Bilingualism strengthens cognitive development, research shows

http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_07_04_10_en.html

And baby makes three. Even if you're not a native German speaker, you can raise a bilingual!

When NJ was born 7 years ago, I had lots of time to prepare and think about how I wanted to incorporate German into his life. We wanted him to have a strong connection to Juergen's family roots in Germany. Even though we chose to live in the U.S., we hoped to maintain strong cultural and language ties "back home." In addition, Oma and Opa don't speak English so practically speaking, NJ would have to be bilingual in order to have a real relationship with his grandparents.

If you, like me, are not a native speaker, it will be a little harder but it can be done, and the rewards are great. Seven years into this adventure, I'm still learning and changing my strategy as needed. Here are a few things I've learned along the way.

1. Get educated.
Read up on bilingual children. Find out about the different language patterns you may use. You may decide OPOL (one parent one language) is right for you. Or maybe mlah (minority language at home) makes more sense. Informing yourself is important for two reasons - first, you can think through how you'll make it work in your family, and second, you'll be prepared with facts when the nosy neighbor tells you a second language can cause speech delays (it doesn't) or a relative complains she feels excluded when you speak to your child in German. Just tell her you're increasing your child's potential! If people see you're confident and educated about speaking German to your child, they are less likely to question your motives. It's critical to be prepared with research and facts, especially for a non-native speaker since you might not see much progress for the first couple years and it's easy to get discouraged.
Suggested resources:
- A Parents' & Teachers' Guide to Bilingualism

2. Build a support system
If you're lucky enough to have German-speaking relatives and friends, let them know you'll be speaking to your child in German. If they are close by, ask them to speak only German to your child. It's a huge help to have other sources of German for your child. If they are not close by, at least they can provide moral support and perhaps letters, phone calls and visits.

If you don't know any German speakers, seek them out! Find a German-speaking playgroup or start your own. Consider attending a German school, either on Saturdays or during the week. German immersion schools are available all over the country and you may be surprised to find one nearby.

Still haven't found German speakers in your area? Turn to the internet! Discussion groups and blogs are wonderful for inspiration and invaluable when you need advice and motivation.

Consider subscribing to magazines for bilingual parents. A regular read on bilingualism will be helpful in keeping up your motivation.

3. Prepare the environment
Get some German books and music for your little one. This is an easy one! :) German music especially is a favorite of mine to help me remember to speak German and it's great for tired new mommies and daddies.

4. Start at the beginning
You may feel a little strange chatting away to a baby who does little more than sleep, eat, and pee, but getting into the habit of speaking German to your new baby right away is easier than starting up later. I have always sp0ken German to my babies and to this day find it difficult to speak to any baby in English! I do speak English with my children now, but that's another post :)

Books that do double-duty: Der Marienkäfer

This adorable Marienkäfer book has arrived, just in time for spring and a little nature study. My little M, age 3, is constantly on the lookout for tiny bugs, ants, spiders and the like, and this book has been an instant hit. He loves the brightly colored illustrations and the flaps, especially the one with the large flower whose petals open to reveal the different stages in the lifecycle of the ladybug.

I love the wealth of detail that M and also my 7 year old enjoy. This series is written for kids ages 2 and up but I really think kids as old as 7 can easily enjoy and benefit from reading it. It's useful for me as well to brush up on some of the nature vocabulary in German. It does feel strange to call a ladybug a "he", though. Make sure you have a bug jar and a magnifying glass handy so you can run outside on a ladybug hunt when you're done reading!

Der Marienkäfer. Wieso? Weshalb? Warum? from Alphabet Garten

Music with a Message

You've probably heard me say it before - we love Rolf Zuckowski. His music is happy, fun, and is a sure fix for grumpy kids (and moms). We hadn't added to our Rolf collection recently but when the Top 100 collection came out, I decided to give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did!

You see, not only are the songs upbeat and great for singing along, but most of them have a message, either for kids or parents or sometimes both. I wrote about the song, Wie schön dass Du geboren bist, a while back. It still brings tears to my eyes. I could hardly listen to the first CD of this new set without getting teary-eyed. There is Du schaffst es schon, an inspiring story about perserverence. Ohne Dich, which is a real tear-jerker ("Ohne Dich wäre ich im Leben nicht mal halb so viel gelacht...") - so true. So wie Du bist is such a great reminder to treasure our kids for themselves and not compare them to others. Lucky for my kids, they enjoy the music without getting bogged down with the deeper message like their mom.

There are also plenty of important messages for kids. Mein Platz im Auto ist hinten is a great reminder about seatbelts. Frühstuck für Mama is a nice plug for forgiveness. Als ich ein Baby war has been nice for M, who at 3 years old, is feeling a little small these days compared to his big brother who can seemingly do everything.

