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Bilingual babies ! When and how to introduce more than one language ?

Bilingual babies ….

I am polish mum living in UK with my English husband. It was very important to me to make sure that my baby girl speaks polish as well as she does english. I was researching a lot about the best way to bring up a child in bilingual family.

There are two very different opinions when it comes to when and how to teach your child second language.

1. You shouldn’t introduce second language until your child is 3 years old. It believes that doing it any earlier confuses the child and delays their speech development.

2. That you should introduce both (or more) languages from the very beginning.

Me and my husband have chosen to listen to the second method. From the first day that Chloe was born I have spoken to her in Polish and my Husband in English.

I must say that I am glad that we decided to do this. At 16 months Chloe understands pretty much everything that you ask her to do … both in Polish and English. Chloe can say lots of words in both of the languages as well. We can clearly see that she says much more English words around 20 compared to only 10 in polish; this is due to the fact that she is surrounded 70% of the time by english language (at the nursery, when she is being looked after by grandparents and when her dad talks to her). This doesn’t bother me at all…

I find it incredible that she can say so many words let alone being able to say it in two languages and being able to clearly understands English and Polish !!!!

We have had an amazing example of kids being bilingual at a very young age. Our friends have a 3 years old daughter who speaks 3 languages!!!! No they are not one of the pushy parents 😁 Mum is from Colubmia so she speaks Spanish, Dad is from Holland and speaks dutch, they communicate between each other in English and obviously they live in England so theirs daughter goes to the nursery in here. It’s amazing how at only 3 years old she knows who to speak to in which language and can switch between them easily in a split second !

Key is to make sure that you speak to your child in this same language at all the time (that’s why I speak to Chloe only in Polish and my husband in English). You need to talk, sing, play and reed in this language as each of those actions helps your child develop their speach in different ways.

If you have any experience or opinion please share !

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MUM’S !!!

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Being a mum is the most wonderful, amazing, rewarding, tiring, something frustrating, incredible thing in the whole world !!!

I was very lucy to have the most incredible woman as my Mum! She was so incredible and amazing that I know that I will never be able to match her …. But if my daughter one day thinks that I did half as good job as my mum did then I am going to be very happy !

Happy Monthere day to all of you ! Remember that you are doing an amazing job of being a mum every day … even if things are not perfect and on some days the house is a tip, or you leave the house with greasy hair … You are still an amazing mum !!!!

CHINKEN AND MUSHROOM IN CREAM SAUCE

DINNER RECIPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL ….

CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS IN CREAM SAUCE.

Ingredients:

– 1/2 onion (diced)

– 200g mushrooms (diced in to small cubes)

– 1 chicken breast (diced in to small cubes)

– 50g thin green beans

– 50g pearl barley

– 1 tsp sweet paprika

– 50ml chicken stock (baby one with no salt)

– 1 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce

– 1tsp parsley (sliced)

– 50ml double cream

– 1tsp of corn flower

Cooking method :

Fry onion until golden, then add chicken and sweet paprika; fry until your chicken is cooked. At this point add mushrooms and fry for around 3 minutes, until mushrooms become soft. Add chicken stock and cream, cook for further 5 minutes.

Meanwhile cook pearl barley according to the cooking instructions and also cook green beans for 5 minutes so that they are soft.

If your sauce is too thin add corn flower to thicken it. (Mix corn flower with a few spoonfuls of your sauce and then add to the the pan, bring to boil).

Once green beans are cooked cut them in to a size that your child can manage and add to the pan. Add pearl barley to the mixture and parsley and the dinner is finished!

For an adult version just use bigger quantities :

– 1onion (diced)

– 400g mushrooms sliced

– 1 chicken breast sliced

– 150g thin green beans

– 150g pearl barley

– 2 tsp sweet paprika

– 1/2 glass chicken stock
– 1 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce

– 2 tsp parsley (sliced)

– 150ml double cream

– 1 tbsp of corn flower

-salt to taste

BERRY FRUIT PARCEL !

DESERT RECEPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL …

BERRY FRUIT PARCELS

Ingrediants:

– 1packed of ready rolled puff pastry

– 1 apple (cut in to small squares)

– handful of blackberries

– handful of raspberries

– 1 egg

Cooking method:

Preheat you oven to 200 C.

Cut pastry in to 12 squares (2cm x 2cm). Place your fruits in the middle of the square.

Pinch together all 4 corners of the pastry.

Beat an egg and brush over your pastries.

Bake for around 20 min or until golden.

Once called sprinkle with a tiny bit of icing sugar.

