Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Elizabeth's English Skills

As I'm sure many of you've heard already, Elizabeth continues to amaze all of us with her English! Last July when she first came to our home, she knew absolutely no English. Since we are all English speakers, and some of us speak a bit of Chinese as well, it wasn't long before she began picking it up since that is the main language used in our home. About a month and a half after arriving in our home, we also began her on an English home school program where she began studying Phonics, Math, and Handwriting. She quickly learned English phonics and could readily sound out any English word that followed the phonics rules she'd learned. The only problem we then had was that, although she could sound out and read the words, she often didn't know what she was reading. Unlike native English speakers who already knew what a "cat" was, she had to learn the meanings of each of these words too. While there are still many meanings she hasn't learned, her vocabulary continues to grow. We know it will just take some time. At home now, she speaks English nearly exclusively. No, she hasn't forgotten her Chinese as she has plenty of opportunity to use that as well. She has done remarkably well and we are very proud of the progress she has made in such a short period of time!! Although she was a bit reluctant at first, she did agree to allow me to video her so she could show all of you just how well she can read in English.

10 comments:

  1. Yay Elizabeth!!!! You are doing so great and are also one smart cookie! :0) Hats off to you!

    Tis' the season for gathering home school materials in our family...please let me know if there are specific books/materials/flashcards, etc you'd like me to keep an eye out for. I would be honored to send them your way for any of the girls.

    Molly

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  2. Elizabeth, you did a great job reading for us! I am excited to see you reading so well. Keep up the hard work learning.

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  3. Great job, Elizabeth!!! That book was a big hit around here pretty recently, too! :)

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  4. Oh Elizabeth, you are reading so well! Good job! What a smart girl you are! I love how you smiled when you were finished, you have a beautiful smile.

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  5. Thanks so much for offering to do that for us! We appreciate that very much. However, we already have someone bringing some flashcards soon. I'll let you know if we need something else though.

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  6. I really am enjoying reading your blog. We are just awaiting TA for our 10YO son in China. Would you mind sharing what program you're using for Elizabeth to learn English? We homeschool and plan to do that with our new son as well. Would love to know what you are using.

    Thank you for what you are doing for these girls!
    Blessings, Leslie

    P.S. Please let me know too if I could bring anything. I am thinking we could mail it to you from within the country? We hope to leave next week or within the next few weeks.

    cljjs (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  7. And way to go Elizabeth! Your reading really is amazing!!!

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  8. We use Horizons for Math and Phonics for the first couple of years. Then we switch over to Alpha & Omega's Switched on School House program. It is a computer based program and we like it very much. It is very structured and we also used it with our 2 older children now grown. As a matter of fact I do need to order her next year's school material. Been meaning to do it, just haven't had the time. I'll let you know. Thanks so much for offering to do that for us!

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  9. Let me know. Our next possible window to leave (if those TAs come) would be June 17. I would be happy to bring something; we should have some room.

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  10. If we need something, I'll be sure to let you know! Thanks for offering!

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