Sunday, December 03, 2006
Learning Styles Continued
Some other activities for tactile / kinesthetic learners which you can apply to German immersion:
Crafts. Do a craft and read an accompanying story
Role-play (have kids act out a story they know and help them with the German if necessary)
Dance and sing to German music.
Allow frequent breaks for movement.
Read books with tactile effects. (Lift the flap, glitter effects, touchy-feely). ML loves these kind of books and will "read" them to himself.
Luckily there seems to be a lot of overlap between my two kids' learning styles so I'm not going in two completely different directions most of the time. I wonder what the new baby will be like...?
Learning Styles for German Study
In a continued effort to understand what makes my kids ‘tick’, I have been reading a lot lately about learning styles, and consequently thinking about how it can be applied to expanding a child’s knowledge of German.
I seem to be mainly an auditory-verbal learner which explains why I found German so easy in college – I just listened to the lecture, read the textbooks and learned the rules. I always wondered why everyone said German was so difficult. I loved learning all the rules and their exceptions! My learning style is well-geared toward traditional methods of school instruction.
Fast forward to my efforts to homeschool my older son, NJ, now 6, and my verbal style is frustrating us both immensely. He is more of a visual-spatial learner and is much more interested in the big picture rather than the small details. He’s extremely creative and is constantly constructing things with his hands. The kid even learned to knit last week! (Yes, I am very proud!) Pesky details, however, are not of much interest to him and he needs to keep moving to learn. No sitting still and listening for this boy! Now that I understood this, our lessons are becoming more effective and productive.
Some ideas geared toward these two learning styles that you can use with your German study:
Auditory/verbal learners
Reading lots of books
Listening to music and audiobooks
For older children, a discussion of the grammar – they may enjoy learning the origins of words and expanding their vocabulary
Visual/spatial learners
Maps – where is Germany on the map – what path did we take when we flew their last time? We love to keep maps handy (map placemats are great) and frequently refer to them when a place is mentioned.
Puzzles – most visual/spatial learners love puzzles. Cut their workbook pages into jigsaw puzzle pieces and they may retain the information easily.
Allow them to draw a picture or model with clay while listening to a story auf Deutsch. When my son’s hands are busy, he’s able to concentrate so much better. And later on you can refer to the picture and ask the child to narrate back the story you told.
Incorporate role-playing into your work. Act out a story using action figures. You can really emphasize the verbs this way. Kids will remember the vocabulary as they visualize what the characters did.
Ask them to visualize. Write vocabulary words in color, ask them to close their eyes and write the word in the air. Ask them to see the word in their mind. If they can visualize it, they will remember it.
Have them build models or dioramas and label the parts in German.
Show them how lessons apply to their everyday lives. Visual/spatial learners need to see the big picture. Encourage them to write to other German-speakers, plan a pretend trip to Germany (where will you go, what will you do, what language might you need to use to get around, etc.)
Coming soon – ideas for tactile/kinesthetic learners.
For more information on learning styles, see this great series at Montessori for Everyone.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Licht an! Series
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
German Music for dancing and singing along
Im Kindergarten is a wonderful, upbeat, happy CD by the hugely popular Rolf Zuckowski. This album will have your kids dancing through the house, although you may wipe away tears as I do every time I hear "Wie schön, dass Du geboren bist" (How wonderful that you were born). This CD, with it's child and adult singers, will leave a lasting impression on it's listeners. I used to listen to this CD when my first child was a baby and think "Maybe he'll speak and sing like these kids one day." I'm glad to say that now he does!
A really BIG book - Erste Bilder, Erste Wörter
A favorite poem - Das kleine Ich bin Ich
The rhyming in this book flows so well that it's a joy to listen to and read aloud. The imaginative illustrations alternate between black/white and color and I always discover something new to look at each time I read the book. Read the sample text below and see for yourself!
Alle Hunde, groß und klein,
bellen laut: "Was fällt dir ein?
Hast zwar Ohren wie ein Dackel,
auch sein Freuden-Schwanz-Gewackel.
Aber deine kleinen Beine
Sind nicht so schön krumm wie seine,
hast auch keine Hundeleine
-und bist überhaupt zu bunt
und kein Hund."
