Thursday, February 3, 2011

Do They Know Any English?

We get asked often if our little girls know any English. My first answer is always, "I have no idea." Then I follow it quickly by saying, "we think they know a little because the couple that runs their orphanage is American."

I am going on the premise that the girls know a wee bit. Enough to enable us to communicate in the early days as we begin to get acquainted. We have ordered two books on conversational Tagalog and we are working on learning a little ASL (American Sign Language) to help us along as well. Words such as hungry, thirsty, tired, bathroom are some of the important ones we're learning.


I will be homeschooling the girls as recommended by their reviewing physician. (I'm so excited to be homeschooling again that you can envision me doing a happy little jig. I can hardly wait)! The first few weeks will be just a time of getting used to each other and our family routines. I'll be doing lots of interactive playing with the girls. We'll be building towers and houses with Duplo, playing with the farm toys, rocking and feeding our baby dolls, playing with beads, designing with Playdough, painting, and of course, I will be doing lots and lots of reading with them. I'm already looking at using the Sonlight curriculum with them next year. I'm so excited about this!

For this year, I simply gathered up a few books from various different places. We'll work on letters, numbers, colours, shapes, and whatever else I think they will enjoy that will encourage them to learn English and feel confident about learning. Here's some of the stuff I have gathered for school.


Well , the sun is shining brightly here showing me how badly I need to dust! May you all have a day filled with small blessings -- both big and small!

9 comments:

  1. Deborah,
    I can envision you playing with your sweet hearts. My heart swells with joy for you!
    The sun...it is so welcomed today! I am taking a five minute break to bask in the sun and catch up on my favorite blogs!

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  2. Deborah... my hunch is that your girls understand (and maybe even speak) English! I know that the kids at CSC (Cebu orphanage) do because of the American missionaries that work there.

    On the other hand... I'm not sure if they speak Tagalog. I know I didn't growing up in Cebu because there is a local dialect that we used. Where your girls are from, there is a local dialect there as well.

    Have a great day... the sun is shining beautifully here (after yesterday's storm)!

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  3. Oh.... excited for you! It's really getting close!

    I picture you snuggled up with the wee three, playing/learning together and experiencing the changing seasons and all the beauty of your area, as they get adjusted/settled to being part of your family.

    I forget their ages. Have they had any schooling in the PI?

    Julie

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  4. Deborah, I am sure that they do speak some English to the girls especially since the caregivers know that they are going to an English speaking home. I think that the other language spoken to them is called Iliocano, not Tagalog. I don't know if those two languages are similar at all. Good luck with the homeschooling. I'm sure all the girls will do wonderful especially with their mama helping them succeed!! Good luck with everything and keep in touch!!

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  5. Deborah, I am so excited for you and your family--all nine of you!

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  6. How exciting! I can imagine how much fun you all are going to have playing and getting to know each other. My prayer is that this period of transition will be one that is smooth for all of you.
    I love hearing about all of your plans.
    I hope you have a great weekend.
    blessings to you, my friend!
    ~a

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  7. You are going to have so much fun! Your home school will encourage, mend, nourish and grow happy girls.

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  8. I have such a lovely picture of you and the wee three in my mind! I have never used Sonlight, but I always enjoy looking through their catalog for book ideas.

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  9. We love Sonlight! How fun it will be to have ALL of your girls home for school next Autumn :-)

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