Als ich ein Baby war, war ich noch klien,

das soll bei Babys ja so üblich sein.

Ich hatte nur drei Haare auf dem Kopf

und rutschte durch die Wohnung auf dem Topf.

Aber jetzt bin ich groß, sehr mich mal an!

Ihr werdet staunen, was ich alles kann...

I could go on and on. Go take a listen for yourself! Even if you already have a few Rolf CDs, this one is such a great value with 100 songs for under $60, I do think it's worth it. The CDs come in a box with lyrics to all 100 songs - very useful for us non-native speakers who want to sing along.

We are pretty busy around here with our business, homeschooling 3 kids, and special needs. Sometimes I forget my priorities and get bogged down in the day-to-day details. Rolf's music brings me back to earth. Rolf continually inspires me to be a better parent and a better person. I hope you enjoy him too!

Rolfs Top 100 from Alphabet Garten

Goldig!

I just couldn't resist :)

Book Review: See you - im nächsten Sommer. A German - English story

See you... is the story of a male German exchange student who spends 3 weeks in the U.S. with an American girl and her family. Unhappy about the situation at first, he discovers his host is actually a pretty good soccer player and they develop a friendship.

I love the language switching that goes on in this book. Here's an excerpt:

"Let's go to that McDonald's, then!", schlug Britney vor. "Does anyone know where it is exactly?" Tobias schüttelte den Kopf. Madison sagte, "I'm not sure,
but I think it's only a few minutes from here, down that street over there." "Let's go!", rief Tobias.

I think bilingual kids will love this kind of back-and-forth between German and English. Enjoy!

See you - im nächsten Sommer. A German - English story

Sonderangebot - Save on over 60 titles

We have over 60 titles on sale - this is a great opportunity to add to your German library.

Book Review: Inga zieht sich an

Inga is a little bunny who absolutely *must* pick out her own clothes WITHOUT any help from her dear mama who is waiting to take her to the park. As the mother of a very independent three year old, I enjoyed this book very much as I read it with M. M enjoyed it as well, nodding knowingly when Inga asserted "Ich will aber ALLEINE aussuchen!"

I also love this book because it comes with a code for a bonus audiobook you can download from the Nord-Sued (publisher) website. So M can listen to it whenever he wants, just the way his independent little self likes it :)

The book also includes a paper doll Inga with several outfits to cut out and play with. Fun!

Inga zieht sich an

Make it Stick: Tips for Active Learning

As a continuation to my posts on learning styles, I got some wonderful tips and ideas from a teacher. Although her subject is music, you could apply these ideas to German study or any other area you choose. She asked that I leave her name off for confidentiality reasons. There are some fantastic ideas here! Enjoy :) -- Sarah

I was interested in your comment about your little fellow learning math
while running around the house. A couple of years ago, I had auditioned
kids for some spoken lines in a music program in one of my grade schools.
One little girl had the most expressive way of saying the lines. It became
apparent, however, that she had a real problem when it came to learning her
lines. Simple repetition was not working, for example. It turned out
that she was considered Special Ed, and no one who knew her well thought that
she could learn the lines. So I took her down the hall, saying the lines
back and forth with me. I took her down the stairs and up the
stairs. Finally, I had her saying lines while walking backwards. Not
only did she memorize the lines for the concert, but every time I saw her in the
halls, or outside, for the next couple of years, she came to me and burst into
all the lines, delivered perfectly and with great satisfaction and pride.
She's not at our school any more, but I can't help wondering if she maybe still
knows those lines!

I think the thing that helped was that she was so surprised. Walking and
doing it was unexpected, going down stairs and up again was novel, and she for
sure didn't expect to go backwards!! I hadn't thought it through, either,
and was just trying something different to get the information through to her -
something fun unpredictable that would allow her to have fun and keep her from
noticing that she was actually drilling the information (in between
giggles). A year or so ago, I took a Suzuki course that specified learning
techniques for learning string instruments and one of the teaching tools was to
have kids play a passage in a different room each time, or find some other
distraction or novelty to pair each repetition with. The technique was
called "disguised repetition." So I found a name for my seat-of-the pants
adventure with this nice girl. I think she'll always remember that
she can learn, from that experience. That's what I take with me most
of all.

Your situation is different from the musical
application: Since you don't have to worry about bumping an instrument you
could have more freedom - have a young child say something from
under a table, or behind a couch, or hanging over a bed...or have the child
suggest a place, and if you respond by go, the child hurries there and says the
word or phrase. (And then the next time it might be a different word or
phrase.) It could even work with several children taking turns, as a game,
I think. (Another variation: whoever is "it" gets to say where the
next child says a phrase or word...or how to move while saying
it...)