Friday, September 22, 2006
It's all Japanese to me
Of course being the book maven that I am, one of my first steps has been to search out books! But I don't speak Japanese and since the alphabet is different, I don't even have a chance when trying to decide on a book. Luckily, we have good friends who are able to help a bit and who have pointed us in the right direction. I realize how many of my customers must feel who are shopping for German books but whose German is not sufficient to help them make a decision. I now know how it is! I do feel for you!
So I'm going to try and do more book reviews and more translations to help the beginners. And if anyone has any tips on learning Japanese, we'd love to hear them!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
A personal favorite
ML (2.5 years old) has found an old book of NJ's and begs to read it over and over at bedtime. The book is Klopf an and is one of the original books I ordered for NJ sight unseen when he was a baby, way back before Alphabet Garten was created.
This book has earned its keep over the past 6 years. It's a good-sized boardbook and the right side of every other page spread is a door - all one color with a door handle. The child is asked "Mal sehen, wer da wohnt. Wir klopfen einfach an" and encouraged to knock on the door page. All this knocking is a big hit with babies and toddlers! Open the "door" and the next page shows a scene from a room with lots to talk about. One time it's a family of rabbits eating dinner at the table, another time it's a little boy in his room. Each room leads to the next. ML learned his colors from this book and still loves to count the little bears and rabbits. The very last page takes you outside again to see the moon.
Not a whole lot of text but lots of great drawings and things to talk about.
Einfach süß...
Klopf an
Incorporating German Culture and Customs
I like to read books with my children that initiate discussions on German culture. The Lesemaus books do a great job of this in a very natural way. My favorite right now is Ich hab einen Freund, der ist Bäcker. This book transports me back to my student days in München and hot bread and pretzels from the neighborhood Müller Brot. Bakeries in Germany are ubiquitious and there's just nothing like them in the U.S.! This book has a picture of a bakery case and reading about the Streuselschnecken and Brötchen takes me back. My mouth waters and I wonder for a second if I've finished my German assignment for Frau Rischer! Will those college nightmares ever cease?!
Anyway, my two-year-old loves the images of kneading fresh bread dough and grinding oats into oatmeal and his big brother loves the thought of buying his own Pausenbrot. Come to think of it, we need to go make Brezen!
Some other great choices for German culture are:
Wir entdecken das Hotel
Welches Tier war das hier? (We love the hedgehog and dung beetle!)
Märchen, Fabeln, Sagen - Set of 8 Pixi Books - how can you discuss German culture and leave out fairy tales?
Conni am Strand I get such a kick out of the hairy middle-aged lifeguard in this book!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Friday, June 30, 2006
Deutschland hat's geschafft! Einzug ins Halbfinale. Weiter so!!!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Geography lessons for little ones
I love doing geography with my children because they make so many connections with the information they learn. It's so easy for NJ (6) to relate a location in a book we're reading with a place on a map or the globe. If it's a place he's not familiar with, we look it up. We're making this into a habit so it will become second nature.
The first thing I offered to ML was a continents globe - I painted an old 6" globe so that each continent was a different color. The result is a very simple representation of the earth - no text, no country divisions, just continents and blue for the ocean. Then we discussed a few things known to ML about each continent - we live here, here's where Oma and Opa live, here's where Felix went when he visited the kangaroos, etc.
Then I made a felt continents map. This is a large blue piece of felt for the ocean with each continent cut out of stiffened felt in it's appropriate color to match the continents globe. ML and I "build" the world map together. He loves this! He's so proud that he knows where he lives and his little tongue gets tied up when pronouncing "Nord-Amerika" and "Europa." And since he loves this game, he really remembers what he's learned! We also take different plastic animals and put them on the map according to where they live - alligators in Florida, elephants in Africa and India, etc. This is also a huge hit. Who knew learning could be such fun?!
My next big splurge will be a wooden puzzle map of Europe - Allison's Montessori has beautiful ones - and ML loves puzzles. This will be a great opportunity to learn the names and locations of the countries and again put our favorite storybook characters into perspective.
