OlgaLA Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 I am feeling a bit anxious. My daughter is almost balanced bilingual at the moment. We leave in the USA, and we speak Russian at home. She spoke Russian only until she went to preschool at 3.5 yo. Since then she was in school. So far it worked fairly well. However, this year I can tell that her progress at school came to a halt. All she does is pretty much busy work. In fact, she came home yesterday and said she learned something new at school (for the first time). That was her fourth week in school. And her homework this year doesn't leave time for afterschooling. So we decided to pull her out in October. I know I can teach most/all of the subjects, even LA, but my English is far from perfect, especially accent. School was her immersion environment. Without school... She goes to a dance studio 3 times a week, but they don't really talk there. We don't go to church. So I am just lost trying to come up with something for her for actually talk to someone. I may enroll her in a drama program, I need more information on that particular program. They will talk there, but it only meets once a week for an hour and it is only 9 weeks long. I am not sure yet if it is something that keeps repeating or not. What else can we do? Will we manage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Here's a suggestion for you based on what we do in our own family. The kids have 70% of their homeschool curriculum in English, yet we always work in French. They read (we use Sonlight amongst other things) lots of novels, in both languages. They watch TV (mostly movies) in English. And they all have one activity outside the house that's mostly in English. In the house (and within our family - grandparents, aunts, etc) it's all French. Right now my son is working on his Chemistry (he's grade 8). His book is entirely English, yet all our discussions are in French. He's learning the vocabulary in both languages that way. For my daughter, she's doing Math-U-See. The videos are all English, so she's hearing someone else speak English. Both kids are also in competitive sports. Why competitive? For us, it's a way of exposing them to performing stress, something schooled kids get each time they have an oral presentation or an exam. It's also a way of getting them some English immersion. Competitive sports train more hours than sport lessons. My son is training about 10 hours per week, my daughter 20 hours per week. My son also has orchestra practice 2 hours a week. Yes, my kids are older than yours, but I just want to show you what it looks like for a bilingual family down the road. It's easier on us who do not have the main language at home, because immersion is easy to find for the second language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlgaLA Posted September 22, 2010 Author Share Posted September 22, 2010 Thank you, Cleo! You are right that it is easier to find English immersion here. I am just nervous, because homeschooling is so unfamiliar, and I am afraid to make a mistake that will haunt us in the long run. She also watches movies mostly in English, she reads for fun in both languages and her English is well above grade level. She has no performance anxieties. Her ballet studio makes mixed adult professionals and children productions twice a year, in a real theater, with all the bells and whistles. So, right now I am quite happy with her achievements, it is her future that I am worried about. But I guess if I keep schooling her in both languages and add a few hours a week of outside activities (mostly for her to socialize, she just needs it), we should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Girl scouts? That is chatty. Or mine always were :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 What about either a paid conversationalist or some kind of language exchange where you find someone who wants to learn Russian who will then come in and converse in English? If the person is just a conversationalist instead of a teacher per se...the lessons should be cheaper. It could even be a friendly high school student. You can make a list of questions each week which the tutor/exchangee would discuss with your daughter based on what has happened in your family or in the neighborhood that week. When she gets older, it could be what has happened in the world, what she has learned in her other courses, tell about a book she has read, etc. I've just done this for our French tutor to increase conversation as the tutor doesn't always know what kinds of questions to ask...so eg, relatives just came from the US for the weekend...she can ask who came, where did they go, what did they do, etc. Or she can ask what the siblings are doing - one is in a bike race, etc... Even at a young age, your daughter could narrate about a story she read in English. On your part, if you prepare the list of questions for both your daughter and the conversationalist, then your daughter can mentally prepare the answers ahead of time so that they are more elaborate than just off the top of her head, and you can note answers, plot summaries, etc on the conversationalists question page so that she would not be at a loss for the answers and would know how to correct your daughter. Then even if you did not use exactly correct grammar, the conversationalist would correct it as she went...You would just need to put the main points... When your daugher is younger, you could even help her prepare a bit so she doesn't "lose her tongue"... HTH, Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 I used to go to our Museum of Science where there'd be volunteers ready at booths, showing and talking to the kids. Took them along to younger siblings' story hours. Plus they make friends and just pick up the accent along the way. What I have noticed in my kids is that now -after I have been in the States for 13 years- they correct my enunciation. I might be a bit off or pronouncing some words more British and they'll go right after me! They speak without an accent -who knows how that happened... BTW, we speak Danish and Arabic at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlgaLA Posted September 23, 2010 Author Share Posted September 23, 2010 Thank you for the ideas, ladies! I feel better now :) I am sure at the end we'll be alright, and better than if we were to continue with PS. Rosie, I'll look into girl scouts. The only problem with those that the troops I saw meet just twice a month :( Maybe I can find one that meets more often. Joan, if we will go that route, she will definitely not need any scripts :) She is such a chatter box. Right now she goes to an Armenian tutor and the tutor keeps telling me that they changed her original plan because my daughter wanted to discuss X, Y, and Z instead. As long as she is learning the language, I don't mind. Nadia, thanks for reminding me about the Science Museum! I wanted to go there with the kids for so long, but keep finding other things to do. I guess it is time to actually visit it! I know my daughter will go and talk to anyone in sight, I just need to give her a chance. And I know how the kids can correct you. She corrects my pronunciation from time to time, too. So thank you, once again! Olga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandarinmom Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 We speak English only at home. My native is Russian, and I never tried to get rid of my accent. Now, my daughter spends most time with me from the birth, about 5-10 min with father in a day in common conversation. Father is an English speaker only. I homeschooled her from the beginning, and as I said she was always with me and my bad accent, but she did not pick it up from me, not a tiny bit. We were doing lots of online educational stuff in English with sound. May be this will help. I don't think she will pick up any bad accent or loose her English now (I mean your daughter), as I have a big trouble teaching my daughter Russian, so I sort of envy you, I would prefer your situation to manage. I did not speck Russian to her from the birth because of father. Now I am paying for it. Russian is going very hard. Do you want a penpal? My daughter is almost 8. Lena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlgaLA Posted September 25, 2010 Author Share Posted September 25, 2010 Thanks, Lena! I PM'd you :) OK, I registered my DD for that drama program for now, and I'll see what else we can find and fit. I guess we'll try and see how it goes! I'll take her out on October 4.I am so grateful for this community. Without you I would have never dared to make this step. Love you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlgaLA Posted September 27, 2010 Author Share Posted September 27, 2010 I don't know where you are, but if you are in Oregon she can come over and play with my dd, she is very chatty. I am in California, so I don't think it'll be feasible, but thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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