Language Explosion

In the last week or so, I have really been noticing Miss Lady's language usage taking off! I have known that her comprehension was good, even before she came home. That has only improved. But in the last week she will just pop out some spontaneous, full sentences. She has used lots of words and would string a few together, or she would answer questions, but this week, full, uncoached sentences. Such as: we were leaving church and walking thru the parking lot. She spotted my car and said "there is your car!". I was a little distracted, so I said 'yes, there it is' then it dawned on me what just happened. And there has been more of that since. The funniest (and about to become the most annoying thing) is she bickers with her sister in English now. They really did not bicker much previously, but now since she is speaking so much more, I really notice it..."Princess P, sto-o-o-op it!" or "Princess P, hush!" Because Princess P, like any self respected little sister makes it her business to annoy her big sister when ever she feels like it. She also is exploding in her puzzle work...most kids when they come home cannot put together even a simple puzzle although they can learn quickly, and it is important to their brain development. Last week she put together a 25 piece frame puzzle by herself and this week she has attempted a 100 piece jigsaw several times and made good progress on it.

Princess P, on the other hand, while extremely bright, is less interested in this kind of thing, but is very driven athletically. I can't wait to see where that takes us. She is fearless! Her language comprehension is fine, but she does not speak in full sentences yet. Why should she, her sister does it for her! They are very naturally intertwined. Someday I will write about the pros and cons and funnies and difficulties of that.

They still have full on Creole discussions between themselves, but that is diminishing. Many people say they wish their children would retain their native language, but it's not really possible for a child to be bi-lingual unless they have constant exposure to two languages. Their brain has to shut out the one language in order to absorb the other. So I am happy with the progress. It has to do with school. Of course I don't want them to get left behind academically; they start behind their age group as it is. And for us, school is only 6 short weeks away...starts the first week of August. I want them to be as ready as possible.



Here's a short clip of them playing with their brother. They can play rough. You ought to see these 3 with water guns. It's brutal!