Esta semana....
This week.... is a big week in the Gose household - my birthday was Tuesday, and Brad's (Daddy's) is Thursday, so it's like another holiday in June at our house. We have cakes and gifts, and all kinds of celebration. So, in light of our learning German, we've been labeling all the party and birthday items in German.
MAKE IT FUN! Use Post-it notes or index cards to look up and label "cake, present, balloon, even napkin, and tablecloth" - anything that looks party-like. The rule is, if you touch, you say it. (Or if you pass it, you say it!) After the post-it notes lose their stickiness, you can use the same words and labels to play charades or pictionary.
Celebrate language! Any "event" in your household can be turned into a language learning FUN time! Be sure to spend a little preparation time yourself, getting the pronunciation right, and quiz yourself before you begin introducing the words to your family. If you don't have as many children, you can call out words and have your child draw the item, or let him call it out, and you draw or act it out- it doesn't have to be competitive. Remember, motivation (yours and you children's), or lack of it, is the KEY to successful acquisition of a second language. If you want it to stick, you have to WANT to know it, and then use it. Since we don't have a dire need (we don't need German on a regular basis in day-to-day life) my job is to create a need, or a motivation. Kids (and adults!) love to have FUN. Keep this in mind any time you address the subject of foreign language, and you'll set yourself up for success for the fall.
Buena suerte (Good Luck; bweh-nah-swehr-teh)
Suzanne Gose (known by her students as Señora Gose) is a homeschooling mother of almost five children - baby number five is due this July. A former public school teacher, she currently teaches over 80 homeschooling students in weekly Spanish classes at Key Curriculum in Bryan, Texas. She is also the author of the Flip Flop Spanish Workbooks and other language teaching tools. You can see them at www.flipfloplearning.com and in the Schoolhouse Store.
Comments
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Off subject...
I just noticed that your bio says that baby five is due in July. Baby five is due for me too in early July! Congratulations! Are you moving as slow as I'm moving at the moment? :>) Let us know when the news is here.
Many Blessings,
Holly@aiminghigh
July 14th!
1:54 PM, Jun. 11, 2008, posted by Anonymous
Yes! Our fifth addition will be here via c-section on July 14th! Only 4 weeks left or so! And yes, I am seriously starting to feel it. I don't know if it's age, or the heat, or the other four kids (the youngest is 18 months, the oldest is 6) but I am really just wanting to sit and... well, just sit! Nice to know there's someone else to whine with me!! Thanks for the encouragement!
