Emily_TP_Child_2

            For my second meeting with Jun, I was invited into his home with a protein bar and water, which was a very thoughtful gesture from his mom considering I hadn’t eaten since lunch! She informed me that Jun is falling behind in science and was hoping that we could review one of the chapters in his book so that he can be more familiar with the terminology and comfortable using it.  One of his teachers noticed that Jun is uncomfortable speaking in front of people as well and always covers his mouth. So, my goal in reviewing science was to get Jun to talk about the concepts with me so that he would be used to using them.  The chapter was on energy.  I let Jun read it to me, and after every paragraph, I asked him questions about the concepts to make sure he understood.  We talked all about solar energy, conductors, how people and plants get energy, etc. While talking to him, I noticed that he had a hard time thinking of how to say certain things such as “campfire.” He knew that there was wood being burned and fire, but he didn’t know the comprehensive name for it. Instances like that helped us build his vocabulary.

            After that, we worked on a review packet that I made him. I remembered from our first session that he did not know the terms “past, present, and future,” but when I explained them and made him give me some examples, he understood.  Just to make sure, in the packet, I included fun pictures that a photographer took of his two daughters doing crazy things. I asked questions such as, “What are the girls doing?” “What do you think was happening before this picture was taken?” “What’s going to happen next?”  Then, Jun had to designate which question was talking about the past, present, or future.  My intent when using those pictures was also to build his vocabulary by making sure he knows how to say (and spell) all of the things in the photo. We only had time to complete part of the first page, but we will finish next week.