Super Dad!

 Like most boys, Abhay too hero-worships his dad and no prizes for guessing that Abhay is out and out a daddy’s boy! Appa is his “go-to” person when he wants to get done something or get away with something or get himself something! If he wants to be entertained or humored …. then Appa is his man! Abhay’s is his Appa’s loyal audience ….guaranteed to laugh at all his PJs! Even some of Appa’s amateur artistic endeavours has Abhay referring to him as “A Great Artist” to his drawing teacher!  When Appa and Amma have an argument, Amma is always asked why and not Appa! Well, I have no problem as …..Appa is the parent Abhay turns to if he wants to cuddle sleep! Appa is the parent he wakes up if he has had a bad dream in the middle of the night! Appa is the one he approaches when he wants to use the restaurant restroom just when the food is served piping hot…. and.believe me I could not be anymore thankful for the same! :-)
 

 

Anyway, Abhay loves to slip into the Super-man costume that was handed down to him by his older cousins. Just the other day as I was returning from work, I saw a little Super man running up the street with a boy who looked like one of Abhay’s friends….it took me a couple of seconds to realize that he was none other than my little one! J So imagine my delight as I came across an Oxford University Press Early reader titled “Super-Dad” by Roderick Hunt and Alex Brychta that has dad donning a Superman costume on its cover! J  I had meant to post this on Abhay’s dad’s birthday, which was exactly a week ago, but unfortunately, Abhay’s mom is not the supermom she wishes she be!:-) Anyway, a Level 2a Early Reader, Wilma and Wiff’s dad dons a Super-Man’s costume for the school charity. Wilma is embarrassed as she thinks dad looks silly but Wilf thinks he looks good (Of course…..a son!) But Wilma soon eats her words as her dad chases the thief who steals the donation money and nabs him in true "Super hero" style! So its not only Wilma, but the entire school cheers her Super –dad! Abhay loved this book …and as it was only level 2a, he managed to speed read this to his “Super-dad”! Hmm....all I can say is …..enjoy this phase until it lasts! J

 

 

Abhay's picnic

Last week Abhay went on a school  trip to Lalbagh. I am an old timer when it comes to school picnics  believing that children have much more to learn from conventional outings to museums, botanical gardens, the planetarium or the zoo than the easier option of taking them to a resort! Anyway, when I got to know that Abhay’s school was planning a trip to Lalbagh, I couldn’t help but get nostalgic about my own school trip to Lalbagh in Class V, which now seems like another age!  Since it was literally a stone’s throw off from our school, we went walking and were assisted by the traffic cops at the pedestrian crossing. I still remember the excitement of walking hand-in hand with our assigned partners, giggling at the people who seemed either curious or amused by the sight of over 130 odd young girls marching in twos! Abhay of course didn’t seem amused that we walked all the way to Bangalore’s most famous botanical garden! Well.....life was much simpler back then, with the city less-spread out, much less traffic on the roads and as kids, we had way too less expectations than our kids have today! J

I had him read “Picnic time” by Cynthia Rider and Alex Brychta is a Level 1 B Early Reader, part of the Read at Home series brought out by Oxford University Press. I recently discovered this Early Reader series at the British Council Library that has several stories spread across 4 levels of graded reading with a gradual progression within each level from A to C. Whenever I choose early readers of an Indian publishing house, I always start from the bottom level as I find most of Indian Early Readers lacking in structure as far as graded reading is concerned unlike their western counterparts. For instance, you’re most likely to find a word that is neither a commonly known sight word nor phonetically based in a Level 1 which the kids find it hard to decipher! Whereas, the Early Readers from a British publication or an American publication are based on certain fundamental teaching techniques that are typically characterized by vocabulary repetition and gradual progression from short vowels sounds to long vowels sounds and sight words. Well, in essence, I found that Abhay was able to cruise through a Level 1 B even though he requires help with some Level 1 books of certain Indian publications. Anyway, this particular book is about children getting excited about the picnic to a nearby farm. But when they actually reach the farm and spread out their mat to gorge on their picnic lunch, they are joined by the farm animals too. So what happens? Listen up as your little early reader steps into reading and it’s time for you to ask those annoying “why” questions as the tables turn! :-)