Preserving Memories

I, for one, is a sentimentalist when it comes to not forgetting wonderful moments in life.  Kids provide so much fodder for good memories.  To preserve them for my and my husband's enjoyment in our old age, and for kids to read when they grow up, I set up email accounts for my kids as soon as they were born.  As and when I feel there is something I want to preserve, I describe it in an email to them.  The anticipation of hearing their reaction to these events is so wonderful.  I highly recommend this!

iPad Apps for teaching Indian Languages

I overhead my son telling someome "My dad speaks Belongi".  Taken aback, I was not sure whether to laugh or cry.  My Bengali husband, and I, with my Tamil background, had failed to teach any Indian language to our US born kids.  As usual, I turned to the first resource I could think of - the App store on our iPad.

So, I started experimenting with iPad apps for learning Indian languages.  I downloaded apps for both Bangla and Hindi.  I have given up on Tamil since I was raised in Mumbai, and can't read or write in Tamil.

There are two types of apps - those that are like online flash cards that show a picture and say the Bangla/Hindi word for it, and others that let kids trace out letters using their fingers.  So, far these apps have caught my 5 year old's imagination.  She can watch and trace for hours.

Ones I have used so far to teach Bangla are -

Utalk Bengali

Iwritebangla

Utalk Bengali is great for learning words and phrases:

iwritebangla is great for learning to write the letters.  There is something to be said about using one's fingers to trace on a glass surface.  The tactile experience is even more fun than writing with a pen or pencil.

Just found one more app that is highly rated.  Am yet to try it out.  Will do so soon, and post our experience with it - Hashi Khushi Bangla App.

Ones I have used so far to teach Hindi are -

Hindi!

Hindi cards

Learn Hindi

The Hindi Flash cards app such as Hindi Cards work for kids with a lot of patience.  My five year old can go through these.  But, my eight year old, who is not self motivated to learn any language other than English could not care less for these.

Am yet to find apps for Hindi that are truly high quality and captivating.  Will keep looking!

Fidgety Kids

I finally found a physical aid that helps my son sit still in class.  It is an inflatable disc.  Here is the link to it on Amazon:  Chair Cushion.  My 8 year old loves it, and diligently packs it in his school bag every morning since it helps him focus in class.  Not sure if it works for all kids, but definitely worked for us!

Khan Academy

I have heard and read a lot of Khan Academy, and even watched Salman Khan speak at a local TED conference.  However, it never occurred to me that any of his videos could be helpful for my 7 and 4 year old kids.  This evening, when my 7 year old was working on him Math multiplicaton Kumon sheets (yes, we are back to experimenting with Kumon...more about that later), I desperately looked online for resources to help him.  One of the sites had a link to a video, and I clicked on it not realizing that it lead to a Khan Academy video.  My 7 year old and we (the parents) watched it together.  The effect of it on my son was just amazing. Not sure if it was the reassuring voice, but he sat up and really paid attention.  The line that really got him was when Khan said "I'm not a big fan of memorization.  But, the one thing about multiplication is that if you memorize your multiplication tables that we'll start to do in this video, it'll pay huge benefits for the rest of your life".  Wow, the impact was just huge.    More interestingly, my almost 5 year old insisted that we find a video for her.  We found one of basic addition where Khan talks about adding avacadoes.  Again, I had shown my kids how to cut open an avacado just today, and that was quite a happy coincidence.  :)

Link to the multiplication video: Khan Academy Multiplication Video   

Number Lines Worksheets | Number Lines Worksheets for Study

Number Lines Worksheets | Number Lines Worksheets for Study

Hunted all over for a mechanical number line for a more tactile experience. Unable to find one, decided to go with number line worksheets.