Weekly Update Week of 7/19
Oops. I forgot to write my weekly update.
This week is same o same o. The kids still just did their ‘summer camp’ activities. We’re still under half lock down till next week.
Most of the update is on me. I did write a bunch of posts for my website. I also started my AP CS Programming class for a group of kids, which I’m really enjoying. Though, it does mean that now I’m teaching like…..4 days out of the week? 4 classes to 4 groups of kids? (middle grade math, MCT2, AP CS, 6th grade math).
I’m totally enjoying tutoring in math. I’ve discovered that I do the best with 1-3 kids, preferably 2 or less. I guess because the more kids I have the more I feel like it’s not customized learning and how can a kid learn as much as they can when it’s not customized to their learning style? (Yeah, I think in very black and white terms.)
So I think next year I want to become a math tutor. But not sure how I’d go about doing that.
ANYWAYS, I got side tracked and talked about me instead of the kids.
Thumper and Astroboy are both in the AP CS class. And before you think I’m crazy type-A Asian mom, it’s computer science principals, not coding. And we’re doing it only once a week, whereas the curriculum was for 45 min a day for a whole semester.
I just want my kids to understand some of what Baba and I talk about during random dinner conversation. When we say things like “bandwidth” or “GB”, or “data compression” or “pixel”, etc etc. Basic vocabulary for everyday conversation.
The other thing the kids are doing a lot more of is, reading Chinese. I finally went and showed the kids my ebook collection across 5 different apps. And borrowed a bunch more from the library.
I learned one thing this week. That part of the reason Thumper doesn’t want to read in Chinese is because the things she’s interested in? She’s already heard so much of it through NPR. For example, I borrowed this book: 「怪奇人體研究所」, but she tells me she’d heard the section on ‘split personality’ 「裂腦人擁有兩個獨立的意識嗎」.
And then all these other books that are in English, she just wants to read in English first. SIGH.
So yeah, people who worry about their kids being behind in English? There really is no need to worry. You need a year to catch up. And that year can be 5th grade instead of 3rd. There’s just too many good books in English for them not to catch up.