Also, Enchanted Learning has lots of coloring pages which are great for geography - I have managed to pull up an outline map of the Caribbean within 30 seconds! NJ has taken to coloring maps, flags, and state crests. They also have many printables in German which can help save a rainy summer afternoon.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
A week in Ancient Egypt
If you ever have the chance to work with Geoff "Big Dog" Purcell of The Archeological Perspective, you must jump at the chance! He's a gold mine of knowledge and an inspiring teacher. And guess what else? He speaks German! He runs camps year-round. For more information, visit http://www.dothedig.net/
Toddler Language Awareness, Part 2
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Toddler Language Awareness
Proud of the Language
His vocabulary is still quite lacking but he's comfortable using the words he knows - pretty cool!
Friday, May 19, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Unsere Woche mit Opa
I think the week was also useful from my father-in-law's perspective because having only heard second-hand about the challenges we've been facing with NJ's sensory integration dysfunction, I think he and my mother-in-law were under the impression that a little more strict parenting would remedy the picky eating and other troublesome behaviors. Now, having seen it up close, Günter could tell that NJ isn't a bad kid and that his problems are not simply due to too much time in front of the TV or too much junk food. I think that he, too, will be a little less judgmental. Plus, he could hardly fault NJ for being picky since he choose not to eat about 90% of what we ate! It's all relative, isn't it? :)
Luckily, he didn't mind cooking for himself which was fortunate since I am not talented in the cooking department and am no Lilo Mueller. She had the menu planned out for his return and I'm sure he's enjoyed being back home again.
We do miss him and it was fun to have him around for a short visit.
Multicultural Living Magazine
Monday, May 08, 2006
In Praise of Libraries
Did you know your local library can get just about any English book in print for you and it's basically free?! They will even go to museums and universities if necessary to find what you're looking for. All you have to do is ask. With our homeschooling, I'm constantly, almost obsessively on the look-out for great books for the kids and this may help cut down on my book budget. Of course it is much harder to get German books, although many libraries do have German collections.
So the next time you go to the library, chat with the librarian. You won't regret it!
Pretend I'm a Farbe...
Sunday, May 07, 2006
My kids never cease to amaze me
Friday, May 05, 2006
Der Opa kommt!
Ein schönes Wochenende!
Friday, April 21, 2006
Crazy for the Magische Baumhaus
My son, NJ, likes these books so much, he begs for more chapters at bedtime and as soon as we finish one, he's ready to start another. The language is a little beyond his German comprehension but it doesn't seem to bother him and he asks lots of questions. He and ML both enjoy the pictures scattered throughout the book. So far, we've been to ancient Egypt, the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, a rain forest, visited with the dinosaurs, been to the moon, and just today attended a one-room schoolhouse on the prarie during the 1870's.
NJ likes these books so much, he has demanded I get the whole series - there are over 30 titles to date - yikes! So I will be adding more to the Alphabet Garten catalog very soon. Here is the current listing.
Interestingly, we tried reading one in English and NJ refused to listen to it. My mother had gotten him one about the first Thanksgiving in English and he was so disappointed it wasn't in German that I had to translate on the fly. Very tricky stuff - how do you say Pilgrim in German? I have no idea :) He's a particular kid and likes things just so.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Book Review: Frederick
Frederick is a little mouse who would rather collect colors, words, and sunlight while his fellow mice are busily gathering provisions for the long, cold winter. The other mice are quite nice about his not helping to collect nuts, berries, and wheat and when the food begins to run out, they turn to Frederick and he feeds their minds with visions of colorful leaves and plants and warms their hearts with the sunlight he's saved.
My kids enjoy the simple illustrations in this large German picture book. The text is limited to 1-2 sentences on most pages so there's lots of time to take in the pictures and not too much German vocabulary to digest. The poem about the four seasons at the end of the book is a peaceful and joyous ending and we could identify with the little mice looking forward to the goodness of Spring.
Here's an excerpt:
Frederick"Macht die Augen zu" sagte Frederick
und kletterte auf einen großen Sten.
"Jetzt schicke ich euch die Sonnenstrahlen.
