointment. I then go to put the car in a garage. I parked it on the street last time but arrived 5 minutes and $65 late so I now always put the car in the garage. It is question of being pennywise and pound foolish to street park the car.
When I get back to the doctor's office, everyone is waiting for me to begin. So Jo and I carry the girls into the exam room and the visit begins. It starts with stripping everyone down to the diaper while we are waiting. Just as an explosion is about to occur, the nurse comes in and the assembly line begins. First we have Giselle on the scale, remove her diaper and get her weight and hat size. I hand Jo Giselle for Molly and she puts Gim's diaper back on. We weigh and measure Molly and then we switch for Syd. Once everyone is weighed, we now have to get lengths (heights). This involves laying them flat on the table which they absolutely hate. There is something about that crinkly paper that sets them off. We go in order again so the nurse doesn't get the babies confused (this HAS happened and I had to have them re-do the measurements) and then we wait for the doctor.
The girls are still just in their diapers and they suspect they aren't going to like what is about to happen. It is also lunchtime and everyone is crabby when they are hungry. So we crack open the diaper bag for the sippies and crackers and the mood gets better.
Dr. R comes in and says that everyone is in the 50% for weight, Syd is 90% for height, Molly is 85% for height and Gim is 50% for height. This is reason to rejoice because these statistics are based on their unadjusted age for the second checkup in a row. This means that the babies although they were born two months early have grown enough outside the womb to be the same size of a full term baby. They have caught up!!!! So how big are they?
Giselle weighs 22lbs 4.5 oz, is 30" tall and has a hat size of 47.5cm. Molly is 22lb 5.5oz, 31" and 47 cm and La Syd is a whopping 22lbs 11 oz, 31.5" and 48 cm. At birth Giselle was the biggest and Molly was the smallest in all categories. They have come into their own now. He carefully examines each girl asking if there are any issues I want to talk about and we do. He then gives us his what to expect in the coming months speech and also suggests that we save the word "NO" for only important, life threatening issues. We had been doing that already but it was good to hear that. He then says they are slated for their Hep B and MMR shots today. I then ask if it would be possible to split up the MMR shot. I am concerned about immune issues with all of them as their Dad has juvenile diabetes and Giselle has already had an immune reaction to bug bites. He agrees to cede to my wishes although he emphasizes that there have been no positive correlations to autism in the literature - I remind him about the auto-immune issues that they might have and he again says - Ah! I will cede to your wishes on this. We can make up the Mumps and Rubella later.
So now we get the girls dressed and WAIT. It takes at least another half hour for the nurse to calculate the doses, document and draw the 6 syringes for the girls. They are now really hungry so we are feeding them the remainder of the food that we have brought with us. They have already finished the milk and are now working on the water. The nurse finally comes in and we begin.
She asks me the name of the child - we start with Giselle again. Gimme is sitting in my lap and I am expecting to hold her leg as I have for the past year. The nurse says no - we are putting them in their arms now that they older because it is so much safer. I put my arms around Giselle holding her right arm inside my arms and holding her left hand out straight fingers entwined with mine. As the nurse gives her the shot, I start to cry. Not because she is hurting my child but because my child is so grown up. She isn't that tiny 3lb 11oz newborn anymore and it happened all too fast. I feel like I have gone through this year in a haze - like a dream sequence in a movie. I apologize and quickly stop crying because I do not want to scare the babies besides Giselle is crying from the pain. I hold her and comfort her. Once she stops crying, I switch for Molly. I tell her Molly is my "tough broad" and we begin the same procedure but she fights it and the nurse remarks at how strong she is. Molly cries too and I cuddle and console her and then last but not least it is Syd's turn. All my girls have been protected against Measles and Hepatitis B.
Jo and I pack everyone up. As Jo is loading the last child, I go to check out and make an appointment in November. We are now ready to leave. It is now almost 2pm. We have a few things to pick up. Most important of all we have to feed the girls and ourselves - we all are starving. I get cheese and bagels at the Bagel Basket http://www.thebagelbasketofny.com/ It feels so good to be in a place where everyone knows us and wishes us well. I am not saying that the people where we live aren't nice. I am saying it just feels more "homey" on the Upper West Side.
So it is now almost three and we now pile everyone back in the car and go home. The girls crash on the way home. When we arrive, it is almost 4:30 and it is dinner time. They are all feverish from their shots so they get some Motrin, dinner, bath and bed. They sleep until 7am this morning. Thus goes my day at the pediatrician.
First, the night before, the diaper bag must be packed to include at least 6 diapers, wipes, burp clothes, a change of clothes or 3, toys, and binkies. The morning of the appointment food and drinks must be added to the diaper bag. Once that is done, all three have to be cleaned and dressed. Now this doesn't sound like a lot but usually by the time the third one is done, the first one has a dirty diaper and you have to start again.
