Minli Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Hello, everyone! This is the first post on TWTM forum and I am writing because I desperately need help as soon as possible. A few words about us: we are a Romanian family of teachers, trying to homeschool our daughter in Romania where homeschooling is almost inconceivable. Our only solution is an umbrella school, which we have found. Things are getting complicated: all the materials I want to use are in English, but our 6 year-old daughter can only read and write (a little) in Romanian. She understands quite a lot of English because we speak it in our house daily. However, her knowledge is not rich enough to be able to listen to long stories in English. We want her to be able to read and write well both in Romanian (a phonetic language) and in English but we are aware that we might have to send her to public school next year, when my maternity leave ends. I simply cannot decide on the materials :confused:(I love the Peace Hill Press ones) because I am afraid she will not meet the American standards (we have to send reports and samples of her work), not knowing the language well enough ... There is also the money issue: our income per month is somewhere around $ 500 and while I believe education is truly important, we simply cannot afford paying for many of the great books I have seen on the Internet, nor for the considerable shipping rates... I want her to have a beautiful, unforgettable experience, to study with the same enthusiasm I have been "studying" the homeschooling issue for several years and not to feel embarrassed when comparing herself to other children attending public schools. I want her to love to learn! Ideas and suggestions are warmly welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 You might want to also post on the Bilingual board. :) More people will see it there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 I'll do so. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 It is much easier to learn to read in a phonetic language. I would teach reading in Romanian first, then teach English after reading in Romanian is fluent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miselainia Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I applaud you for your commitment to educate your daughter. I agree with ElizabethB that you should continue to teach your daughter to read Romanian. It will benefit her as she learns English. I assume you have access to the Internet. Project Gutenberg ( gutenberg.org ) has many books that are in the public domain that can be accessed online or downloaded (I even saw a couple in Romainian). I think that if you pick a book that you think your daughter may enjoy (Frances Hodgson Burnett comes to mind, "A Little Princess" or "The Secret Garden"), you can begin to read to her to build up her stamina in reading and hearing English in written form. Hope that helps. Best wishes to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohdanigirl Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 HI. I think you can do both. For English, you could start slowly. Remember, you do not have to buy a lot of things at this age. There are also many free sights. In fact, I will do a search and add in some links in a few. If you believe she may have to go to school later, you should throw the focus there. Once she has fluency reading in Romanian, you can slowly begin teaching her to read in English. Before that, all you really need is to do some read alouds. I live in Mexico, and this has worked very well for me. When we are state side, no body would ever guess that my dc did not learn English until age 5-6. Welcome aboard, and good luck. Danielle http://www.amblesideonline.org/ Free full curriculum 1-12 http://www.gutenberg.org/'>http://www.gutenberg.org/ Free e books http://www.gutenberg.org/ Free audio books http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm Free Math program http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=109114&highlight=free+curriculum Free curriculum list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskra Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 At this age (6), I would do reading and writing instruction in Romanian and everything else in English. Understand that at the beginning, her main benefit from the English part of the curriculum would be gaining a mastery of the English language. I wouldn't worry about how much science/history/etc she learns and would keep teaching it all in English knowing that there is plenty of time for her to master all those subjects in future years and being happy that when that point in time comes her mastery of english will open to her a world of resources that otherwise would be unavailable to her, if she didn't know English well. I know of a family in Bulgaria with the same age children as your child who homeschools very successfully in English, and this has been their approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskra Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Oh and one more thing. All "technical" terms that you encounter as you study different subjects, I would make sure I give her both the English and Romanian word for them so that she can talk about them in Romanian when she wants to discuss those things outside your family environment. In other words, whenever you encounter something in your studies that would have been a new word for her even if the subject had been taught in Romanian, I would teach her that Romanian word along side the English one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXBeth Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 :iagree: completely with Iskra. P.S. What part of Romania? