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I sometimes sit and wonder what I will do after my long stint working as a Nanny. I wonder if our dream project will ever be realised. If that doesn’t work out as planned another career option is definitely needed to help us stay afloat. The idea of not having anything to do with nasty parents seems interesting, even though the families I work for now are simply fabulous.
Whenever we go to the city, we see a great influx of imported workforce here to work in the IT industry. There obviously are plenty of jobs in this field, if we are brain draining skilled professionals from other countries to fill positions over here. So, IT could be an interesting career option that I should look into. Even if I never score a job, it doesn’t hurt to learn a thing or two about new technologies. We had major problems with our computer about three months ago. Instead of tackling the problems head on, I had a melt down and felt completely useless.
I only ever attended one basic computer training course and that was when I was still attending University many years ago. Before the training course began, all I wanted was to learn was some basic word processing skills to help me complete my assignments neatly. The trainer was so wonderful and supportive that I ended up completing the course feeling like I should ditch my dreams of becoming a teacher for a Computer Science degree so that I could one day work for Bill Gates. Looking back now, that seems mightily immature of me to be so overtly confident but looking at the IT industry now, it really was not a silly choice to move to at the time.
Cameron and I recently had a look at some IT training programmes available while surfing the internet. He was looking to learn more about networking and network security. Acquiring relevant certifications that are current to today’s needs could increase job opportunities and possible pay rise. I joined him to see if there was anything out there for me. Cameron half jokingly suggested that aside from the entry level programmes, the others were likely to be out of my league. I had a look anyhow. The Cisco certification Certified Entry Networking Technician is one such entry level course for people with less experience. Cameron on the other hand was looking at Professional Level Certifications. He is hoping that the extra training will give him an edge over other candidates when looking for jobs overseas. 
When teaching a child to read, many people place strong emphasis on the initial sounds of words. After teaching Stella the sounds of consonants and short vowels listed inside the covers of the workbook they bought, the little family made an Alphabet book. Each page is devoted to one sound and the adults helped Stella in hunting down and pasting pictures of objects sharing that same initial sound on it. They had a ball. I, on the other hand was more curious to find out if Stella was able to hear those sounds if they were in other parts of a word. Sorry that I love complicating things but there is a reason behind this: The ability to hear the sounds inside a word made makes it possible for a child to realise that each word is made up of sounds and the ability to manipulate the sounds within a word will help the child to learn to read later on.
I decided to find out one day during her 3rd term holidays in 2006. So while Stella was busy lining up her plastic animals, I casually asked if she could hear the ‘f’ sound in the word ‘elephant’. (No written word was involved in this little activity.) She looked at me suspiciously, probably wondering what I was on about. It was quite an obvious example as well. She probably thought that I didn’t think much of her! LOL. She didn’t answer the question until after her naptime! Before going to the park that day, she played with her line of animals left there since that morning. Without any prompting from me, she announced that she can hear the ‘g’ sound in ‘tiger’. She even said, “It’s like the ‘g’ in ‘girl’.” In a matter of weeks, she was telling everyone who would listen what she can hear. It was like an obsession for a while and it was all done without looking at any words. She concentrated on saying the words (sometimes slowly) and listening to the sounds. She paid attention to every sound, not just the one at the beginning. You should see how delighted her parents were. Instead of playing I-Spy in the car, they turned this into a game and played it together.
Midway through the first term in 2007, an older child in the same 4 year old Kindergarten group pointed out to her the way to read words of things printed on a set of flashcards that the two were looking at. (This older child was staying for an extra year at the Kindergarten because he was apparently too socially immature to proceed to Prep. He also had a tendency to baby the younger ones in the group – very interesting. (Unfortunately for Stella, he moved to another state.) After learning a few neat tricks from the boy, Stella came home to show me how to ‘read’. I eagerly reported that to her parents knowing that they would definitely be delighted by the news. We soon realised that she didn’t really read but was in fact parroting what was shown to her. Days later, I noticed something interesting. We were supposed to be tidying up but Stella went to look at her alphabet cards. I could see that she was working with them but was too busy to pop over at that instant. When I did, I saw the letter cards for ‘e’,’l’,’f’,’n’ and ‘t’, all lined up next to her favourite plastic elephant. I will admit now that I felt dizzy at the time. She was outside the back door retrieving a painting that she left outside to dry. When she came back in, she wanted to pack them up but I asked her to leave them there to show her mum. She pointed to them proudly and told me that it said ‘elephant’. I was so excited that I nearly fainted right there, right then. The adults’ reaction (including my own) reminded me of the kids in the movie ET when they discovered that the ‘Man from the Moon’ could talk.
