Schultueten

Schultüten are traditionally given to German children on the first day of school. Filled with sweets, school supplies and small presents, they are meant to celebrate the beginning of school and make the transition easier for first graders.

Mausi has a nice history on Schultüten and Einschulung in Germany.

I'm not terribly crafty but the Schultüten ideas at Bastel-tipps.de look so cute and easy, I might just try a couple for my kids. They can be as simple or as elaborate as you like - it's common to see German youngsters with Schultüten almost as big as themselves!

I promise to take pictures of our Schultüten. I'd love to see yours as well! Leave me a comment here with a link or send me a photo to post.

Tanz mit mit Tanzalarm

Mega fun stuff at the KI.KA website - you can learn the dance that goes along with the title song from Tanzalarm. My kids are going to love this!

Thinking about Back to School

September is just around the corner - if you're looking for some extra help with German, why not see if there is a German Saturday School nearby?

New set of free German flashcards online!

The response to the Animal flashcards was incredible! Thank you so much for your kind words. I am thrilled so many of your children enjoyed them.

I've just posted a new set - Bei uns im Garten (Backyard Nature). This time my dear husband recorded the sound so you have the advantage of listening to a native German speaker. Take a look and let me know what you think!

This has turned into such a fun project for me and my kids. Next we are going to try producing our own photo story. My oldest is helping to take the pictures. The two younger boys are the (not always) smiling subjects. Stay tuned for another set!

-- Sarah

P.S. Please let me know if you have problems with the sound. I think it's a little quiet but it may just be my computer.

Thoughts on Language Learning

Up until now my strategy of imparting German to my children has been very simple - give them as much German as I can in a number of formats. We haven't spent any time actually "teaching" them German - we expect that they will learn it through immersion the same way they are learning English. And so far, so good - they even speak to their baby brother in German - amazing!

Now I'm preparing to start a little German hour with some good friends of ours who want to learn German as a part of their homeschooling. They don't speak any German so we'll be starting from square one. I'm not calling it a class or a lesson - we won't be that formal - since my friend's daughter is just 5. Instead we will try to start her off with some songs, words and phrases a la TPRS she can use in everyday situations. I'll be posting about my research and results on the blog. It's going to be a lot of fun for all of us!

Kinder-Radio in German!

Ohrenbär produces radio stories in German for kids. This is another nice way to enjoy German with your kids.

Thanks for the tip, Thea!

Alphabet Garten Favorites - at your fingertips

Announcing two new collections - the Little Kid Favorites Collection and the Big Kid Favorites Collection. Each set has 10 of our very favorite German books and 1 or 2 CDs for your budding bilinguals.



So many of you have contacted me to ask for recommendations of appropriate German books for your kids. These collections were created in response to your requests. You can still use the buying guide which lists several excellent choices by age group, but if you want a quick and easy purchase option, these collections have everything you need for that little bilingual in your life. Viel Spaß beim Lesen!