Guest MyNorskTrolls Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 I am looking for ideas on curriculum design for languages that have little to no canned curriculum. For instance, my DH is Norwegian and we are looking to start teaching the children. Teaching words is one thing, teaching grammar and sentence structure is another. Just looking for ideas and resources since we are new to homeschooling ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 If your DH is fluent, I would make sure the children acquire spoken language as their second language, and then use materials used in Norway to teach Norwegian children the grammar and spelling of their native language. That is what we have done with German. For a bilingual child, materials designed fro English students to study the language as a second language are usually not suitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MyNorskTrolls Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Thanks! I have been trying to get him to speak it at home but so far only at bedtime. Trying to locate a grammar book here before we leave for home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 (edited) I am teaching my son Danish without a curriculum. I have the advantage of living in Denmark and the disadvantage of only being only one step ahead of my son... I agree with regentrude - try to find a spelling and grammar book that Norwegian children use and see if you can order a teacher's manual to go along with it. It took me quite a while to locate this information, but I now have exactly this on order. There were no previews available to me, so I went ahead and ordered several grades. I backed up to about 3rd grade hoping to skip over "learning to read" but not wanting to miss any beginning grammar lessons. I was not exactly sure where to place him, and I don't have the books in hand yet to know if my choices were wise. How old are your kids? I can give my 11 year old exercises out of my Danish textbooks. Other than that, we do a lot of the standard language learning stuff: vocabulary on index cards taped to objects around the house, films, etc. Again, hunt around on the internet for the websites that Norwegian kids use to learn their language. I have had reasonably good luck finding them for Danish - certainly enough to keep us busy for a while! Edited August 27, 2012 by Penguin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Depending on where you live, there may be international language programs with your local school boards. My dc will be taking Swedish on Saturday mornings with our local school board. It's only $10 for the entire school year. I'll be reinforcing the language at home - at least as much as I can, as I speak Norwegian. They don't offer Norwegian, though. There are computer-based programs for children which offer Norwegian. I can't remember the name of one I saw (you could probably find something by googling or checking Berlitz). I prefer the in-person teaching method to a computer program, though it could be good for reinforcing vocabulary and grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MyNorskTrolls Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 We ate in Ohio, but I have DH, DSD and FIL to help support since it is their first language. We also have family members to Skype with in Norway. My kids are almost 6 & 4 but the 6 reads at 3rd+ level and the 4 is well on her way. My 6 started sounding out Norwegian words the other day as ee are wrapping up a visit and they have been flooded with the sounds for a month. We will do flash cards with pictures to build basic vocabulary and we have a great program for teaching English language that DH can adapt if we have the grammar rules. I will be learning along :) Finding teacher materials here has not been easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 You may be able to find Norwegian-language children's books through inter-library loan. There are also all kinds of things on youtube, so perhaps you can find some TV shows or songs in Norwegian, especially if you can type in the exact word in Norwegian. Relatives should be able to recommend things. I've had relatives send me Norwegian children's books, too. The illustrations are wonderful! The Norwegian's LOVE books and children, so explore their own resources. There are also introductory Norwegian language books with lots of illustrations developed for immigrants living in Norway. My sister took a course in Bergen when she was an exchange student, and I have her old books. These could be useful for older children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I just found a neat children's TV show called "Pederson og Findus" though I can only find it in Swedish and Danish at the moment (also Dutch and German). There should be a version in Norwegian, just can't find it. Pederson is called slightly different things depending on the language. It's Pettson in Swedish. Maybe your relatives know the exact name used in Norwegian, assuming it's shown in Norway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I just found a neat children's TV show called "Pederson og Findus" though I can only find it in Swedish and Danish at the moment (also Dutch and German). There should be a version in Norwegian, just can't find it. Pederson is called slightly different things depending on the language. It's Pettson in Swedish. Maybe your relatives know the exact name used in Norwegian, assuming it's shown in Norway. Heh - just chiming in that we love that show. My kids watched it in German, where he's Peterson. Look around online, too. My dd has been wanting to learn Icelandic and I found her the other day busily working through a free online "learn Icelandic" site that looked more comprehensive than Rosetta (though it probably doesn't go that far). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MyNorskTrolls Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 We just landed from Norway with more books to add to our collection. This time I had DH pick classic Norwegian stories for reading and copy. I am doing some online searching the next few weeks to have SIL bring. We have music, story books and song books. I am hunting for little kid level grammar materials. We know a couple teachers there but didn't get to touch base before leaving. Thanks for the great ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Heh - just chiming in that we love that show. My kids watched it in German, where he's Peterson. Look around online, too. My dd has been wanting to learn Icelandic and I found her the other day busily working through a free online "learn Icelandic" site that looked more comprehensive than Rosetta (though it probably doesn't go that far). Icelandic has some similarities to some of the west coast Norwegian dialects. I could understand more Icelandic than my Danish friends could when I was there on vacation. Very cool language, though even less people speak it in the world than Norwegian! I really love that letter that looks like a "d" but bends at the top and is crossed like a "t" and is pronounced like a very soft "th." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Tack! My daughter and I were just watching Pettson och Findus in Swedish and then my other daughter and I watched it in German! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Tack! My daughter and I were just watching Pettson och Findus in Swedish and then my other daughter and I watched it in German! I found a really cute animated show of Pippi Longstockings on youtube, which in Swedish is: Pippi LÃ¥ngstrump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudswinger Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I am looking for ideas on curriculum design for languages that have little to no canned curriculum. For instance, my DH is Norwegian and we are looking to start teaching the children. Teaching words is one thing, teaching grammar and sentence structure is another. Just looking for ideas and resources since we are new to homeschooling ;) Most languages have curriculum for their own languages, but in that language. I found that searching in that language online would bring up much more material than trying to do English language searches. Some countries have standardized curricula, so once you figure out what to search for, it's pretty easy to get the same thing that's being taught to all the kids of that country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Most languages have curriculum for their own languages, but in that language. I found that searching in that language online would bring up much more material than trying to do English language searches. Some countries have standardized curricula, so once you figure out what to search for, it's pretty easy to get the same thing that's being taught to all the kids of that country. Very true. Now, to find the specific title of the curriculum or textbook is the trick. Google searches work great in Norwegian, and having a dh to type in the necessary words would probably get you great results. He would probably even know the Norwegian name of the Norwegian ministry of education, where there would probably be materials available for Norwegian as second-language students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDoe Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 ITeaching words is one thing, teaching grammar and sentence structure is another. Have them learn to understand & use the language before you worry about grammar. Neither grammar nor spelling is critical for speaking a language, and once you speak it it will come "naturally" to some extent. Inmersion is best, but failing that try to do a "remote" inmersion using all sorts of media from the country of interest Childrens TV shows often available online: http://nrksuper.no/barne-tv/ Subscribe to comics: http://www.donald.no/ Skype friends and family Think of what interest the kids, and let them have it, in the target language Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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