posted on November 19, 2000 05:25:55 PM
Does anyone know of a children's Spanish/English dictionary by name? I am looking for something with color and perhaps pictures, maybe 100-500 words??
I am looking online (half.com?) and a title would be super helpful.
Thank you!
posted on November 19, 2000 07:46:25 PM
Thanks bunnicula - my daughter is 5 but reads beyond 6th grade level. She is in a public school, but a marvelous one where they actually teach the kids Spanish (and sign language) from 1st grade on and so she is actively being taught right now. Thing is she LOVES it and she wants more and so this is what has occurred to me. I think she'd be all over a dictionary like this.
They taught her counting and days of the week and she is working on various short phrases now. The Cat in the Hat sounds tasty but would probably be outgrown very quickly. They are clicking right along, the kids in the carpool chatter away and I have little idea what they are saying, but boy are they happy.
I am looking for meatier, but with pictures, and only one word offered for each picture as opposed to a list of various versions. Like POOL means the obvious "swimming pool", and it does not go into "pooling your funds" for example. I guess this would be 9-12 but cute not dense. In spite of reading so well, it is difficult for her to read fine print.
posted on November 19, 2000 08:03:23 PM
Well, VeryModern, you've certainly peaked my curiosity. I would very much like to know where you've found this gem of a school. I wouldn't want to post my kids school name on a public message board, but would you e-mail me?
My son will be starting school in 2002. I'm not particularly happy with any of the schools I've looked into. So far, I think the best option is homeschooling. Maybe your school would be an option though.
posted on November 19, 2000 08:30:51 PM
You might want to go with the DK dictionary, then. Not too difficult, and they are known for their illustrations.
posted on November 24, 2000 05:51:50 AM
Well I got the book (f-a-s-t half.com) and she is sleeping with it. She asked me for Italian, German and French versions per the back of the book.
This is so freaky because when she was about 6 mos old I had a glimpse of her working at the UN, and she had command of a dozen languages at least.
Yesterday she was drawing cartoons online at http://unclefred.com/
I came in over her shoulder to find that she had clicked the option to have the instructions in Spanish. I think we are in the land of destiny here.
She posed for Thanksgiving pictures clutching her Spanish book, a doll and a pound puppy.
Thanks bunnicula.
posted on November 24, 2000 11:34:01 AMVeryModern: you're welcome! Sounds like your daughter will go far with languages. My sister was like that--foreign languages were easy for her to learn.
posted on November 24, 2000 12:00:44 PM
Thanks bunnicula - here is the irony.
My daughter was a late talker. Real late. Her pediatrician insisted I have her tested for retardation. She was 18 mos old. The public schools here have a early screening program for LD children. Boy did I throw a fit. I did not want her singled out and labeled - not even 2 YO, but had no *real* choice but to take her. I was a single mother at the time and they really make a lot of assumptions, and one of them is that you are a lousy parent. I was asked if I ever talked to her for example...
"No, when she wakes up in the morning I put her in a box in the closet and that's it until bedtime.." I mean criminy, it is a miracle I did not punch someone.
Anyway they tested her and told me she was barely on the "okay" side of the line.
3 weeks later I video taped her doing 3 jigsaw puzzles at once time. 9 pieces each, 27 pieces total, all mixed together. She put the puzzles in 3 or 5 minutes, I don't remember.
She started talking about 2 1/2. Seems she was studying.
The same pediatrician stuck her head in the door when she heard her reading while waiting in the exam room for a checkup.
She was 3.
Revenge is sweet.
We changed doctors.
posted on November 24, 2000 06:36:58 PM
Wow, sure am glad your daughter had a Mom who wouldn't listen to the experts. I think your daughter was just waiting until she had it right.
posted on November 24, 2000 07:42:12 PM
Verymodern: Maybe she was just waiting to speak until she got all the facts straight.
Do us all a favor and steer her towards a career in politics or maybe news media. We could use a few more careful thinkers who think before they open thier mouths.
posted on November 25, 2000 12:04:33 AMverymodern: Just remember that Einstein didn't talk until the age of *three*!!! Your daughter is in good company...
posted on November 25, 2000 07:13:45 AM
You have no idea how nice this is to hear. Back then it was brutal. I did not know about Einstein, but did know that late talking *sometimes* indicated intelligence. They kept telling me "she is not normal" and I kept telling them "I know she's not normal (you putz)!"
They measured her head and said it was too big. 3 different people in the office measured it and came up with 3 different numbers (all big) and then the doc suggested that perhaps it was hereditary...
She turns to me and asks "is your head big?"
"Uh.... Well I don't know.. I have never described myself as big headed. I made it through the door.
You can see my head, is it big?"
This is a real conversation!
Then they decided to let us out the office that day but only if I did this testing thing. Honestly, I think if I would have refused the test, they would have called child protective services on me. Really.
Anyway, on the intelligence test, since she could not talk she was supposed to point. "Mouse" is a little gray thing, but she understood it to be something that dangles from a computer, and so missed the question. The whole test was like that. It was pure and total agony and besides that, humiliating for both me and my daughter.
Back on topic, we have stumbled onto a supremely great series of books. Scholastic Question and Answer series. There are a slew of titles, like "Do Tarantulas Have Teeth?" and "Do Stars Have Points?" and "Why Don't Haircuts Hurt? Questions and Answers about the Human Body". These books are utterly impressive.
On the Spanish, she is reading in the book hours each day. I suppose she is learning and good thing she doesn't need me because my head hurts to trying to read even one word.
She has just reported a typo to my husband in the Charlie Brown Encyclopedia. "They mean desert Daddy, not dessert." She has a good big head.
Another school to check out...Yippee!!!