Homeschoolers in Brazil that teach Portuguese Grammar/Writing?

[Guest ExpatMom]

Hi!  I am new to this board, though I've been reading it for over a year :-)

 

Are there any homeschoolers here who use American curriculum, but include Portuguese grammar/writing in your school routine?

 

I am American, my kids are American also and we speak English at home.  However, they have all been enrolled in a private Brazilian school since they started school, so their base is in Portuguese.  Next year (Feb,) they will be in 1st (twins), 4th & 6th and it will be their first year being educated with American curriculum.  The older two do read in English and write well structurally (just need to work on English spelling).  The younger two are starting to read level 1 readers from ABeka (i just have a couple of them at the house.)

 

If you homeschool, what curriculum do you use?  What Portuguese materials do you use for grammar/writing?  And what does your school day routine look like? 

 

For literature, do you have them read some literature in English and some in Portuguese, then have them write/narrate their summaries in that language?

 

RIGHT NOW I am considering My Father's World for the base so I can make two teaching groups (twins, and 4/6 graders), Singapore for Math since it teaches metric as well, and am still unsure about English grammar/writing.

 

If possible I am HOPING to school in the mornings, and leave the afternoons free for extra-curriculars, field trips, play time at home, etc.

 

But I am open to suggestions!

 

Oh yeah, has anyone tried Kumon for portuguese?  I am considering it, but I think it would be expensive for 4 kids!!!

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

[Snickerdoodle]

Visit this thread  and ask TheReader.

[TheReader]

Hi Sonja, 

 

You may disregard the message I wrote you; I've found your thread :) 

 

If you can get Berlitz materials for kids, those are great. If not, if you can find local book shops, particularly the ones where you buy school books for the public &/or private schools, they have loads of Portuguese grammar books for kids. I left our boys' Portuguese grammar up to their Portuguese language tutor, and I do not have those materials here with me anymore (we have returned to the US) and don't remember the name, but there are several good options and that should be very easy to find locally. 

 

My oldest gained enough fluency that he did read essays and things and write essays for his  Portuguese tutor; my middle son never got that fluent in Portuguese to be able to do that (and my youngest has dyslexia so was not reading in either language by the time we left).  If my boys had the fluency to read short stories, I would definitely include reading/writing in Portuguese as well as in English; perhaps you could start with newspaper articles, magazines, etc, and then work up to books. I'm not sure how you would handle novels.....maybe they read a chapter at a time, and write a mini-summary of each chapter, and then a full summary of the book once the whole book is finished...? 

 

I would probably include both languages, though, so maybe alternate throughout the year; one reading/writing in Portuguese, then the next is in English, or else make sure and do one of each, each week. Just so that their reading/writing fluency in English keeps up with their spoken language skills, especially if you plan to return to the US at some point. 

 

For grammar/spelling, you could find a program, or you could have them work on editing/revising their written work (well, for that matter, you could do that for both languages, if you feel confident enough in your Portuguese to guide them in that....). 

 

I think at their ages you can manage school just in the mornings. How you school is up to you, and not really dependent on where you are....when I was juggling more than one child/level, I would do teacher-involved work with one (or one group) while the other did independent work, then swap. So, read the history and such to one group, while the other does their independent reading, writing, etc. I'd start with the 1st graders, so that they can finish up and go play while you are working with the older two. 

 

Sorry I'm not more help on the Portuguese; good luck!