Fühlt ihr schon, wie warm sie sind?
Warm, schön und golden?"
By: Leo Lionni
Format: Hardcover, 20 pages
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The Bilingual / Bicultural Family Network
I am fortunate to be a contributor to the BBFN April newsletter! I've written about our struggle with passive bilingualism and sensory integration dysfunction. While the two are not necessarily related, they both have a very real impact on our family. I hope you enjoy the article. Let me know what you think!
Viele Gruesse,
Sarah
Monday, April 03, 2006
Toddler Favorites
My son is 21 months and enjoys his german books immensely. His
favourites are "Ich kenne alle Farben", it has a colour wheel that he
enjoys turning. Also from the Mini Lesemaus series, he enjoys "Meine
Haustiere", as we are learning all about animals. The illustrations
are delightful, and the text is uncomplicated. Fantastic books!
- Kim
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
When do kids start speaking German in an immersion environment?
Dear Sarah,
I am an "Oma" taking care of her grandson since his birth. I have him 12 to 13 hour per day-his parents are doctors in a residency program and work horrendous hours.
I always speak German to him. His receptive language is the same in both English and German but he says more English words. He is now 21 mo. old. Sometimes I say something in German and he says it in English. Ex. I said "was tust Du" and he said "What doing?" "Siehst Du den Voge?" He says "Bird". He is too young to decide to only speak English, I think. What has been your experience with your bilingual children. Did they start out speaking English?
Inge
Dear Inge,
Thank you for your message! How wonderful that you're able to care for your grandson. It really varies with the child as to what they start speaking. It's quite common for a child to respond in English even though he's getting so much German input. In fact, it's interesting that he is translating what you're saying - a lot of kids have a hard time doing this even if they are fluent bilinguals. I would say that it's not so much a case of him consciously choosing German over English but rather he's just saying what comes naturally to him. At this age, I don't think kids can really differentiate between the two languages. My two-year old often tries to speak German with my English-speaking mother. I think you'll start to see more and more German words come from your grandson, especially since you do spend so much time with him. My two-year old also mixes languages quite a bit, i.e. he'll say "I'm krank" and "I mach' das". This is also quite normal for this stage. Please see http://www.biculturalfamily.org/as_talkingtalking.html for more information on toddler language development.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. I'm enjoying the responses from my latest newsletter.
Viele Gruesse,
Sarah
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Will two languages confuse my toddler?
My mom is from Germany and watches my daughter, Gabriele, while I work. She speaks only German to her, but then when I come home, all she hears is English. (my husband and I don't speak German - I can a little, but not very well.)
What is your opinion about this situation? Do you think Gabriele will become confused?
Vielen Dank,
Ingrid
Hallo Ingrid,
Thanks for your message. Honestly, I think your daughter is in an ideal situation! She has a very clear deliniation between German and English - Oma speaks German and Mom and Dad speak English. Lots of bilingual kids grow up with much more complicated arrangements, like the one we strive for in my house - my husband and I speak German to the kids and sometimes to each other but frequently switch to English. When my mother's around (she only speaks a few words of German), we'll switch to English except with my younger son with whom I always speak German regardless. Of course, as I mentioned in my newsletter, we speak far more English at home than I'd like so there's less consistency with our language pattern. But I hear time and again that kids just sort it out. My older son (almost 6) very clearly understands the difference between the two languages and never mixes unless it's intentional. The little one mixes all the time but he's still sorting things out and I'm truly not worried. I believe if the child does speak in the second language (as opposed to just understanding it) age 3 is about when she can distinguish and choose between the two consciously.
How old is your daughter? I assume she's not speaking yet? I guess some confusion might arise from you wondering if she's said something in the other language or was it just something in English you didn't understand. My mom has this problem with my toddler right now - "Was he speaking German or was I supposed to understand him just now?"
I think your daughter is very lucky to have your mom to teach her German from the start. I'd love to hear how it's going. I hope you don't have any well-meaning busybodies telling you your daughter is going to be disadvantaged by learning German in this manner. :) See http://www.nethelp.no/cindy/myth.html for some myths about bilingualism.
Viele Gruesse,
Sarah