The V&A – A Museum of Childhood – Highly recommended day out in London

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Are you trying to find fun things to do with your toddler ? You must visit the V&A’s Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, East London.

I was so pleased and surprised by how well organised the museum is and how much it caters to kid’s needs.

As you come in you have lots of space to leave you pram which allows you to move more freely.

There are 3 floors :

Ground Floor on which you have situated coffee shop and shops.

Mezzanine :

1. Creativity section – this section is divided into four sections – Imagine, Be Inspired, Explore and Make it Happen. It has a Sensory Pod and Build it Up and Knock it Down (building blocks) interactivities. Art Classes also take place every day from 14.00-16.00.

2. Moving Toys section – Moving toys section shows ranges from rocking horses and pull-along toys to more complex clockwork and battery-operated toys. Gallery has a wide variety of interactives for children to engage with, including rocking horses, Robbie the Robot, a train set, a peep show and zoetrope. Touchscreen interactives featuring moving toys games and quizzes are also situated throughout the gallery.

First floors :

1. The Childhood Galleries – are arranged into the following themes: Babies, Home, What We Wear, Who Will I Be? and Good Times. You can find here another set of interactive exciting things to do like a sandpit for kids to play in, puppet box so you can make your own show, kitchen and under 3’s area.

2. Temporary Exhibition Space which right now shows a heartbreaking exhibition telling the stories of Britain’s child migrants who were sent to Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries between 1869 and 1970.

On first impression I thought what have we done? Chloe is way too small for it at 15 months …but I was wrong.

As you walk around the museum looking at the toys there is lots of kids activities scattered around. Everything from sensory pod, sand pit, to kitchen and doll houses that kids are allowed to play with. Every time we thought that Chloe couldn’t get any more excited she would.

If you come at the right time there is a puppet show, which kids can enjoy for free. There is lots of free drop-in activities taking place during term time, including arts and crafts, tours, trails and storytelling (for list visit the website).

Another added bonus is a lovely coffeeshop/restaurant which does lovely freshly made food. What is very handy is that they do a big selection of kids food with everyone being able to find something for the fussy eaters.

And if you all still have some energy left afterwards head to the lovely park just next door !

This is a great place for a family day out and I will recommend it to everyone !

http://www.vam.ac.uk/

APPLE PANCAKES !

DESERT RECEPE, SNACK RECEPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL..

APPLE PANCAKES !

Ingredients:

– 50g butter (melted)

– 1 egg

– 1 cup of milk

– 1 1/2 cup of flower

– 3 apples (grated)

– 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

– 1/4 tsp cinnamon

– 1 tbsp of sugar (optional)

Cooking method:

Mix all of the ingredients together except apples. When the mixture is smooth and creamy add your grated apples. Fry on a very hot frying pan on each side for 2-3 minutes. Enjoy it !!!!

Nursery facing closure over photos to reassure parents ….???!!!

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

This is a story from Good Morning Britain. I would love to hear what is your opinion abut it Mums ???

A nursery school in Kent is facing closure after it was sending photos of children to their worried parents to show that they are happy after they leave.
Cindy Fox, owner of Cherubs nursery in Linton, says she simply wanted to reassure concerned parents but she has been told by education watchdog Ofsted that the pictures jeopardise the safety of children – and as a result the school has been stripped of its outstanding rating and branded inadequate instead…..

What is your opinion abut it ?

If I asked for a photo when I was leaving my child then I cannot see anything bad about it… But is there a thin line between photos which you ask for and photos that you didn’t know of ? ….

DAY FROM A LIFE OF A WORKING MUM…

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

2 months ago I have written a post about my heartbreak of having to go back to work. How I didn’t want to do it, and I couldn’t imagine how I will cope with leaving Chloe. I must say that as all of you advised; it wasn’t that bad.

Don’t get me wrong, first week was hard!!! Evening before going back to work I was a mess !On the first day I cried all the time, and I didnt enjoy being back at work. By the end of week two it felt as if I had never been away on maternity leave. 😊

I am lucky to have a job which I am passionate about and which keeps me so busy that the day just flies by.

It’s not easy being a working mum (especially living with the guilt of leaving your child all the time) but if you get organised its not that hard at all. The key is to rest once everything is done; not the other way around 😂😂😂 That way you are tired but you have everything under control. This is an example of a day of a working mum:
4:15 am – Alarm goes off , it’s time to start the day ! On a good night I will sleep undisturbed for a whole night , on a bad one I will be lucky to get 2 hours all together! (a teething baby is worse than having a new born baby!!!!!) Get ready for work creeping around the house so that I don’t wake up Hubby or Chloe is the norm, (I even worry that my bones are making too much noise).

