Hello & Hallo & Ciao from Berkeley!
Apr 18, 2017 1:39:19 GMT 9
Post by Ulrike on Apr 18, 2017 1:39:19 GMT 9
Good morning from California!
I am a German mom raising three boys (8, 6, 5 yrs old) together with my Italian husband in Berkeley, California (USA). We are both excited about bringing them up with the three languages. We are happy about the successes we have had, and about the joy this has brought to them, to us and to the extended family! But, as I learned first from your WONDERFUL book, Adam, we are not alone in finding this "second shift" after they entered ML schools incredibly hard. For starters, how do you fit the ml exposure into their, when ML school is 8:30-3pm, and many or most days are filled with ML afternoon activities? My husband and I are both full-time professors here at Cal, which doesn't make it easier (though I have to admit the flexibility of our job is a blessing).
I'd love to exchange ideas about how to keep at it during the elementary school (and soon middle and high school) years. I found so many resources for parents with young kids, and I find much less for the ones who are now going through the period when the early-life "miracle" ("Look they speak all three languages, just because we talk to them in our own language!!") loses its potency.
Let me start with sharing some things that have worked, many of them from Adam's book or from posts here (THANK YOU!):
* Reading to them even as they grow! Have to admit that I had kind of stopped reading to them, maybe also because bedtime is so hard. Recently, I started copying the "reading over breakfast" idea from Adam which works great. While I got thrown off with in-laws visiting, and also with this time being "crunch time" in my semester, I will try to restart asap ... tomorrow.
* Relentlessly catering to their interests. While in Germany last time I spent time in bookstores and found "Star-Wars-imitating" books about three kids and their adventures in space. My oldest loves it and is reading almost voluntarily. ... He also loves all things invention / engineering, and found himself getting a lot of Italian books on world records and construction techniques.
* Play. I love playing board-/card-games etc. with kids, and it had kind of disappeared from our interactions, between Legos being more important, nagging their parents about wanting to play video games, and of course all the activities. I am more conscious about it now, and always on the search for reading / language fostering games. The thing is, though, you have to be there. Even if you match your kids with another ml-capable kid, they will switch to ML if you don't set the stage, I have found.
But here are the really big questions on my mind:
* I completely agree that Skyping with / letter writing to ml grandparents and friends is so valuable, especially for the "need" component. Embarrassingly, we fail to do this regularly, just since the 9 hr time difference throws us off. How do people with time zone differences handle this? Do you have a firm weekly "appointment" with grandparents? I have one success with my cousin & her kids recently. Would love to repeat it...
* "Homework." We are lucky in that, at least for ml1 (German) there is an afternoon school and a Saturday school, and so far the kids and many of their friends go to both. Still, the teachers are sometimes great, sometimes they click less well with my kids. Also some insist on ml, some are fairly lenient in letting the ML sneak in. And even if those 2x two-and-a-half hours were all ml...it's 5 hours/week, and I guess we should aim for 28 hours/week of exposure. Long story short, I'd love to do brief little homeworks the way many of you do it. But I am not good at putting stuff together (even if I know about Word Search websites, have work books that are fun etc.). I might also make the rookie mistake of having far too high expectations and then give up when we are not proceeding at the right pace. And, with being so busy and not being a "natural" at this, I think I'd need some "program" for me & my boys. Any suggestions?
* Any ideas about music? Streaming that works in German & Italian?
* Any advice how to get a ml playdate going for older kids (8-10yrs)? The approach of "start them off in the ml, and they might stick to it" doesn't quite work any more for us.
Thanks a lot! Also, Adam, let me know about past blog posts I might want to read. Chances are I have done so but always good to re-read. The more concrete things you have shared with us (like the reading over breakfast) are so helpful!
Anyhow, this a great group, and I look forward to more interaction.
Best,
Ulrike
I am a German mom raising three boys (8, 6, 5 yrs old) together with my Italian husband in Berkeley, California (USA). We are both excited about bringing them up with the three languages. We are happy about the successes we have had, and about the joy this has brought to them, to us and to the extended family! But, as I learned first from your WONDERFUL book, Adam, we are not alone in finding this "second shift" after they entered ML schools incredibly hard. For starters, how do you fit the ml exposure into their, when ML school is 8:30-3pm, and many or most days are filled with ML afternoon activities? My husband and I are both full-time professors here at Cal, which doesn't make it easier (though I have to admit the flexibility of our job is a blessing).
I'd love to exchange ideas about how to keep at it during the elementary school (and soon middle and high school) years. I found so many resources for parents with young kids, and I find much less for the ones who are now going through the period when the early-life "miracle" ("Look they speak all three languages, just because we talk to them in our own language!!") loses its potency.
Let me start with sharing some things that have worked, many of them from Adam's book or from posts here (THANK YOU!):
* Reading to them even as they grow! Have to admit that I had kind of stopped reading to them, maybe also because bedtime is so hard. Recently, I started copying the "reading over breakfast" idea from Adam which works great. While I got thrown off with in-laws visiting, and also with this time being "crunch time" in my semester, I will try to restart asap ... tomorrow.
* Relentlessly catering to their interests. While in Germany last time I spent time in bookstores and found "Star-Wars-imitating" books about three kids and their adventures in space. My oldest loves it and is reading almost voluntarily. ... He also loves all things invention / engineering, and found himself getting a lot of Italian books on world records and construction techniques.
* Play. I love playing board-/card-games etc. with kids, and it had kind of disappeared from our interactions, between Legos being more important, nagging their parents about wanting to play video games, and of course all the activities. I am more conscious about it now, and always on the search for reading / language fostering games. The thing is, though, you have to be there. Even if you match your kids with another ml-capable kid, they will switch to ML if you don't set the stage, I have found.
But here are the really big questions on my mind:
* I completely agree that Skyping with / letter writing to ml grandparents and friends is so valuable, especially for the "need" component. Embarrassingly, we fail to do this regularly, just since the 9 hr time difference throws us off. How do people with time zone differences handle this? Do you have a firm weekly "appointment" with grandparents? I have one success with my cousin & her kids recently. Would love to repeat it...
* "Homework." We are lucky in that, at least for ml1 (German) there is an afternoon school and a Saturday school, and so far the kids and many of their friends go to both. Still, the teachers are sometimes great, sometimes they click less well with my kids. Also some insist on ml, some are fairly lenient in letting the ML sneak in. And even if those 2x two-and-a-half hours were all ml...it's 5 hours/week, and I guess we should aim for 28 hours/week of exposure. Long story short, I'd love to do brief little homeworks the way many of you do it. But I am not good at putting stuff together (even if I know about Word Search websites, have work books that are fun etc.). I might also make the rookie mistake of having far too high expectations and then give up when we are not proceeding at the right pace. And, with being so busy and not being a "natural" at this, I think I'd need some "program" for me & my boys. Any suggestions?
* Any ideas about music? Streaming that works in German & Italian?
* Any advice how to get a ml playdate going for older kids (8-10yrs)? The approach of "start them off in the ml, and they might stick to it" doesn't quite work any more for us.
Thanks a lot! Also, Adam, let me know about past blog posts I might want to read. Chances are I have done so but always good to re-read.
The more concrete things you have shared with us (like the reading over breakfast) are so helpful!Anyhow, this a great group, and I look forward to more interaction.
Best,
Ulrike