Stella’s dad kept asking what I did but I didn’t do anything. That wasn’t the only thing that she ‘wrote’. From then onwards, Stella began to enjoy word building almost every day. The boy didn’t manage to successfully teach Stella to read but I strongly believed that he had propelled her into writing. This must be the power of peer tutoring. No one is sure if the boy ‘taught’ Stella again but according to the teachers, the two had been seen sharing picture books together at the book corner sometimes.
Note 1: In the eyes of many people, what Stella was doing is not accepted as writing because many words were misspelled. This is a matter of differing opinions. To me, that’s a child’s early writing. I am so very glad that Stella’s parents accepted her inventive spelling as a stage that Stella had to go through to truly practise the sounds that she had learned.
Note 2: In the next part, the coin dropped twice and a beginner reader was born!
Through trial and error, Stella’s mum learned that her daughter absolutely disliked the worksheets she printed off the computer. Now, Stella has always been very artistic, sharing the same interest as her mum. She loves painting and to a lesser extent, drawing. But, like many other things to do with Stella she doesn’t like to be told what to do with her own art projects. Unless she is making a craft project with me, suggestions may be offered but she may not necessary accept them. So, when the Supergirl is asked to draw another apple or another object on the worksheet, her interest is likely to diminish because she gets very hung up about the quality of her own drawing as compared to the rest of the printed page. Her mind is very precise but her somewhat immature motor skills made it hard for her to recreate it in a small designated area on the worksheet. Stella encountered the same problem when learning to write letters on lines. Many worksheets and workbooks teach children to write on lines right from the start. As these were mostly made for older children, they may not be a problem for them but it was a painful experience for Stella.
Other options were needed to make learning to read and write fun for Miss Stella. I was consulted at one point. Yes, I was. Believe it or not, this nanny was consulted! I have plenty of ideas but unless I am asked, I am not prepared to step in. Years of working with parents, I have learned not to extend any help unless they explicitly wanted me to. What do nannies know? I also felt that I might ruin the mother and daughter’s journey so far if I got involved.
During one of our many conversations, Stella’s mum asked me for my opinion and with the permission via such a question, I stopped being a quiet observer and joined them in their journey. I suggested that they ditch the idea of making Stella write on lines. Instead, she was encouraged to write her letters on paper, in scrapbooks, on the whiteboard or draw them with a paintbrush at the easel; the more room to move the better. Finger painting the letters helped too. I also encouraged Stella’s mum to search the internet for some games to play with Stella. Worksheets are not the only way to learn to read and write. We soon witnessed the fun Stella had sorting picture cards into groups, playing Bingo and Snap. These literacy based games were mostly home made. Her parents also made use of things around the house, especially when they played their version of the treasure hunt game. Another thing worth mentioning is the Alphabet book that the little family made. Stella’s dad was so impressed with the end product that he had it properly bounded at Officeworks.
Most people think that children must learn to write repetitiously on lines to improve their writing skills but for a child to write well, he or she needs good fine motor skills to start with. (I am actually referring to handwriting skills here; not creative composition.) Stella did plenty of lacing/threading activities, very simple sewing, weaving and tracing stencils. She also designed and made simple decorations using Hama Beads and modelling with clay. All of these activities kept her fingers busy. As she had lots of fun, she was also preparing her hands to one day write with flair. When she did attempt to write, we encouraged her to love her own style of handwriting. Tracing dotted letters can be frustrating for the child who wishes to exactly clone what’s printed on the worksheet/workbook. What’s most important is for the child to correctly form each letter.
Note: In the next part of this theme, I will blog about the Sound Games and the unexpected ‘Teacher’.
Stella was already reading when school started earlier this year. If learning the names of the alphabet is considered to be part of the process of learning to read, Stella had already begun her journey just before I started looking after her. Someone gave the Supergirl a wooden puzzle of her name for Christmas 2005 and according to her mum, Stella became interested not only with putting the alphabet pieces together on the base plate to form her name, she became curious with the names of the letters. They also used those cheap magnetic plastic letters to teach the other letters to her. By the time I came along, Stella already knew the names of at least 75% of the letters in the alphabet.