At school, I sometimes alternate drill (rote learning) with opportunities
to be creative in a way that relates directly to the drilled
learning....

I also set up learning situations in which I make
mistakes and the students have to correct me, which the kids love.
Sometimes I am putting up information on the board which is almost all right and
while they're learning it, I suddenly ask them what's wrong with what I have up
there, and they study it intently and hands shoot up (or they burst out with
it!!)! Other times they know right away that I'm making mistakes for them to
find, and they love that.

Announcing...

The Mueller family proudly announces the arrival of J.P. Mueller, born 1/27/07. Alphabet Garten will re-open on Monday, February 5.

Viele Gruesse!
Sarah

Learning Styles Continued

In my last post, I wrote about my older son's preference for visual/spatial learning. My younger son, ML, is not quite three so his style is a bit harder to identify but he's showing a definite preference for tactile/kinesthetic (or active) learning. If he can manipulate something, he understands it and remembers. This kid has been loving jigsaw puzzles for over a year - and can pick out the piece he wants from a big pile. Show him where the play button is on the remote control and he'll never forget where it is (and uses it often!) My older son still needs reminders on which buttons to use. Like any self-respecting preschooler, he adores water play and is proud that he knows how to get the temperature just right. Dancing, climbing and jumping are favorites of his. My little ML is very active, however, he easily sinks deep into concentration when doing something engrossing to him like a puzzle or a matching activity.

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.

Licht an! Series

My kids have been engrossed in this series for a while now. Both N (6) and M(2.5) love to pour over the detailed illustrations with their paper "flashlights" and they always find something new each time they look at one of these books. It's a little tricky to explain the concept behind this series and you won't really get it until you hold one in your hands but let me do my best. Each two page spread has one side with some explanatory text and things labeled to find. On the opposite side is a transparency on top of a jet black page. The child uses his paper "flashlight" (Taschenlampe) which is really just a piece of white cardboard to illuminate things on the transparency which don't show up when backed by the black paper. So the entire page is never in view all at once and the child can really explore the page and find the creatures lurking in the dark corners. It seems to hold their attention well since they must actively search out the subjects of the page.

It's low tech, got tons of detail, and works well for beginners who are just picking up vocabulary through profis who want technical details.

The transparent pages are sturdy and we've not lost a Taschenlampe yet, although if you do, it's easy to make one out of stiff paper. There's a slot at the back of the book to hold the Taschenlampe when not in use.

Licht an!, part of Meyers Kleine Kinderbibliothek from Alphabet Garten

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

Besides the realistic illustrations of items from a small child’s world, the best thing about Erste Bilder, Erste Wörter is it’s size – it’s huge! When opened up, it measures almost 2 feet across by 15 inches tall. Kids will feel they can practically climb into the book.

There’s lots to see and talk about on every page from the toys, animals, and trains on the Kinderzimmer page to the tools, laundry items, and dry goods on the Im Keller page. You can play “find the …” or make up stories about what the little bears who appear throughout the book are doing on each page. Sturdy boardbook pages allow enthusiastic little ones to enjoy this book without risk of damage.

A favorite poem - Das kleine Ich bin Ich

Das kleine Ich bin Ich is another of the very first books I purchased for NJ before starting Alphabet Garten. I picked it out solely from the look of the cover and it turned out to be a true gem. NJ was about 18 months when it arrived and we read it over and over. It was great for my German and I loved the rhythm of the poetry. A bit long, especially for kids who prefer shorter picture books but so much fun!

This book is a wonderful poem about an animal who doesn't know exactly what it is. In amusing verse, the story follows the little creature as it goes around asking other animals what it might be - it's got ears like a horse - maybe it's a foal? No, not a horse. Maybe it's a fish because it swims so well. No, not a fish either. Finally the creature comes to a happy realization that he's simply himself - "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."

This book is great for kids ages 5 and up who have at least a basic understanding of German. When read aloud with expression, kids will enjoy the book and begin to understand the story even if they don't understand all the text.

It's all Japanese to me

I've had the interesting experience lately of being in many of my customers' shoes. That is, of understanding very little of a language I'm trying to learn. A little background: my 6 year old homeschooled son, NJ, has developed a passion for all things Japanese. He loves Japanese anime movies, Japanese art, and particularly Japanese language, both written and spoken. So we have plunged into learning some Japanese. Since he isn't reading in English (or German) yet, this means I need to do most of the legwork and basically learn alongside him. He has infected the whole family with his passion and we all know a lot more now than we did a few months ago. Even our two-year-old loves to say Konichiwa (hello) on the telephone. :)

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!

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!

What language do bilingual kids dream in?

A thought-provoking post from Corey - you shouldn't miss it:

Dreamland