Do you do language arts in both languages each day?

[4KookieKids]

I'm just curious at what age you start having kids to both languages every day: right off the bat, not till they're older, or something in the middle?

 

My oldest is 8, and some days it just feels like a lot of work to be doing everything we're doing. I don't feel like it's a lot in general:

*  piano and viola (his choice and he very much wants to continue)

*  math

*  chores

*  coding/programming (his choice, again)

*  language arts side of things, which currently includes

       - reading ~1/2 hour per language (sometimes more when he gets carried away)
       - writing: 2ish sentences copy work in German, and alternating spelling working and writing a "book" in English (his preferred choice for English writing :D)
       - alternating Lesefreunde / Sprachfreunde (German language schoolbooks on reading/writing/oral stuff, since his German definitely lags behind his English skills)

I don't feel like we're doing a lot of "extras," but I feel like this is just taking too long. Part of it is fine motor skills (the writing takes roughly 1/2 hour per language, even though it's not that much). I feel like I see this "what can I cut" threads on the General education board all the time, and there's usually so much on there that one could point to and say it's not necessary to do every day. But it's harder for me to see an obvious thing to cut in our schedule, except to wonder if perhaps I should be alternating language arts, perhaps, and only do one language per day? This takes close to 5-6 hours each day, without counting breaks, and that just seems crazy to me at age 8.

[maize]

My son's Chinese immersion school focuses on English language arts from k-3 and Chinese from 4-6. (math is the reverse)

 

Maybe you could alternate years? Or switch at the semester?

[Loesje22000]

Doing languages solidly can be a great time effort.

 

During the grammar stage we did language arts in our mother tongue (Dutch) but several content subjects in English.

Science is an example of a subject she has mostly done in English.

A subject as History we have done sometimes in Dutch, sometimes in English

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

If writing is still more fine-motor skill than writing to convey knowledge, I'd just do one per day- the alphabet is the same, so no big deal there.  

 

My 8 year old does daily:

- reading in both languages, both for pleasure and school.  I tie this to content, so her history might be in either language, same with science readings.  

- Spelling- French only (I just couldn't do both.  English spelling is improving naturally with age though, thank goodness)

- Grammar- French mostly (I've been told on this board to concentrate on the more grammatically complex language and the other will just follow behind- so far, so good.)

- Conjugation- French only, same as above

- Dictation- French only (This is the main tool with which I teach spelling and grammar)

- Narration type writing- about half and half French and English, 2-3 paragraphs a week

- Creative writing- mostly self-generated, mostly English, but occasionally French, sometimes pages and pages, sometimes nothing in a week

 

This is for a girl who is a strong writer both in the fine-motor sense and compositional sense.  My 10yo son and my 8yo daughter do the same program, just to give perspective.