Category: Helen Doron

Helen Doron Early English – Baby’s Best Start (Booklets and CDs)

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Today we have received our package. We were told to wait at least 6-8 weeks for the course material, but it has taken only 2 weeks.

I have just gone through it and I’m quite happy with it. Or I can say more than happy. I found the material nicely designed on quality paper. We got a big Helen Doron (HD) bag, which has 3 pockets:



Baby’s Best Start package
  • one for the CDs (4),
  • one for the Sunny the Cat booklets (4)
  • 4 bigger booklets with the lyrics of the songs, baby sign language, pictures of body parts, animals, flowers, birds etc.



Sunny the Cat series



I’ve read through the whole material and not only does it focus on the language (songs, rhymes, vocabulary, grammar patterns – of course not directly) but also on other fields of developing a baby (movement, senses – feeling, smelling, hearing, sight -, imagination). The baby sign language is more or less the same as the MAKATON signs, luckily. I was a little worried about confusing E. with other signs.

Few things I would change:

  1. the CDs should be in a proper case or two
  2. the paper of the Sunny booklets are quite strong, though they could be board books (I’m sure I won’t give them into E.’s hands, she’d fold or tear the pages – I’m not planning to buy the whole material again for our next child)
  3. if we are given a bag it should be little more useful (bigger pockets, suitable for being carried by the mom, not only the child, which is actually impossible at this age anyway)

    Our daily activites – mornings and changing table time

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    When E. has woken up in the morning and I go into her room singing the following song while pulling up the blinds:

    Good morning, good morning, good morning to you
    Good morning Ms E…. cock-a-doodle-do
    Good morning, good morning, good morning to you
    Good morning Ms E…. cock-a-doodle-do
    Cock-a-doodle-do, cock-a-doodle-do
    Good morning to you.

    http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/1Ziku4FLka4&source=uds
     

    In the original song there’s Mr Rooster, but I changed it to Ms E.’.
    Even if D. goes in to her first he sings this song too. Though he continues talking to her in Hungarian.

    If E. wakes up late and D. has already gone to work we start the whole day in English. So, for instance, I change her nappy and night clothes while talking in English to her:

    • asking about what she dreamt (I always wait a little for her answer)
    • what the problem was during the night (if she was up)
    • tell her milk is on the way
    • while changing the nappy we have a rhyme that I always chant several times:

      Baby’s got a dirty nappy
      What shall we do? (What shall we do?)
      Clean it up, clean it up
      For Mommy and for you
      She likes it a lot and smiles, what’s more, stays on her back patiently instead of turning onto her tummy or standing up. The rhyme is from here. You can find other games you can play, songs or rhymes to chant while your baby is on the changing table.

    • we play peek-a-boo with her textile nappy (I cover her with the nappy then ask “Where’s E.? Where’s she gone?” then she takes the nappy off – or I do it) “I see you.” or “There you are.”. Another variation is I hide behind her feet and ask “Where’s Mommy?” or “Where’s Mommy gone?” Then I open her legs and say: “Here I am” or “Peek-a-boo”
    • there’s a shelf over our changing table and at the bottom of it I stuck up wooden, painted animals, so I name them, make the sounds they make, or sing a song about them. E.g.:

      Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,
      your house is on fire, your children are gone
      All, but one her name is Ann,
      and she has crept under a frying pan.

      (I couldn’t find the tune online,but I’ll link it as soon as I do or please put it in a comment if you know where to find it)

      or

      Five little ducks went swimming one day
      Over the pond and far away
      Mommy duck said: quack-quack-quack
      But only four little duck came back

      Four little ducks went swimming one day
      Over the pond and far away
      Mommy duck said: quack-quack-quack
      But only three little duck came back      (on the changing table I usually start with 3 ducks and by the time I finish changing the nappy or clothes we’ll get to the end)

    • still on the changing table we play “This little pig went to market“. E. likes this most on her toes. I grab each of her toes on one foot one by one and wiggle them a bit as I say the rhyme.

