Starting Foreign Elementary School - Homeschooling English

[JapanDad]

Konnichiwa, everyone!

I'm a US expat living in Japan. My oldest is starting first grade in Japanese public school this coming April after three years in a japanese kindergarten (equivalent of US PK3, PK4, and K). Our biggest concern is keeping his English reading and language at-or-above grade level so he could seamlessly fit into school whenever we decide to return to an English-speaking country. He is a fluent native level (for his age) speaker of English and Japanese and we only speak English in the house. He watches TV in both English and Japanese, but he only uses Japanese at school and with his friends. He can read Japanese hiragana and katakana (and a few select kanji), and picks up both English and Japanese easily when motivated.

Although he doesn't like learning to read English since Japanese is much easier to read, he will begrudgingly do it. We have been using "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" erratically - he has progressed through lesson 71, and he tries to read/sound out a lot of English he sees around. We are trying to get him through the lessons by the time elementary school starts in April.

Any suggestions on how best to keep him at grade level without overburdening him with another curriculum since he's already going to school full time and learning another language? Originally looked at The Good and the Beautiful, but we are looking for something secular. I'm now looking at some combination of RLTL and ELTL, but hoping someone here might have some input! Does anyone have any other suggestions or am I going the right way on this?

[HomeAgain]

We found RLTL to be a good transition from TYCTR100EZ Lessons.  What it does is break down the spelling rules for the text.  The only thing is there will be a gap in reading expectations between the two.  I want to say that RLTL starts with 10 or so lessons before reading the first story.  After that, it begins to shrink considerably until it is one lesson per story.   I used it with an older kid and it was an easy 5-10 minutes a day for us, me reading the word, working together on how to mark it/break it into syllables.

The thing with 100 EZ Lessons that I really want to stress is that it is based on a much longer program.  The original, Reading Mastery, stretches out the skills considerably over 3 years.  One RM book I have says not to introduce until after lesson 100, and it matches around lesson 35 in 100EZ lessons.  Just because it's 100 lessons in the condensed version doesn't always mean 1 lesson per day for many kids. I used to use a lot of "throwback Thursdays" where the reading lesson would just be something he had done 10-20 lessons ago.

For other options you may also consider looking at UndertheHome.org  It is online lessons using vintage books, but it's not online in the sense that you need to have the kid sitting at the computer.  Many of the lessons are set up for the instructor to present and the books are available in hard copy if preferred.

[maize]

Hi JapanDad!

I grew up as a third culture kid, not in Japan but I have cousins who spent years in Japanese schools before eventually moving back to the US.

For elementary school, speaking English at home and encouraging reading in English should be enough, maybe paired with some handwriting instruction--though if English instruction is introduced in elementary school in Japan he may get enough handwriting practice there. I don't think English instruction in general is great in Japanese schools, but the Japanese adults I know have decent English handwriting at least. I don't think more formal writing instruction is really needed before maybe junior high level. If your child is reluctant to read in English you can offer an incentive--my parents used to pay us to read books they wanted us to read.

For early elementary level, books like the Dragon Master's series and The Kingdom of Wrenly are good for building fluency after basic phonics. You could sit and read with him, helping with any difficult words. I would also strongly encourage that you read aloud to him, kids are able to comprehend beyond their own reading level and read alouds are fantastic for building vocabulary and familiarity with the flow of language. They also make for nice family time; we kids used to draw or build with blocks or legos while mom or dad read. Audiobooks (from Audible or another source) are also great. It is possible he would enjoy listening to the same book in Japanese and English; that could be a great way to build vocabulary in both languages (audible.co.jp will have more Japanese audiobooks, though a few are available on audible com).

As he gets older, it will be worthwhile to make sure he has the vocabulary to understand math in English. I think the Beast Academy guide books could be fun for this; he will be doing math practice in school so probably doesn't need to work through the practice books, but reading the guide books alone or with a parent would familiarize him with math vocabulary in English in a fun way.

[lulalu]

We are expats as well. We tried school for a short time and decided it wasn't a fit for us, and full time homeschool overseas. 

If I were in your shoes I wouldn't push getting done with the book before starting school. Reading in English is difficult. There will be lots of time to slowly work through learning to read and write. Doing school all day makes for tired kids especially when they are still working on some language and culture learning. In time it will all catch up. I would make a plan for elementary ages that includes slowly learning to read, write, and then spell in English. Reading aloud daily will give your child the advanced vocabulary needed for reading more challenging books later on. But look at the big picture over several years so you don't overburden your child. We bought a bunch of books so that my DS could read through them for building the reading fluency muscles. It is expensive to not have a library, but so worth it to have a bunch of books! I would look at using more of your time in summer to work on spelling and handwriting. During the school year a half hour of reading work will be more than enough. TCKs are known for being academically advanced on average due to working in their second language. Before the end of elementary school be sure to build math vocabulary in English. Pick books to read that have science and history in them so you have some background knowledge and vocabulary in those areas. 

But most of all take it slow it is a marathon not s sprint. And you don't want to overburden your child. 

[goldenecho]

I would read to him or with him every night in English.   The Piggie and Elephant books have been good for encouraging my child to read.  It's almost 100% dialogue, and I read one character's part and my son would read the other part.   This made the reading easier (since he had breaks) and more fun.   I've done this with kids I tutor too and they enjoy it.   But regardless, continue to have him read some with you...but also to have some times when you read things to him that are above his level, because this will help keep him learning vocabulary in English. 

Also, if the school does not have homework, All About Spelling is a curriculum that can continue to help him after you're done with "100 Easy Lesson."    I can do that in 10-15 minutes a day, reinforces the phonics skills he learned in 100 Easy lessons (I haven't used that one but I believe it's phonics based).  But if he has a lot of homework I would not push that, or maybe just do it on summer breaks (do they have those in Japan?). 

[JapanDad]

Thank you guys so much for all your insight!  We have been reading to him, since he was little. I do most of the reading since my wife is usually handling the younger one who goes to bed earlier, but we do read every night for about 15-30 minutes.

@maize Thank you so much for your suggestion.  He's really (really) into Dragons and fantasy stuff and I think being able to read the Dragon Masters series would be amazing incentive for him to be reading.

@HomeAgain Thank you for your encouragement.  I'm going to go with RLTL and see how it works out.  I'm not going to rush into anything and will give him time to finish 100 lessons at his own pace of course...

[Gil]

We are not living abroad but do school in 2 languages. My younger son could read in his 2nd language, but it was slower and harder than reading in his 1st language English. Everything that he wanted to read was available and easier to read in English. Finally, I bit the bullet and imported books that were in his interest to entice him to read larger, longer texts in the 2nd language. It was well worth the gambit. He went from reading only picture books to and short books in Spanish to reading 300pg Fantasy Novels in Spanish.

I would personally continue working towards your goal of getting him to finish your the last 30 lessons of 100EZ by April.
It is a marathon, not a sprint, but I think that roughly 10 lessons a month is reasonable for a 1st grader.  Lots of review and repetition. Make the practice as enjoyable as possible.

I would look into purchasing books that will entice him to read. I would by an English children's encyclopedia in a subject or for a video game or cartoon that interests him.