Comments on: A flat white skinny latte and a double chocolate chip muffin: or how we learn vocabulary very quickly!

By: valerie

valerie — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:56:43 +0000

Hello Michael!
Thanks for sending me your stories, I always enjoy reading them, and thanks for your sense of humour which brightens my day! I just taught a lesson last week to a group of adult learners, and we studied exactly the same situation!(ordering coffee and giving the proper answers to the barista!)
Keep up the good work! Valerie (President of Ouvrir La voix, Selective Mutism Support group)

By: moriel gidney

moriel gidney — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:57:14 +0000

Yes! I can now order an extra hot mocha with no whipped relatively easily! And having worked now with my lovely assortment of two year olds for a few months on their own I am seeing the result (I think) of realising how complex my sentences were and shortening,simplifying and more importantly I feel, slowing them down appropriately. Two children last week were just opening up like flowers in their speech, one using her speech for developing ideas and play, the other a little boy who clearly has loads of thought but rarely uses speech but last week he has been using simple words to convey what he is thinking and has wonderfully expressive facial and arm and hand movements (developed whilst his speech needed help).We have also simplified our role play areas so that they are clearly linked to the relatively narrow band of life experience the children share and much more repetitive than when the two year olds were with the 3 and 4 year olds. (children not used to handling money but great with phones and scanning on the till!)
Thank you for your blogs which at present are really reinforcing my experience and encouraging.

By: Marian

Marian — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:35:50 +0000

Michael that’s so true Made me think of snack time in nursery but it made me laugh!! And glad to see you’re still in Northern Ireland -keep up your good work!