Stella’s mum has no valid qualifications in teaching literacy to young children but that didn’t hamper her enthusiasm to teach Stella how to read. She went about it through trial and error. For instance, Stella’s mum did initially buy a workbook to help Stella learn to read and write. The workbook was a poor choice because it was meant to be for older school children and the script used to teach handwriting is not the one used widely in Victorian schools. Furthermore, the then 3 year old just didn’t have the (very) fine motor skills to try writing letters on lines. That’s very restrictive for a beginner. There is however a thumbs-up feature in the workbook. Inside the front and back covers are instructions for the adult to teach the child how to make the sounds for consonants and short vowels. Knowing the names of the letters does not teach a child to read but learning the sounds can be mighty helpful. Stella’s mum also borrowed a good book on teaching reading at home from the library but she couldn’t re-borrow it because it went missing after she had returned it. Later, she came across an informative booklet while surfing the net and bought one for reference. Stella’s dad was also pretty involved throughout the whole process. One of his favourite things to do was to read to his little girl. This includes reading old books from his childhood. Teaching a child to read before school age can be seen as unnecessary but Stella’s parents weren’t hurrying her at all. They are not pushy parents. They have never forced her in my presence anyway. Her happiness is of the utmost importance to them.
Teaching a classroom full of new Preppies is a very different experience to teaching a child that you know since she was born. A learner’s personality is a factor to the outcome of any learning. In Stella’s case, she likes to take charge of what she would like to do rather than be told to do something. I realised not long after I started looking after her that if she was not interested, she would not comply willingly and nothing would be achieved. This is why even if her parents were pushy; they would only succeed in creating an unhappy little girl. She is a classic example of why children shouldn’t be forced to learn anything according to an inflexible schedule. There is a time for everything. Stella also has a strong determination and is able to concentrate for long periods. She probably inherited those traits from both parents. So as long as she had wanted to, she could stay on task to complete any work of her choice. Her Kindergarten teachers used to comment on this a lot. These useful abilities plus a very good memory make it easy for Stella to learn anything, especially things that attract her attention. All that does not mean her journey was a smooth one. There were bouts of frustrations that stifled her interest temporarily. During these ‘breaks’, Stella enjoyed other activities, developed her social skills, created elaborate fantasy play and played home made or store bought games with a bit of mathematical and thinking skills thrown in. There were also breaks that coincided with the family’s holiday or celebration plans. Learning to read didn’t consume every hour and every minute of Stella’s pre-school years. A balanced development in all areas was (and still is) just as important.
NOTE: I have decided to blog about this in parts. The next part will be about Stella’s bespoke learning. LOL
The end of the financial year came and went and I have been working long extended hours to help the busy parents out. Even the weekends were not excluded this year. I am not complaining. My Uni studies are done for now and I have the extra time to help out. The long awaited break is now just around the corner. Phew!
Bree was not feeling well all week last week. By Friday, she seemed to be on the mend but went downhill again on the weekend. After going to see the doctor yesterday (Tuesday) with her mum, she got herself another lot of antibiotics. Bree, like Stella, is a very healthy child and she seldom gets sick. Hopefully, she will get better in time for Grandma Ettie’s arrival. I heard that she has some goodies for the little girl. The family is lucky that the trip to Buller is not happening till later this month. This will give Bree ample time to recover.
I was very lucky that the girls didn’t have to spend all days together. Stella’s Winter holidays had started and she spent her mornings at her friends’ homes from Monday – Friday, last week. The Gang of Four had plenty of opportunities to catch up and play before going away. Who says the only child is bound to be lonely? Stella had plenty of socialization with a small tight knit group of friends. She also has the luxury of lots of me time at home. Having the time to discover her real self is something many other children do not have. Stella gets to know her personal strengths and weaknesses as well as developing an ability to work independently with fewer distractions. Children who know themselves well are more able to resist negative influences.
With Stella and her parents jetting off to New Zealand tomorrow (Thursday) and Grandma Ettie arriving on Friday, this overworked nanny is finally having her well earned 10 day break. Tomorrow will be my final day. I will return to work on the 14th, looking after both girls. That is the last day of Stella’s school holidays.