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 :iagree: completely with Iskra. P.S. What part of Romania? Transylvania, approximately the central part of my beautiful country :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 HI. I think you can do both. For English, you could start slowly. Remember, you do not have to buy a lot of things at this age. There are also many free sights. In fact, I will do a search and add in some links in a few. If you believe she may have to go to school later, you should throw the focus there. Once she has fluency reading in Romanian, you can slowly begin teaching her to read in English. Before that, all you really need is to do some read alouds. I live in Mexico, and this has worked very well for me. When we are state side, no body would ever guess that my dc did not learn English until age 5-6. Welcome aboard, and good luck. Danielle http://www.amblesideonline.org/ Free full curriculum 1-12 http://www.gutenberg.org/'>http://www.gutenberg.org/'>http://www.gutenberg.org/'>http://www.gutenberg.org/ Free e books http://www.gutenberg.org/ Free audio books http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm Free Math program http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=109114&highlight=free+curriculum Free curriculum list Thank you for sharing your time with me!:001_smile: I was already familiar with some of the sites listed, but haven't had a look at gutenberg yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXBeth Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Transylvania, approximately the central part of my beautiful country :) Am stat doar o saptamana in Brasov; e foarte frumoasa, dar inima mea ramana in Constanta. La mare, la soare... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 At this age (6), I would do reading and writing instruction in Romanian and everything else in English. Understand that at the beginning, her main benefit from the English part of the curriculum would be gaining a mastery of the English language. I wouldn't worry about how much science/history/etc she learns and would keep teaching it all in English knowing that there is plenty of time for her to master all those subjects in future years and being happy that when that point in time comes her mastery of english will open to her a world of resources that otherwise would be unavailable to her, if she didn't know English well. I know of a family in Bulgaria with the same age children as your child who homeschools very successfully in English, and this has been their approach. Iskra I was thinking pretty much of the same approach, what puzzles me is how am I going to prove to the umbrella school that we are studying phonics, spelling (we have reading and writing in the Romanian curriculum, but the English one is more complex due to the language itself !) ? Also imagine this: I am reading from the "Story of the World" in English, translating into Romanian a lot, her written activities will be in Romanian? I'm not sure I managed to make myself understood, I feel quite tense because I have to work in 2 languages and get good results in both in one year. I am more than willing to go on homeschooling in further years, what makes me think of public school enrollment is our financial situation.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 At this age (6), I would do reading and writing instruction in Romanian and everything else in English. Understand that at the beginning, her main benefit from the English part of the curriculum would be gaining a mastery of the English language. I wouldn't worry about how much science/history/etc she learns and would keep teaching it all in English knowing that there is plenty of time for her to master all those subjects in future years and being happy that when that point in time comes her mastery of english will open to her a world of resources that otherwise would be unavailable to her, if she didn't know English well. I know of a family in Bulgaria with the same age children as your child who homeschools very successfully in English, and this has been their approach. Iskra, I would love to contact the Bulgarian family; their experience might help me very much; do you think you could help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 Am stat doar o saptamana in Brasov; e foarte frumoasa, dar inima mea ramana in Constanta. La mare, la soare... :) Beth I live very near Cluj, the "capital" of Transylvania, but I like Brasov, too and I also love the sea. Have you studied Romanian? I was impressed with your phrase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXBeth Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Beth I live very near Cluj, the "capital" of Transylvania, but I like Brasov, too and I also love the sea.Have you studied Romanian? I was impressed with your phrase. Not studied formally, just picked it up while I was there. Am stat ptr doi ani in Constanta cand aveam 18 ani. Am fost singura, asa ca trebuia sa invat ca sa imi fac prieteni, inteleg la biserica, si asa mai departe. Am uitat f mult de atunci, dar mai vb cu prieteni pe chat din cand in cand ca sa ma amintesc putin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Beth, e grozav sa citesc randuri romanesti scrise de un american!!!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minli Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I'm posting what I've already posted in the Bilingual section of the forum. Feel free to add anything you consider useful! Thank you for helping me understand what I need to do. I'm already teaching her how to read and write in Romanian, so I'll go on with this. I've decided to use Miquon math which I'll soon order (in the meantime we are doing MEP in English+Romanian:) ) As for History, I was thinking of using The Story of the World and a free online Science curriculum combined with Usborne encyclopedias and some other Romanian books. We have many Romanian books that we can use, plus acces to British Council library and American library, so hopefully I'll be able to find at least some of the books I read about here or on other homeschooling sites. There's also Bible studies to cover, and I haven't really made up my mind on the materials, but I'll definitely use the Bible itself and probably lives of the Orthodox (especially) saints. The umbrella school does not recommend anything in particular and allows hs in Romanian, as long as I translate the samples they need into English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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