Flush With Words
The vocabulary building continues as I make more of an effort to help the girls if they don't know a word or if they are not using the best word to describe something. I was careful not to do this too much in the beginning because I didn't want to discourage them or make them believe I was being critical of them.
Yesterday the word was flush. Up to now, Ping has been "washing" the toilet. She would also tell me to wash my teeth, but now she has learned that the correct word if brush. She is a champion when it comes to brushing teeth. It has paid off for her because she has never had a cavity, and the dentist checked all of her teeth a few weeks ago and they are all sound. I noticed that she has a toothbrush and toothpaste in the kitchen at our office now so that she can brush her teeth during the day.
Today the word will be exercise. Right now, Ping calls going to the gym to work out "practice body." Cici likes to practice body with her, although I think she knows that the correct word is exercise. It takes a long time to build a vocabulary, just as it takes a long time to build a body. Cici gets a lot of help from school with building her vocabulary, and of course she must practice it every day with speaking and writing in school and while doing homework.
Yesterday Cici and I worked on the meaning of "event" and "result" in the context of an assignment in history class to describe the events in each of three wars, and then describe the results in each war. She completed the assignment on her own for the first war. I couldn't have done it better myself. You know, Cici, you couldn't have done this assignment last year, I told her. You have come a long way. She did the rest of the assignment without even checking back with me.
Later in the evening I checked her grades, which I do several times a week. The second six week term ends this week, so I am watching them particularly closely. Her latest English grades were in. Cici, I called to her, do you realize that your term grade in English is 97? Really, Papa? She came running to look over my shoulder. What are my other grades?
As we went through them, I remembered asking her if she could really handle geometry and algebra II in the same year, especially when taking chemistry honors. She is sitting on a 100 in geometry and a 98 in algebra II. Her initial struggles in Chemistry are long forgotten, as her grade in that class is also a 98. She told me last night that she plans to take pre-calculus and statistics at the same time next year, and take calculus in her senior year.
Cici's dream is to attend the University of Texas and she knows how difficult it is to gain admission there. If she graduates in the top 8% of her class, she gets admitted to UT automatically if she applies. If not, one of the things they look at is how strong a student is in math and science and languages. That should give her an advantage, because by the time she applies she will have four languages plus more math than most anyone will have as part of her credentials. Another factor they consider is ethnic background and different cultures and overcoming adversity, which should also help her.
This weekend she told me that the top universities in China are trying hard to recruit students from other countries. I bet I could be admitted to the University of Beijing, the number one school in China, she told me, because I am a U.S. Citizen now. So we even kicked around the idea of her going to undergraduate school there and then returning to the U.S for law school. If nothing else, it looks like she has options.
Yesterday the word was flush. Up to now, Ping has been "washing" the toilet. She would also tell me to wash my teeth, but now she has learned that the correct word if brush. She is a champion when it comes to brushing teeth. It has paid off for her because she has never had a cavity, and the dentist checked all of her teeth a few weeks ago and they are all sound. I noticed that she has a toothbrush and toothpaste in the kitchen at our office now so that she can brush her teeth during the day.
Today the word will be exercise. Right now, Ping calls going to the gym to work out "practice body." Cici likes to practice body with her, although I think she knows that the correct word is exercise. It takes a long time to build a vocabulary, just as it takes a long time to build a body. Cici gets a lot of help from school with building her vocabulary, and of course she must practice it every day with speaking and writing in school and while doing homework.
Yesterday Cici and I worked on the meaning of "event" and "result" in the context of an assignment in history class to describe the events in each of three wars, and then describe the results in each war. She completed the assignment on her own for the first war. I couldn't have done it better myself. You know, Cici, you couldn't have done this assignment last year, I told her. You have come a long way. She did the rest of the assignment without even checking back with me.
Later in the evening I checked her grades, which I do several times a week. The second six week term ends this week, so I am watching them particularly closely. Her latest English grades were in. Cici, I called to her, do you realize that your term grade in English is 97? Really, Papa? She came running to look over my shoulder. What are my other grades?
As we went through them, I remembered asking her if she could really handle geometry and algebra II in the same year, especially when taking chemistry honors. She is sitting on a 100 in geometry and a 98 in algebra II. Her initial struggles in Chemistry are long forgotten, as her grade in that class is also a 98. She told me last night that she plans to take pre-calculus and statistics at the same time next year, and take calculus in her senior year.
Cici's dream is to attend the University of Texas and she knows how difficult it is to gain admission there. If she graduates in the top 8% of her class, she gets admitted to UT automatically if she applies. If not, one of the things they look at is how strong a student is in math and science and languages. That should give her an advantage, because by the time she applies she will have four languages plus more math than most anyone will have as part of her credentials. Another factor they consider is ethnic background and different cultures and overcoming adversity, which should also help her.
This weekend she told me that the top universities in China are trying hard to recruit students from other countries. I bet I could be admitted to the University of Beijing, the number one school in China, she told me, because I am a U.S. Citizen now. So we even kicked around the idea of her going to undergraduate school there and then returning to the U.S for law school. If nothing else, it looks like she has options.
Keep up the great work Cici and before you know it, you'll be running Papa's law firm.
Good job Papa Lee.
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