4:50am- make sure that everything is ready for my parents in law to look after Chloe (notes, food etc) or that Chloe has everything packed for the nursery.

5:00 am – out of the house to get a train, then a tube … and another tube … This also is my breakfast time, and that’s when my caffeine deprivation starts to kick in … It’s 5 am and I had only one coffee !!!!!!

6:00 am – start work and keep dreaming about coffee until around 10am – that’s my next caffeine fix 😁. Once I get to work I don’t have time for anything, it’s full on from 6am until 3pm. This is great as I don’t have the time to miss Chloe (or eat). I make one quick phonecall to make sure that Chloe is ok and to hear that she is doing amazingly well and isn’t missing her mummy at all (which is great but also a little bit upsetting… How can you not miss your mummy ?!)

3:00pm – finish work (or should have finished but its very rare that I get out in time) and run home as fast as I can to see my baby.

4:00pm – 5:30pm is the precious time I get to spend with my daughter! Sometimes I get home to an amazing welcome with happy screams, hugs and kisses. Sometimes to Chloe screaming with excitement at the sound of the door then seeing that it’s me, saying Heeyyyaaa and going back to play …( Eehh thanks for that… I haven’t been missing you all day at all…)

This is the precious time that I have with Chloe to play and have quality time with her. I leave my phone and don’t look at it (95% of the time😁), I dont tidy, I don’t cook I just enjoy her. It is by far the best time of the day.

5:30pm -6:00pm prepare dinner for me, my husband and Chloe. You see I don’t cook in the week I prepare all of my meals over the weekend and just finish them off on the day or just reheat them. Chloe’s precious 2 hour nap in the afternoon is a 2 hour cooking session for me. I tend to cook one meal and prepare another one for the evening.

6:00pm Daddy comes back home (at best but it can be much later dependent on his work) and we have a family dinner.

6:30pm bath and bed time story.

7:00pm Chloe is alsleep and us (Chloes little servants😂) get to work with preparing food for Chloe for the next day, writing notes for grandparents, preparing Chloe’s clothes, etc.

7:30pm -8:00pm tidy up all of the toys and then we can sit down with a glass of wine, relax and have some grown up time.

10:00pm – ZZZZzzzzzzzz

It is a very full on day, and you don’t stop until you collapse on the sofa in the evening. But if you are organised it’s not hard at all (just a little bit tiring)

SPAGHETTI A’LA CHILLI CON CARNE

DINNER RECIPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL …
SPAGHETTI A’LA CHILLI CON CARNE

I was making Chilli Con Carne for myself and my hubby and decided to make a version for Chloe by adapting my recipie. Because Chloe refuses to eat any form of mashed up food I ended up making it as a pasta so she can feed herself with it.

Ingredients:

– 200g poor or beef mince meant (I don’t like beef so I use pork)

– 1 small onion (chopped)

– 1 garlic cove

– 100ml vegetable stock (beef stock if you are using beef mince meat) without salt

– 1 tsp parsley

– 1 tsp oregano

-1 tsp cumin

– 200ml can tomatoes

– small can of sweetcorn

– handful of salad beans (optional)

– 100g of pasta (I used normal pasta but you can use the baby one)

Cooking method:

Fry onion for 3 minutes, then add garlick and spices and fry for another 2 minutes. Add mince meat and fry for 10 minutes, then add stock and simmer for 20 minutes (or untill liquid reduces).

Add tomatoes, sweetcorn and beans (if using) and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Cook pasta according to cooking instructions.

Add your last to mince meat mixture and combine well together. Bone appetite !

CHICKEN NOODLES STIR-FRY

DINNER RECIPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL …
CHICKEN NOODLE STIR-FRY

This is an adapted recipe of Ananbel Karmel : First beef noodle stir-fry. I have changed the recipie a little bit by making it with chicken and slightly adapting ingredients of the sauce. For original Anabell Karmel recipie head to her website.

Ingredients:

– 75g carrot (piled and diced)

– 75g egg noodles

– 50g frozen peas

– 1 small chicken breast (diced)

Sauce:

– 1/2 an apple (grated)

– 1tbsp soy sauce

– 1/2 garlic cove

– 4 spring onions finely chopped

Cooking method :

Cook egg noodles according to cooking instructions.

Boil water and cook carrots for 5 minutes or until soft.

Fry chicken for 5 minutes, add peas and cook for another 2 minutes, then add noodles and carrots.

Mix sauce ingredients together and add to the pan.

Meal is ready to serve. Hope that your precious one will enjoy it as much as Chloe did.