dairymom Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I am really curious about what the thoughts on teaching a foreign language to younger students is? Are you teaching your kids one right now? I would love to start Spanish, but don't know if my kids are too young--we have a 2nd grader and one in K. The thought of teaching this is intimidating to me, so if I am honest I haven't even looked at any cirriculum yet! I was just wondering if anyone had some solid advice :) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 (edited) I would love to start Spanish, but don't know if my kids are too young--we have a 2nd grader and one in K. My older one started at 3 years old for Chinese. They started German last year when they were 5 and 6 years old. For foreign language I just go at the pace my kids are willing to go. So 10mins per day 7 days a week year round is okay with me. There are plenty of Spanish children books, children dictionaries and vocabulary DVDs at the libraries. They have the English-Spanish bilingual children's book at the libraries here. Edited October 4, 2012 by Arcadia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 We started this year in a very relaxed, immersion experience style. Mostly playing games, listening to bilingual songs, and using the Usborne First Thousand Words book. I wrote about it on my blog (link in siggy) and posted an overview of what we were doing with links to the games and extras I have created. My kids (7 and 5) are having a blast with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 whatever you do, may I suggest you learn right along with them? That is what I am doing with mine. Spanish is so very useful that I would suggest doing some fun things with them like Speekee or Salsa. Keep a notebook for yourself and find ways to use the vocab during the day together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daffodil Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 We do Spanish in a very laid-back way. We watch videos like Salsa (free) or Whistlefritz (library), read Spanish/bilingual picture books from the library, listen to some music, and try to incorporate some vocabulary into our day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 We're looking at picking up School Song Spanish next year (with a K and a 2). I only know very basic words (color words, basic greetings) but I look forward to learning with them! :) :) Do you live in an area w/ many Spanish speakers? Just curious b/c we do and I think it'll be great to expose children to a language that they can use every day (playground, grocery store, etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dairymom Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 We have a dairy and there is a lot of Spanish speakers around...one of the main reasons I want them to learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dairymom Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 whatever you do, may I suggest you learn right along with them? That is what I am doing with mine. Spanish is so very useful that I would suggest doing some fun things with them like Speekee or Salsa. Keep a notebook for yourself and find ways to use the vocab during the day together. I plan on learning with them--I don't know how it would work if I didn't! This is only our second year hs'ing and I have already learned a ton! Thanks for the suggestions, the notebook would esp. be great :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kchara Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 We're doing Speekee TV for our younger ones. They really enjoy it. I'm hoping to pick up Song School Spanish after the holidays to go along with it. Speekee is European Spanish, not Latin American Spanish, but from what I understand, the differences are relatively minor, so it works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferLynn Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 My 4YO's and 6YO are doing Song School Latin. I am doing Henle myself at the same time. I can help them and the songs help my pronunciation. They are also all doing Rosetta Stone French though it is primarily for DD6. I tried L'Art de Lire and was once fluent in French myself. But we all found it hard to do the repetitive practice together and doing something on the computer is a treat. Personally, I couldn't learn a language via Rosetta Stone and didn't do well with Berlitz (immersion type approach) but the kids are doing great with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cokers4life Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Our target secondary languages are Spanish and Chinese. We use SALSA which also has a curriculum to match it on Wyoming's education website. For Chinese I just stumbled on this free curriculum called Happy Chinese. Its seventy-two lessons with each lesson containing cartoon video, situational video, character games, sentence structure games and pronunciation practices. Its pretty impressive and very extensive. http://kid.chinese.cn/en/article/2009-09/25/content_68533.htm This other link might be more friendly to K-2 but is also a free curriculum. http://kid.chinese.cn/en/node_1005.htm This next link is some nice simple Chinese rhymes. http://kid.chinese.cn/rhymes/index.html At first Chinese is difficult to get into, but it does get better over time (this is coming from a sometimes very tone deaf person). Its also easier for the kids the sooner you expose them. Check out my blog for other great links with most links being free. Click HERE. If you live in any city with a concentration of Chinese population, you will generally find a community center that offers Chinese language classes for children at least once a week for a very reasonable price (ours is $100 a semester for 1 day a week for a couple of hours). They strongly believe in passing on their heritage and love sharing it with others. Also if you live near a university or college, you can contact a professor of your target language to see if any students would be interested in playing with your kids for a couple hours a week. Its like paying for a baby sitter but with opportunity for language exposure. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking Squirrels Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Our main focus for secondary language is ASL. I just use it with them on a daily basis. Sometimes I sign key words, sometimes I pigeon sign, and sometimes I use only ASL (especially if DD doesn't have her listening ears on. She will mind me in ASL more consistently than in English). DD1 also enjoys watching Signing Time, DD2 won't get to watch for a while yet. We just started Little Pim Spanish and Song School Latin this year with DD1, though I always intended to start Spanish earlier. Future plans for language study: SSL we are taking slowly, so I doubt we'll be moving on for a few years, but we'll probably just go with the next from the same publishers. ASL, I think doing as we are is probably the best way for them to learn. But when I feel more instruction in grammar is necessary, I will either formalize our ASL time and teach them myself, or use Signingonline.com or lifeprint.com. Spanish, I have no idea what we're doing once we move beyond Little Pim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 OP if you have a lot of Spanish speakers around, see if you can work out something to have someone come spend an hour speaking with your kids. My 7yos are good with an hour, for my 4yo that is too long. In previous years I had someone come for an hour and speak with my dc for 1/2 and then with me for 1/2. They play games, identify and talk about pictures, etc. and ALWAYS read a Spanish book that I get from the library. Sometimes a board book, sometimes a longer story book. Just hearing the spontaneous use of the language is so helpful. IMHO, this is a valuable place to spend your limited funds - if you can find someone you like. In addition to this (and without any intentional connections), we also watch Salsa once a week, do a basic vocabulary program twice a week and then on the fifth day we read a book or play computer games or watch Pocoyo on Youtube. Another forum user recently posted her plan for beginning Spanish here with weekly plans. There are so many ways to integrate it into your life in a fun, easy, cheap way! Go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Our target secondary languages are Spanish and Chinese. We use SALSA which also has a curriculum to match it on Wyoming's education website. For Chinese I just stumbled on this free curriculum called Happy Chinese. Its seventy-two lessons with each lesson containing cartoon video, situational video, character games, sentence structure games and pronunciation practices. Its pretty impressive and very extensive. http://kid.chinese.cn/en/article/2009-09/25/content_68533.htm This other link might be more friendly to K-2 but is also a free curriculum. http://kid.chinese.cn/en/node_1005.htm This next link is some nice simple Chinese rhymes. http://kid.chinese.cn/rhymes/index.html At first Chinese is difficult to get into, but it does get better over time (this is coming from a sometimes very tone deaf person). Its also easier for the kids the sooner you expose them. Check out my blog for other great links with most links being free. Click HERE. If you live in any city with a concentration of Chinese population, you will generally find a community center that offers Chinese language classes for children at least once a week for a very reasonable price (ours is $100 a semester for 1 day a week for a couple of hours). They strongly believe in passing on their heritage and love sharing it with others. Also if you live near a university or college, you can contact a professor of your target language to see if any students would be interested in playing with your kids for a couple hours a week. Its like paying for a baby sitter but with opportunity for language exposure. Good luck! Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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