Tuesday, March 13, 2012
And a recent conversation
From a couple of weeks ago...
Yesterday I showed Sam a "Leap Frog" video on math. Mostly I hoped it would help him review his numbers through ten, but the video also went through basic math (addition, subtraction, etc.). A while later he was playing with some plastic golf balls he has and Emily started quizzing him:
Emily: Sam, how many balls do you have?
Sam: One... Two... Three...
Emily: You have four [sounds a little frustrated]
Sam: [exultant] Four!
Jonathan: Sam, if you take two balls and add two more, how many do you have? [showing him]
Sam: Three!
Jonathan: No, look, see it's four.
Jonathan: And now if I take two balls away...
Sam: That would not be good!
Jonathan: No, wait, I mean if you have four and for some reason you give two to someone else...
Sam: That is not good!
Jonathan: [finishing sentence] that's "subtraction"
Sam: [gleefully] ubtraction!
Jonathan: "Subtraction," remember, like the video...
Anyway, it went on like this for a while. It was a pretty entertaining conversation. That's the news from here.
Yesterday I showed Sam a "Leap Frog" video on math. Mostly I hoped it would help him review his numbers through ten, but the video also went through basic math (addition, subtraction, etc.). A while later he was playing with some plastic golf balls he has and Emily started quizzing him:
Emily: Sam, how many balls do you have?
Sam: One... Two... Three...
Emily: You have four [sounds a little frustrated]
Sam: [exultant] Four!
Jonathan: Sam, if you take two balls and add two more, how many do you have? [showing him]
Sam: Three!
Jonathan: No, look, see it's four.
Jonathan: And now if I take two balls away...
Sam: That would not be good!
Jonathan: No, wait, I mean if you have four and for some reason you give two to someone else...
Sam: That is not good!
Jonathan: [finishing sentence] that's "subtraction"
Sam: [gleefully] ubtraction!
Jonathan: "Subtraction," remember, like the video...
Anyway, it went on like this for a while. It was a pretty entertaining conversation. That's the news from here.
Updates
I meant to post this last week:
These weeks have been a big adjustment, but hopefully things are coming together. This week I taught a cohort of pastors, which was fun, but also takes more energy (I have to supply a bit more of the content, and there's a wider range of subjects). I think it will be a good experience, but I'm still finding it a bit of a struggle to get everything done.
I have a backlog of pictures I am putting up. I really like my little camera and have taken it to some fun places. I forget sometimes how far we have come in terms just of getting around and knowing a bigger swath of our little world. The museum trips were fun and I think they'll be even better as the kids get older. Going anywhere still requires two adults, but eventually things will get better.
The babies are both very entertaining lately. They can say more signs, are showing improvement as walkers and climbers, and can do more things. They both do the baby "rocking" dance. Eva has a lyrical squack she does. Eli's sounds are mostly in the "baba" "dada" family (banana, bala, baba, etc.). They are both pretty good eaters and have little tummies. Sam was always hard to feed, but these two seem a little easier.
Sam is coming along also. He's even more into dinosaurs lately. He now knows a half dozen and has seen several dozen different ones. We're using little dinosaur toys as weekly bribes. He's now had his third piano lesson. He can play do-re-mi and is singing a little bit better. I think it will be a while before he can do much, but it's encouraged us to put a little more music into our lives. This is a fun stage, because kids move in leaps and mini-revolutions at this age.
These weeks have been a big adjustment, but hopefully things are coming together. This week I taught a cohort of pastors, which was fun, but also takes more energy (I have to supply a bit more of the content, and there's a wider range of subjects). I think it will be a good experience, but I'm still finding it a bit of a struggle to get everything done.
I have a backlog of pictures I am putting up. I really like my little camera and have taken it to some fun places. I forget sometimes how far we have come in terms just of getting around and knowing a bigger swath of our little world. The museum trips were fun and I think they'll be even better as the kids get older. Going anywhere still requires two adults, but eventually things will get better.
The babies are both very entertaining lately. They can say more signs, are showing improvement as walkers and climbers, and can do more things. They both do the baby "rocking" dance. Eva has a lyrical squack she does. Eli's sounds are mostly in the "baba" "dada" family (banana, bala, baba, etc.). They are both pretty good eaters and have little tummies. Sam was always hard to feed, but these two seem a little easier.
Sam is coming along also. He's even more into dinosaurs lately. He now knows a half dozen and has seen several dozen different ones. We're using little dinosaur toys as weekly bribes. He's now had his third piano lesson. He can play do-re-mi and is singing a little bit better. I think it will be a while before he can do much, but it's encouraged us to put a little more music into our lives. This is a fun stage, because kids move in leaps and mini-revolutions at this age.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Family Craziness
Sam's been off school since last Tuesday and today and tomorrow are holidays. If you are counting, this is an 11 day stretch in which he will have gone to school just once, so we are all pretty much going crazy here.
