A Bulldozer Taught My Two Year Old to Read
Shimokawa Family
A Bulldozer Taught My Two Year Old to Read
By Melanie Shimokawa
Mook, my two year old son, goes through phases of obsession. Just after
his second birthday, the "thing" was bulldozers, cranes, power shovels,
dump trucks, etc. Every time we would pass by a construction site, he
would go wild, pointing at the various machines and telling everyone in
the world what they were. So we got him a couple books about heavy
machinery - perhaps a little more advanced than for a two year old, but
he liked the pictures. Those were his favorite books, and he would ask
me or Daddy to read them to him day after day after day, several times a
day. He soon had the books memorized word for word. He figured out
just by looking at some of the words that c-r-a-n-e spelled crane, etc.
Aside from learning to recognize certain words, he also learned
everything there was to know about those machines, except, of course,
how to operate one. He delighted construction workers with his
knowledge of their equipment, and actually got to sit in a power shovel
once.
After about three or four months, he got tired of heavy machines. I
guess he figured he had learned everything there was for a two year old
to learn about them. Or maybe his next obsession was more fascinating
than the first. Trains. By now, he knew his letters from a computer
program, and what they sounded like. So, by the same method, when he
learned to recognize the names of trains, he was able to sound them out,
and taught himself to read, not only the words in his book, but words in
other places as well.
A few months later, dinosaurs took over, and he can always be heard
singing dinosaur songs, or reading dinosaur books. He still can not
read fluently. That will come with time. But he built his own
foundation and a love for reading. Not because he was forced, but
because he was allowed. He still doesn*t know what 1+1 is, and I don*t
care to teach him right now. But his knowledge of heavy machines and
trains is amazing.
____________________________________
This, and other essays can be found on my incomplete website:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/3440/
If anyone else is willing to help me by writing essays on various
topics, I would appreciate it.
Love, Melanie in Japan
By Melanie Shimokawa
Mook, my two year old son, goes through phases of obsession. Just after
his second birthday, the "thing" was bulldozers, cranes, power shovels,
dump trucks, etc. Every time we would pass by a construction site, he
would go wild, pointing at the various machines and telling everyone in
the world what they were. So we got him a couple books about heavy
machinery - perhaps a little more advanced than for a two year old, but
he liked the pictures. Those were his favorite books, and he would ask
me or Daddy to read them to him day after day after day, several times a
day. He soon had the books memorized word for word. He figured out
just by looking at some of the words that c-r-a-n-e spelled crane, etc.
Aside from learning to recognize certain words, he also learned
everything there was to know about those machines, except, of course,
how to operate one. He delighted construction workers with his
knowledge of their equipment, and actually got to sit in a power shovel
once.
After about three or four months, he got tired of heavy machines. I
guess he figured he had learned everything there was for a two year old
to learn about them. Or maybe his next obsession was more fascinating
than the first. Trains. By now, he knew his letters from a computer
program, and what they sounded like. So, by the same method, when he
learned to recognize the names of trains, he was able to sound them out,
and taught himself to read, not only the words in his book, but words in
other places as well.
A few months later, dinosaurs took over, and he can always be heard
singing dinosaur songs, or reading dinosaur books. He still can not
read fluently. That will come with time. But he built his own
foundation and a love for reading. Not because he was forced, but
because he was allowed. He still doesn*t know what 1+1 is, and I don*t
care to teach him right now. But his knowledge of heavy machines and
trains is amazing.
____________________________________
This, and other essays can be found on my incomplete website:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/3440/
If anyone else is willing to help me by writing essays on various
topics, I would appreciate it.
Love, Melanie in Japan
[email protected]
melanie,
i have a sister in tokyo who is married to a japanese man and they have a
baby daughter. i got to visit with them recently and my bil was surprised to
hear (from me, bc of you!) that homeschooling "could be done" in japan. any
comment from you on the ins and outs of it there? i would love to pass on
bits and pieces to them over time. they were not familiar with the term you
had mentioned before "baby genius" schools except for thinking it meant
daycare. i told them i had the impression it was more than that...
thanks for any cultural info!
erin
i have a sister in tokyo who is married to a japanese man and they have a
baby daughter. i got to visit with them recently and my bil was surprised to
hear (from me, bc of you!) that homeschooling "could be done" in japan. any
comment from you on the ins and outs of it there? i would love to pass on
bits and pieces to them over time. they were not familiar with the term you
had mentioned before "baby genius" schools except for thinking it meant
daycare. i told them i had the impression it was more than that...
thanks for any cultural info!
erin
Sandy Kent
I found some information in Jon's web site. He lists two support
groups for homeschoolers in Japan. It's a start.
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/Web_Pages.res.f.html
Sandy
groups for homeschoolers in Japan. It's a start.
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/Web_Pages.res.f.html
Sandy
----- Original Message -----
From: <MORELFAM@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 1999 9:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] A Bulldozer Taught My Two Year
Old to Read
> From: MORELFAM@...
>
> melanie,
> i have a sister in tokyo who is married to a japanese man and
they have a
> baby daughter. i got to visit with them recently and my bil was
surprised to
> hear (from me, bc of you!) that homeschooling "could be done" in
japan. any
> comment from you on the ins and outs of it there? i would love
to pass on
> bits and pieces to them over time. they were not familiar with
the term you
> had mentioned before "baby genius" schools except for thinking
it meant
> daycare. i told them i had the impression it was more than
that...
> thanks for any cultural info!
> erin
>
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