ESL?

[sixglides]

We should be bringing ourn ew children home in the next 4 months or so...anyone have experience with 5/6 yr olds learning English? Way to transition to kindergarten?

[Ferdie]

My friend adopted three children from Russia that knew a little English. She put them in ps for two years until they were comfortable reading and writing and then brought them home to hs. She was amazed at how fast they learned.

[Dawn E]

One pivotal tool in ESL is the three-part lesson. It is also used in Montessori.

 

1) Introducing the item--Point to each item saying, "This is an 'a.' This is a 'b.' This is a 'c.'" You can also have pictures of household/common items: "This is a table...."

 

2) Starting with the last item identified (never more than three items at a time), say, "Can you point to the ___?" For instance, if I had introduced a, b and c...I would start with c when asking this question. That way there is more chance of recall since it was the last thing spoken. Repeat the question asking for the child to point to each of the three items.

 

3) The child being able to name the item vocally. This is a very hard mental step. A child can point to all three items correctly consistently and still not be able to vocally name the item when asked. To do this step, you start again with the last item identified in the previous step. Point to the item and ask, "What is this?" Once a child is able to correctly answer you, you can move on to other items.

 

Whether your children are in school for a while or not they are going to be immersed in the English language. Children have a great propensity for learning new languages. If you have a university nearby, check to see if they have an ESL program. If they do, students in those classes often have to do "tutoring" projects as part of their assignments. Many of them work with the public school system or with International students on campus, but there is always a chance if you shared your story with a professor that you could get some help that way.

 

Sorry I don't have much to offer besides :grouphug: I know it must be very difficult preparing for this transition and all the unknowns. I hope you are able to find help from an ESL expert either here or elsewhere...or at least from others who have btdt.

Edited February 8, 2010 by Dawn E
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[sixglides]

That is a great idea. They happen to speak a dialect, only spoken by a small portion of the country. They've been in the care center since October & have probably picked up much of the language there. When they come home, they'll have the transition from Amarhic to English. The first books are great ideas. My youngest is nearly 9 & I think I've forgotten everything that went along with the younger years!

[Cindy in C-ville]

I wouldn't worry AT ALL about them picking up English. We brought home Katya from Ukraine in mid-November and she is able to communicate ANYTHING that she wants. She's doing "first grade" curriculum books from Sam's, but mostly we're focusing on acclimating. I am using "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" along with the "Bob Books," but I'm not pushing much of anything right now. I definitely wouldn't put her in public school at this point as we feel it's more important for her to "learn" her new family than anything else.

 

Our friends who brought home kiddoes from Ethiopia over the summer haven't done anything other than just love on their kiddoes, and their English is amazing.

 

One thing an ESL teacher friend told me is to remember that ESL is designed for children/adults who are immersed in their native tongue at home, but are learning English for the world beyond the home. For our kiddoes who are adopted, it's "sink or swim." And, these kids typically learn to swim really well and really quickly. They want to communicate, and so they need to advance rapidly in English in order to do so. Now, with that said, it was helpful to have some Russian phrases, and occasionally we still use them.

 

HTH!

[Elinor Everywhere]

We should be bringing ourn ew children home in the next 4 months or so...anyone have experience with 5/6 yr olds learning English? Way to transition to kindergarten?

 

Don't stress! We brought home a 6yo boy from Ukraine (he's 12 now), and it was amazing how quickly he learned the language. He knew zero English, and yet within one month could follow simple commands ("Please take your glass to the kitchen"). By three months he was fluent, and by four months he forgot his native language! This was sad, but it was most definitely what he wanted - he would not answer anyone if they spoke to him in Russian or Ukrainian, and absolutely refused to get involved in a Russian-language class for kids. Our very good friends from Ukraine convinced us that he knew the best way to deal with it all.

 

The funniest thing was that people working with my dh kept asking him, "If you don't put your son in school, how will he learn English?" My dh would just smile and say, "The same way my daughter did." So true - immersion is the fastest way, and don't you speak English at home? :) It'll all be fine, and you'll be amazed at how quickly they learn. Good luck - quite an adventure you are embarking upon!

[Momling]

:iagree: All you need to do is provide the accessible input and your kids will learn. You'll want lots of repetitive board books and nursery rhymes and songs. Have realistic expectations... the first month, they'll be about as able to communicate as an infant... then a toddler... then they'll start gaining more and more vocabulary.

 

In your shoes, I wouldn't bother with any formal academics for quite a while... They'll be needing to do enough catching up with language and culture and emotional attachments without them (or you) worrying about whether or not they're doing kindergarten or first grade or second grade level work. They'll get there in the end!