Next the car has to be loaded. This means that the stroller has to be put in the back, the children in their car seats with toys and appropriate food or drink. People with single babies think, what is she talking about putting the stroller in the car? You just fold it and toss it in the trunk. This is what we are talking about http://www.bergdesign.net/runabout.htm To get it in the back of a Honda Oddessey or a Toyota Siena, you have a choice of pushing the handle all the way down and thus removing the hand brake or taking off one of the wheels. Either way, this is not trivial. It isn't difficult but it is yet another task that eats in to the day. So, off we go. Now I voluntarily go to Dr. Rosenbaum in Manhattan. My rationale is that I know him and trust him. The only difference in going to a local doctor is the extra time spent in the car which is only important in emergencies and for that I have a wonderful pediatrician in Mt. Kisco, Dr. Jill Ratner at MKMG. I am willing to spend the extra 30 minutes in the car to go see Dr. Rosenbaum for monitoring my girls.
Well, once we get there, the stroller and stuff gets unloaded. The stroller is then reassembled and readied for the girls and we put them in. Hopefully it wasn't raining because the rain shield is yet another step that has to be performed. My wonderful nanny, Jo goes in to the doctor's office with the girls. We arrive exactly at noon for our appointment. I then go to put the car in a garage. I parked it on the street last time but arrived 5 minutes and $65 late so I now always put the car in the garage. It is question of being pennywise and pound foolish to street park the car.
When I get back to the doctor's office, everyone is waiting for me to begin. So Jo and I carry the girls into the exam room and the visit begins. It starts with stripping everyone down to the diaper while we are waiting. Just as an explosion is about to occur, the nurse comes in and the assembly line begins. First we have Giselle on the scale, remove her diaper and get her weight and hat size. I hand Jo Giselle for Molly and she puts Gim's diaper back on. We weigh and measure Molly and then we switch for Syd. Once everyone is weighed, we now have to get lengths (heights). This involves laying them flat on the table which they absolutely hate. There is something about that crinkly paper that sets them off. We go in order again so the nurse doesn't get the babies confused (this HAS happened and I had to have them re-do the measurements) and then we wait for the doctor.
The girls are still just in their diapers and they suspect they aren't going to like what is about to happen. It is also lunchtime and everyone is crabby when they are hungry. So we crack open the diaper bag for the sippies and crackers and the mood gets better.
Dr. R comes in and says that everyone is in the 50% for weight, Syd is 90% for height, Molly is 85% for height and Gim is 50% for height. This is reason to rejoice because these statistics are based on their unadjusted age for the second checkup in a row. This means that the babies although they were born two months early have grown enough outside the womb to be the same size of a full term baby. They have caught up!!!! So how big are they?
Giselle weighs 22lbs 4.5 oz, is 30" tall and has a hat size of 47.5cm. Molly is 22lb 5.5oz, 31" and 47 cm and La Syd is a whopping 22lbs 11 oz, 31.5" and 48 cm. At birth Giselle was the biggest and Molly was the smallest in all categories. They have come into their own now. He carefully examines each girl asking if there are any issues I want to talk about and we do. He then gives us his what to expect in the coming months speech and also suggests that we save the word "NO" for only important, life threatening issues. We had been doing that already but it was good to hear that. He then says they are slated for their Hep B and MMR shots today. I then ask if it would be possible to split up the MMR shot. I am concerned about immune issues with all of them as their Dad has juvenile diabetes and Giselle has already had an immune reaction to bug bites. He agrees to cede to my wishes although he emphasizes that there have been no positive correlations to autism in the literature - I remind him about the auto-immune issues that they might have and he again says - Ah! I will cede to your wishes on this. We can make up the Mumps and Rubella later.
So now we get the girls dressed and WAIT. It takes at least another half hour for the nurse to calculate the doses, document and draw the 6 syringes for the girls. They are now really hungry so we are feeding them the remainder of the food that we have brought with us. They have already finished the milk and are now working on the water. The nurse finally comes in and we begin.
She asks me the name of the child - we start with Giselle again. Gimme is sitting in my lap and I am expecting to hold her leg as I have for the past year. The nurse says no - we are putting them in their arms now that they older because it is so much safer. I put my arms around Giselle holding her right arm inside my arms and holding her left hand out straight fingers entwined with mine. As the nurse gives her the shot, I start to cry. Not because she is hurting my child but because my child is so grown up. She isn't that tiny 3lb 11oz newborn anymore and it happened all too fast. I feel like I have gone through this year in a haze - like a dream sequence in a movie. I apologize and quickly stop crying because I do not want to scare the babies besides Giselle is crying from the pain. I hold her and comfort her. Once she stops crying, I switch for Molly. I tell her Molly is my "tough broad" and we begin the same procedure but she fights it and the nurse remarks at how strong she is. Molly cries too and I cuddle and console her and then last but not least it is Syd's turn. All my girls have been protected against Measles and Hepatitis B.
Jo and I pack everyone up. As Jo is loading the last child, I go to check out and make an appointment in November. We are now ready to leave. It is now almost 2pm. We have a few things to pick up. Most important of all we have to feed the girls and ourselves - we all are starving. I get cheese and bagels at the Bagel Basket http://www.thebagelbasketofny.com/ It feels so good to be in a place where everyone knows us and wishes us well. I am not saying that the people where we live aren't nice. I am saying it just feels more "homey" on the Upper West Side.
So it is now almost three and we now pile everyone back in the car and go home. The girls crash on the way home. When we arrive, it is almost 4:30 and it is dinner time. They are all feverish from their shots so they get some Motrin, dinner, bath and bed. They sleep until 7am this morning. Thus goes my day at the pediatrician.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
