How can you tell a good school from a not so good school?
Does a good school let child cut with knives?
NO, a good school allows as many interactions to take place as possible. Ratio is 1:4. Kids are not afraid to speak up and are allowed to feel heard.
I would say to judge a place by interactions. Wholesome interactions. Supportive interactions. Learning interactions. If the ratio of teacher/ child is too low, 1:1 it may not get enough interaction. That is why mom's know it is easier with 2 kids vs. 1 child. Because 3 is more fun than 1 and 3 is also a number that is pleasing to the eye in the arts. 3 is also a significant number, with many stories. But don't make this your determinant for having another child.
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Self guided study to understanding language.
I believe the most interesting thing about Language is that we all acquire it. We do not have to have sit down lessons on. We learn by doing. We make mistakes. We create new rules. Then, slowly after 3-5 years we got it. Our language continues to grow until age 12-13. By then we have it. Ages 0-3 are the most important years for learning language. We begin listening to language in the womb and continue learning as long as we want. If you are in a dual immersion class we will be able to write and speak, but interacting will always be a struggle until we do it. Interactions are the best.
Next in my self studies are : How do cell phones interrupt interactions?
Click below to read the study:
Language study in early childhood
I delved ... here are the highlights:
By way of summation, according to the behaviorist (e.g., Skinner [9], children learn language through reinforcement and association, whereas Chomsky took the view that children have an inborn capacity for language understanding and use.
The most distinctive print of a culture has been defined as its language.
Notably, interaction has a significant role in language acquisition.
Acquisition of a child’s first language begins at birth and continues to puberty (the ‘critical period’). Spada and Lightbown [6]; DeKeyser and Larson-Hall [2] noted that during the first three years of the child’s life, the child gets exposed to the language in his/her environment.
linguistic environment where they can continually hear, interact and communicate in that particular language.
Language is a social phenomenon. According to Spada and Lightbown [6], children can also be exposed to the language through audio-visual media, but that exposure is without interaction, but, without using the language to express themselves, the children cannot acquire that particular language.
Children communicate first by using different languages, such as body language, sign language and oral language
Therefore, the first words the child learns are those that directly relate to the child’s sensory experience and connect the child to his or her exploration of the environment
age Newborn: This is the first stage of language where children babble and coo according to Tomasello and Bates [12], just to exercise the articulatory organs in an experimentally random and playful manner.
age 6 mos - 9 mos: the second stage is when the child starts to babble in a pattern similar to the patterns of adult speech, this happens between the ages of six to nine months.
age 12mos. one-word stage, where babies use only one word
age 1 yr 8 mos two word stage, "dada chair"
age 2- 2.5 telegraphic stage, rudimentary sentences, "I good girl."
age 2- predictable phonological errors or deviations
children first start by over-generalizing the rules
processing the rules of language
a process of development to full competence of the language use leading them to understand the exceptions to the rules
a process of development to full competence of the language use leading them to understand the exceptions to the rules
language grows organically in the child’s mind rather than artificially constructing it in the process of learning
There is no disagreement about the effectiveness of early language acquisition, but what if the language learner has a positive attitude towards the culture in question. Positive attitudes produce motivations in the students. According to Spada and Lightbown [6], “The overall findings show that positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning, [and consequently acquiring a second identity]” (p. 56). There are two kinds of motivations at issue in this process: a. Curiosity: A desire to understand a group of people and their way of life; a desire or interest to know why a group of people do things differently from us, or why they believe in so many things that we have never considered. b. Empathy: Upon repeated exposure, one might come to the conclusion that this group of people has a more sensible handle on things than we do.
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