[catalinakel]

I wouldn't worry AT ALL about them picking up English. We brought home Katya from Ukraine in mid-November and she is able to communicate ANYTHING that she wants. She's doing "first grade" curriculum books from Sam's, but mostly we're focusing on acclimating. I am using "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" along with the "Bob Books," but I'm not pushing much of anything right now. I definitely wouldn't put her in public school at this point as we feel it's more important for her to "learn" her new family than anything else.

 

Our friends who brought home kiddoes from Ethiopia over the summer haven't done anything other than just love on their kiddoes, and their English is amazing.

 

One thing an ESL teacher friend told me is to remember that ESL is designed for children/adults who are immersed in their native tongue at home, but are learning English for the world beyond the home. For our kiddoes who are adopted, it's "sink or swim." And, these kids typically learn to swim really well and really quickly. They want to communicate, and so they need to advance rapidly in English in order to do so. Now, with that said, it was helpful to have some Russian phrases, and occasionally we still use them.

 

HTH!

 

I agree. Immerse them in English. Children cannot help but learn the language when that is what they hear and see all day long.

[Laura Corin]

I can tell you how my sons learned Chinese by immersion at that age. We had a household helper who understood English but couldn't speak it. The boys would talk to her in English, she would repeat what they had said in Chinese, then reply in Chinese, using gestures as necessary. They learned very fast.

 

Laura

[Lisa in Jax]

Our son (then four) knew functional English within a few months and could follow concrete directions and understand concrete sentences. Fluency took quite a while longer. His sister, who was 8 when she came to America, took MUCH longer to achieve "educational fluency" (meaning that she could function in her school grade w/o help).

 

Your kids' ability to learn English will depend a lot on how fluent they were in their home language and how stressed they are. If, like most orphans, they were not living in language-rich homes, they will not be terribly fluent in their home language and will not have a good language base to apply to their new language.

 

One tip: use the same phrasing for commands at first, and do things in predictable order, so that the kids can learn what you mean.

 

For example, in our house, we had dinner, then bath, then bedtime -- every night. I'd convey this by saying, "Time to eat," and "time for bath" and "time for bed." By using similar phrasing, the only words that were different were eat/bath/bed, and it made it easier to figure out. I also OFTEN said aloud, "next we'll _______" so that they could learn our schedule and feel safe.

 

The bigger issue for many kids, though, is that they are SO stressed that it's hard to learn everything they need to learn. They have the stress of losing their known culture, food, residence, friends, language, etc., and are expected to learn your family's rules and expectations, all while dealing with whatever past traumas they had. At first, they can't trust you yet, and are stressed to a level few adults have ever experienced. So, they may *appear* to be understanding you when in fact they're only partially understanding b/c of all that's going on in their heads. So, the more concrete you keep it, and the more PREDICTABLE you are (with language and with behavior), the easier you'll male it for them to learn.

 

IMHO, it's not easy to retain their home language unless someone in your family speaks it b/c our kids aren't learning a new language while using the old one at home like ESL kids do. They actually are WITHOUT language for a short time when they have lost their old language before they have gained fluency in English. That period of time is VERY stressful for the children, and you may see increased acting out until their communication skills improve.

 

Food for thought -- it may not be a great idea to work to retain their home language if they were neglected or abused. We thought we were doing a good thing by taking our kids to weekly Hindi lessons to maintain their home language. In fact, it caused both kids to have PTSD reactions b/c it reminded them of their abuse/neglect. So, after a while, we stopped the lessons and focused on making them feel safe and loved in their new home.

 

Just my two rupees,

 

Lisa

[sixglides]

Such good advice, I really appreciate it! We got updated photos of our new ones today & it makes me so anxious to get them. We do have probably til May, if all goes well, to wait.

Thank you!

[Elinor Everywhere]

Food for thought -- it may not be a great idea to work to retain their home language if they were neglected or abused. We thought we were doing a good thing by taking our kids to weekly Hindi lessons to maintain their home language. In fact, it caused both kids to have PTSD reactions b/c it reminded them of their abuse/neglect. So, after a while, we stopped the lessons and focused on making them feel safe and loved in their new home.

 

 

Lisa, this brings back a memory. We brought our son home on Christmas Eve, and thought that after a week or so of only hearing English, he would enjoying listening to his own language. There was a Russian play being performed at the Russian Club, and it was all about New Years and the Snow Queen and things of that sort. Mistake! My son was petrified, and it looked to everyone like he was trying to crawl inside me (he was). We later discovered that when he heard the Russian language he thought we were sending him back! Broke my heart to think of the stress we caused him, all because we were trying to alleviate it!