      This little pig went to market;
      This little pig stayed at home;
      This little pig had roast beef;
      And this little pig had none;
      This little pig cried, “Wee, wee, wee!
       All the way home      . (I tickle the bottom of her foot)

    • While I’m putting on her clothes I usually name her body parts and what clothes go where:
      “Here’s your left arm, it goes into this sleeve”
      or
      “One foot goes into the tights, then the other foot goes into the tights” etc.
    • at the breakfast table we play with the coffee cup and the matching teapot. Both have four fruit on them and I name them; she loves the grapes and screams with joy when we get there. And of course, we can’t miss singing “I’m a little teapot” (4 or 5 times – in fact, this is MY favourite song)
    • E. didn’t use to like brushing or combing her hair, but when we sing along she enjoys it:

      This is the way we comb (or brush) our hair
      Comb our hair, comb our hair
      This is the way we comb (or brush) our hair
      Every day in the morning      (I sing it twice as she expects me to comb my hair too)

    • she often watches me brushing my teeth while she is sitting in her high chair after breakfast. Then we brush her teeth (or rather she just plays with the toothbrush) and I sing “This is the way we brush our teeth” (same as the combing song, the tune has several verses – see an example here )
    • she sometimes watches me clear the breakfast table. I always tell her the name of the objects I put into the dishwasher, and I also tell her what I put into the fridge (the latter is more fun for her as I see because of the colourful things she can have a look at)
    • if E. is whiny in her high chair then I put her into her playpen where she plays alone. This is the time when she listens to her collection of music (compiled from youtube and added the Helen Doron songs). In the meantime I can do some housework.

    Yeah, I sing a lot and keep talking all the time. Sometimes by the afternoon I can hardly talk, am totally tired of speaking, not to mention singing. Thank Goodness for coffee. It always gives a little energy back.

    When we have our Hungarian sessions we do more or less the same. The morning routine is the same, the games are the same, only the songs are different. Sometimes I sing the combing/teeth brushing song or “I’m a little teapot” in English as I don’t know any good Hungarian versions of them.

      Helen Doron Early English – First Impressions

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      Putting aside my scepticism, few weeks ago we took part in a mock lesson at the Helen Doron school nearby. The teacher, Zs., was really kind, gave us all the information we needed (about the course booklets, CDs, prices, summer programmes, the course itself). She was well-prepared for the lesson (even had a little piece of paper with the lesson plan, CD track numbers etc., which E. wanted to steal). She’s got a relatively strong Hungarian accent. I would be happier with a native speaker, but you can’t have it all.

      The lesson was only 20 minutes long. The usual lesson is 45 minutes otherwise. We have already known one of the songs which is also available online and E. recognised it showing it with a wide smile and arm flapping when it started:

      http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/LD_jAyAS8JI&source=uds

      In the past I had already visited a lesson in another school, where the teacher was nice as well and the lesson could have gone well, however the parents present were a pain in the neck. So this time I was worried about the other moms. Luckily, the whole session was a pleasant surprise. Three mommies were there with their little ones and after we’d chatted a bit, it turned out they also think in the same way as I do. They want some useful activities for their kids. None of them was smarty, bossy or pushy as for the language learning. (At the previous place moms corrected the teacher, talked in Hungarian with their kids during the lesson, bombarded the teacher with their idiotic questions after the lesson. None of these happened here.)
      So we went home cheerfully. I discussed the details with D. and we decided to go for it.

      The course has just started we are at the very beginning. It’s hard to draw any conclusion, but so far so good. We are enjoying it. I found the CD material quite entertaining, nicely put together and only about 10 minutes long. According to the instructions, E. needs to listen to it twice a day. We manage to do that. We have a long list of songs she listens to while I’m doing housework, so I included the Helen Doron tracks into our morning routine.

      The school premises are basic, though. The classrooms are okay, they are well-equipped. Still, I think the flashcard, pictures should be re-laminated every now and then.

      The prices are reasonable. If we do not calculate the booklets and CDs, on a monthly basis it costs as if you were going to a costly playhouse once or twice a week.

      Of course, hiring a native nanny at the same fee would be the best, but I want E. to be in another surroundings, meeting other people, kids.

      In the back of my mind it is also there that some moms might be interested in MEC. I’ll give them a flyer soon.

      I’ll be back posting on Helen Doron Early English more, when I have more to talk about.

      Helpers

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      To reach our goals I am not enough as the only English speaker in E.’s life.
      First, I tried to find native playmates for E., but she was too little for them. But I’ll try it again when she starts being interested in playing with others, as now, at the age of 11 months, she just plays NEXT TO another child, but not WITH them.
      

