Csenge

An update on the 5 year old. I have been doing rather well with her – much to my surprise and to her liking apparently. Every Monday and Wednesday the mom comes to “fetch” me at my apartment and we drive to their house. There is some sort of treat waiting for me, usually fresh baked by the grandma or retrieved from one of her husbands excursions abroad. Then Csenge and I leave the chaos of the three year old twins to the mom and head to her room. There she has lots of play things and we have many options in terms of things to capture her interest.

Initially – as you probably read – I freaked out when thinking about teaching- and communicating with a five year old. I fashioned several different sets of flash cards that we have been using each week, but that didn’t seem to be enough. I recently began to purchase parts of the “English Adventure” series. It’s pre-reading English activities that involve Disney characters. The kids apparently love it because they recognize many of the different people involved in the exercises. I started by purchasing the “pupil book” and the “activity book.” That looked like more than enough to last us through January when I leave. However, not having looked at the books or taught out of them before, I was surprised when I got them home and read “Chant – track 7.” It was a picture of Donald Duck and his three nephews (can’t remember their names at the moment) and they were riding a merry-go-round. Chant? What the hell am I supposed to chant about? I don’t have the CD, so I have no idea what the topic of the chant would be OR how exactly this chant would go. Hmmm… now what? On to the next exercise I suppose. We made it through a couple different things, and then reverted back to the fan favorite “heads shoulders knees and toes” and she was thrilled. However, I was a bit perturbed that I needed to seek out more segments of this learning series. I set out the next day to purchase the CD. Our book store in town didn’t have it, so I ordered the CD and the teacher book – which set me back another pretty penny. In the mean time, my colleague Gabi lent me her photocopied version of the teachers book, so I now had the words for the chants and songs, but without the CD I was still on my own in terms of a tune. Damnit. Oh well. We did some more activities and sang the rainbow song the next time – she loved it. Most recently, we practiced “run, jump, spin, sit, stand and stop.” She LOVES to be active, but these commands were a bit trying for her. At any rate, this whole experience has me doing things I never thought I’d be doing – let alone with a total stranger’s kid in a foreign country. We’re singing and patty-caking and the whole nine yards. Her mom told me yesterday that Csenge “LOVES” learning English because it’s fun… so I suppose that’s reassuring. I have to say, I don’t exactly mind it that much either.