For Sam, however, it's been a magical stretch of museums, family outings, surprises, and new video adventures. We've done several park trips, visits to the Astronomy and National Science Museums on successive days, various shopping trips, etc. Today he went to with the neighbors' boys to a climbing wall and then to lunch.
I'm still having trouble finding my feet with the start of the semester. I don't know why, but this term has been off to a rocky beginning. I think it's partly just because I'm teaching a lot more and also because I'm aware of how things I hoped will change probably will not change much. And we're also excited about the trip home. My dad has an image about departing pastors "shooting out the window," a metaphor for unloading as you leave a place. The truth is I really like Taiwan a lot, but there are periods that can seem trying. I know most of it is still situational. Emily was already low on sleep and the babies have been terrible. Now I'm up in the middle of the night. I have a cold. Eli is teething. You add it all together and it doesn't lend itself to reasoned analysis.
Otherwise things are coming. Emily and I are both 95% of the way to projects that should be done but are lingering. I'm hoping that the rest of this week goes a bit more smoothly.
I'll try to post some pictures of our exuberant children soon. The science museum was a little stressful for us, but I got some truly wonderful pictures. I do feel lucky to be around such great activities the little ones.
For Sam, however, it's been a magical stretch of museums, family outings, surprises, and new video adventures. We've done several park trips, visits to the Astronomy and National Science Museums on successive days, various shopping trips, etc. Today he went to with the neighbors' boys to a climbing wall and then to lunch.
I'm still having trouble finding my feet with the start of the semester. I don't know why, but this term has been off to a rocky beginning. I think it's partly just because I'm teaching a lot more and also because I'm aware of how things I hoped will change probably will not change much. And we're also excited about the trip home. My dad has an image about departing pastors "shooting out the window," a metaphor for unloading as you leave a place. The truth is I really like Taiwan a lot, but there are periods that can seem trying. I know most of it is still situational. Emily was already low on sleep and the babies have been terrible. Now I'm up in the middle of the night. I have a cold. Eli is teething. You add it all together and it doesn't lend itself to reasoned analysis.
Otherwise things are coming. Emily and I are both 95% of the way to projects that should be done but are lingering. I'm hoping that the rest of this week goes a bit more smoothly.
I'll try to post some pictures of our exuberant children soon. The science museum was a little stressful for us, but I got some truly wonderful pictures. I do feel lucky to be around such great activities the little ones.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Blog Break
I just realized that it's been two weeks since I posted last. This is most just a consequence of grading and other business. These are pretty hectic weeks, as we get ready to start the new semester, finish up from the last, continue to move on projects, etc., etc. I'm feeling pretty good about classes this semester, but I also know that I have a way to go in figuring things out.
I also struggle with grading. This semester I graded probably 40% of the papers. I did a good job, I dealt with some hard issues, and I'm fairly glad I did it, but down the road I may have to turn more of it over to a native speaker. This coming semester I have three classes with sizes of 15, 28, and 34, so that's a lot more essays to grade.
Emily seems like she made decent progress this week. She's coming along on her dissertation and I hope she can defend the proposal in the next month or two.
Sam is very cute. We went to a conference at a church today and he had a blast playing with all the new toys in the playroom. Emily also took them all to the park. A tiring Saturday, but better than many others. It was a happy day for me because I saw a lot of familiar faces that I don't often see on campus.
Eva is really walking now. She's also more vocal. She "sings" when I sing and can make more sounds. Eli's talking nearly non-stop, although still mostly his own language. They are both moving really well also. Still toddlers, but much smoother. Eli can open the front door (!) and the kitchen door.
I'm 99% over one of the worst colds I ever had. It's still in my nose, but has vacated sinuses and throat. Weather has been really funny lately. Some very beautiful days interspersed among the cold and damp.
I'll try to post some more fun posts in the week ahead, but it may be next weekend.
I also struggle with grading. This semester I graded probably 40% of the papers. I did a good job, I dealt with some hard issues, and I'm fairly glad I did it, but down the road I may have to turn more of it over to a native speaker. This coming semester I have three classes with sizes of 15, 28, and 34, so that's a lot more essays to grade.
Emily seems like she made decent progress this week. She's coming along on her dissertation and I hope she can defend the proposal in the next month or two.
Sam is very cute. We went to a conference at a church today and he had a blast playing with all the new toys in the playroom. Emily also took them all to the park. A tiring Saturday, but better than many others. It was a happy day for me because I saw a lot of familiar faces that I don't often see on campus.
Eva is really walking now. She's also more vocal. She "sings" when I sing and can make more sounds. Eli's talking nearly non-stop, although still mostly his own language. They are both moving really well also. Still toddlers, but much smoother. Eli can open the front door (!) and the kitchen door.
I'm 99% over one of the worst colds I ever had. It's still in my nose, but has vacated sinuses and throat. Weather has been really funny lately. Some very beautiful days interspersed among the cold and damp.
I'll try to post some more fun posts in the week ahead, but it may be next weekend.
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