Teaching Filipino using Visible thinking routines

I told myself at the start of the year to be more intentional in teaching our kids my language and culture. Teaching them through songs is one approach that I have been using and have added some new Tagalog songs but it still feels like they are missing on the essence of the language because they are memorizing more the lines than what it means.

This made me reflect on what we normally say to the kids and an "ahuh!" moment occurred when I realized that I should be teaching them the daily questions/prompts that we use in our daily conversations. I am a big advocate making thinking visible at home and given the fact that we use these thinking routines/lines regularly then it is a good way in introducing them Filipino words and phrases. Here's a list of questions we normally ask  and how it's translated in Filipino:

a) What are you thinking? Ano ang iniisip mo?
b) Why did you say that? Bakit mo yan nasabi?
c) What if....? Paano kung?
d) What similarities/differences do you see? Ano ang nakikita mong pagkakahawig/pagkakaiba?
e) What else can you do? Ano pa ang puede mong gawin?
f) What's next? Ano ang susunod?
g) What got you happy (change to other emotions) today? Ano ang kinasaya mo sa araw na ito?
h) How did you feel? Ano ang naramdaman mo?
i) Why do you like (don't like) it? Bakit ayaw mo?
j)  What do you think others feel? Ano sa tingin mo naramdaman ng iba?

Some of these questions I wrote in my article for International Almere on Introspection. I am hoping that by teaching children to think about their thinking in another language, it  will elicit more understanding for our kids than teaching them basic concepts like colors, shapes or numbers.Let's see how the year unfolds with this technique!

Witticisms from Katie

As a child development specialist and educator I experienced handling children of different ages. My first job as preschool teacher I handled a toddlers class composed mainly of 2 and 1/2 to 3 years. I also got the privilege to handle special and gifted children, been a center director for a housing and educational facility for street children where most of them have no school experience, opened up a childcare and tutorial centers and even taught as psychology instructor for college students. I take pride in knowing I have helped in introducing the love for learning to such young and fertile minds.

But the best job that I have now is filling in the role as educator to our children. Katie will turn 3 this April and Milos 15 months on January 16. So I have my hands full in keeping them stimulated and with both of them verbal, you can just imagine the noise they make when they are at play. Even at his age Milos can now chant Katie's name to wake her up in the morning. He also has the habit of chanting "Mama, Mama" whenever he wants to be sprang out of the crib or playpen. Nowadays he even says "eten, eten, yum,yum" when he is hungry! As for Katie she has such a flair for languages that she can understand three different languages (Dutch, English, and Serbian). She's also picking up Tagalog words here and there but I have yet to really talk to her in Tagalog. Much to my amazement she speaks dutch more fluently than I do. She even makes use of words like "gevaarlijk, ongelooflijk, aardig, grappig, and prachtig". Lately she has been using some new words that she most likely learned from tv. Her favorite term now is the English word "cool".

A few days ago we had the New Year's eve dinner at my parents-in-law's place. Boris had to pick up his brother and Katie went along with him. Along the way Katie blurted out "Uncle Adam is COOL!". That was the first time she used that word. I thought it was just a term she remembered from what she saw that morning. But today I heard from Boris that she repeated it and this time it was during a conversation with her Baba (Serbian word for Grandma, Oma). Anyway this is how the conversation went:

Katie: Bryan and Calvin are sooo cool (her friends from another Pinay-dutch couple)
Baba: Is Baba cool?
Katie: (giggle) Nee! Isabella (her cousin in Spain) is cool!

Funny how she can categorize huh? I better not ask then if Mama and Tata (Serbian for father) are cool!

Here are other funny lines coming from Katie:

---When we were in the Philippines last March, Katie saw a lizard for the first time. She was just turning 2 that time. She looked at it, in awe of the creature and then blurted out "kijk Mama a krokodil!". Naturally her father and I tried our best from not laughing out loud. It's funny how from her perspective the lizard has burgeoned to a crocodile. So I corrected her nicely by saying "no Katie that is not a crocodile" and before I can say what it was she then blurted again (with her face looking like a light bulb turned on!)"ah Mama a DINOSAUR!!!". That time we couldn't keep from laughing along with her!

---These days we rarely get the chance to walk around because of the cold weather. I dread going out and taking the kids to such freezing temperature. But the first chance of sunshine and a slight surge of temperature then we are out of the house. A few days ago we got the opportunity to walk to the stores. Katie in her ever curious mode asked "waar zijn de blaadjes Mama?" (where are the leaves?) I told her that it is winter and leaves fall off before winter comes. I knew this explanation will not be enough as it always is when she asks a question. But with no "but Mama..." following my remark I decided to keep quiet. New Year's morning, I took the kids home with them in the stroller (We live 5 minutes away from my in-laws which is a big blessing!) when all of a sudden Katie had her AHAH moment. In all innocence she said "Mama kijk prikkelstruik!" (Mama look bushes/thicket)pointing to the leafless trees.

Such witticisms coming from a toddler! I can just look forward (and cringe at the same time) in hearing more from her and Milos!



Our language is funny - a fat chance and slim chance are the same thing. ~J. Gustav White