      B. is reading with E. (who is 7 months old here)

      I arranged  with my best friend, B., who is an English teacher as well, to talk to E. in English only. So every Friday when she has no lessons or other programmes she comes over and plays, chats, reads out to E. It’s real fun as I can be with my friend and E. is also entertained IN ENGLISH. There are other family occasions where B. is also present (name days, birthdays, Easter etc), and even at these times when Hungarian is the major language used, B. speaks English to E. Sometimes it’s a bit chaotic and quite challenging for B. to share her attention between two languages, but we have succeeded so far. (By the way, B. speaks four languages at a near-native level: Hungarian, Romanian, English and German). Nice example for E.

      

      Another helper of ours is A., our British nanny. A. comes once a week (on Thursdays) for 2 hours to play with E. She loves A., smiles at her as soon as she arrives, screams and babbles a lot while A. is at our place. I may claim that E. “talks” to A. the most compared to how rarely they meet. A.’s main task is to talk, talk and talk to E. Another reason why it is so useful for her to be present in our life is that I can brush up my English. If I don’t know the exact, or natural expression for some object, activites, baby language, A. is here to help me out. In the future I would like A. to come more frequently or come out with us to the playground or to the zoo. If I go back to work (which will be soon even if it’ll be only part-time) I would be happier if an English speaker took care of E. while I’m away. If she has time for us as she is quite popular with moms. A. could be a kind of replacement for me.  I know this idea won’t be very welcomed by the Grandmas.
      

      A. is talking to E. (10,5 moths old) about animal flashcards

      At the Helen Doron Early English class, our teacher, Zs., is also a kind of helper. She provides us with another occasion to practise and learn English out of our home. E. can see that other people also use this form of communication. And it is also important that she is with other kids, too.

      The same applies to MEC (Mums’ English Club), except for the fact that it takes place in our home, in E.’s comfort zone.

      My plan for the near future (as soon as E. can walk) is to find a playhouse where native or non-Hungarian mommies go with their little one.

      Weekly-daily schedule

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      Our daily schedule concerning English has developed slowly. E. is 11 months old and for a month now we’ve had a more or less fixed weekly agenda. Here it is:

      60% is in Hungarian and 40% is in English – I wish we could keep this balance

      We’ve just started Helen Doron English (in a later post I’ll write about our experience), but it definitely increases the time spent on English and we are not at home using the minor language at last. Tuesdays and Thursdays are clearly dedicated to English. Mondays and Wednesdays are the Hungarian days. Still, on these days we have 2 or 3 hours of English input. (What is not in the chart is the 20-30 minutes when D. takes the dog out for a walk in the evening. E. and I change into English and lay the table, put away the toys or watch some videos or books in English while they’re away.)

      Fridays are changeable, but in general half of the day goes in Hungarian, the other half in English. Before our Hungarian playmate comes to visit us, we go out for a walk together or to the market and then we use Hungarian as English would be unnatural.

      My only problem is the weekends. As the whole family is together, it’s really difficult to find time and natural situations when we can use English. At weekends 1 hour of English per day is “forced” into our programme (singing, video watching, reading out) but not real communicative interactions. I’ll try to find out something for the weekends. If you have any suggestions, just feel free to share it with me.

      In the table above you can’t see food time (which is in the given language according to which day it is) and daily sleeping time, however the latter takes away 2-3 hours per day.

      At the beginning of January we took up baby swimming on Saturday mornings. I found a course at Budapest Moms (you can find the group’s facebook page here), which was held in two languages. The tutor is Hungarian and in the water one of the moms do the interpreting. As the swimming pool echoes a lot it is hard to hear the Hungarian words, not to mention the English ones, however, we met a lot of non-Hungarian families (Russians, French, Dutch, Canadians etc). As for the English language, it doesn’t make a big difference whether we take part in this swimming course or another, but the trainer is really professional and the pool is clean, the water is warm. So all in all we, and most important of all, E. enjoy it. It’s a good family programme for the weekend. The course is finished in a week, now we are thinking of continuing it, but not sure. Good weather has arrived, we might want to spend time outside instead.

      I’m a little worried about being able to keep this schedule. One thing is permanent in a baby’s life that nothing is permanent. As I’m planning to work part-time soon, probably in a month or two our agenda needs to be revised.