About Author

I’m Peter Legrove and for the last 15 years or so I’ve been standing in front of a primary school classroom. Now I’m nearing retirement it’s time to pass my knowledge on.
http://www.animalsdinosaursandbugs.com/Teaching-Reading.htm
This article is copyright © Peter Legrove.

Learning German is truly a great way to develop self-awareness and an understanding of other people. You gain new insights and perspectives and enlarge your horizons by discovering a culture other than your own. Knowing how to speak German is quite worthwhile, with many practical uses such as for traveling, working, and socializing, and it will continue to be useful in many endeavors you undertake in life. The German language is not common in many countries outside Europe, and there is usually no national exam for students to take that demonstrates their language ability. The main goal of learning a new language should be to develop students interest in other languages and in the German culture itself.

Learning German is crucial in today’s world, so children should begin learning it in preschool and primary school. Speaking German is easier than you may think! Consider words like “Hand,” “Kindergarten,” and “Zeitgeist.” Since German and English share a common historical background, many words and grammatical structures are very similar. Learning to speak German does not have to be hard. Some native English speakers say it is much easier to learn than French.

Learning the German language is now made even simpler with many online courses, which offer affordable self-study audio courses that use a conversational approach lauded by millions. For years, the way to learn a language was through repetition and grammar drills – but current research shows that people learn best and retain more when engaged in meaningful, real life conversations. Learning German is like learning Latin or Greek — it brings you in contact with a culture which laid, together with the Romans and the Greeks, the basis of modern Western culture. You simply will not be able to fully understand Western culture if you don’t learn at least some Greek, German and Latin.

Discovering the German language is an adventure that many have taken on. If you want to truly explore a language that has endured for centuries, and that has historical and cultural values, then German is an excellent choice.

Learning a new language is not a game, nor an intellectual exercise. It’s about meeting and communicating with real people. Learning how to speak a foreign language is not as difficult as many people might think. You must put in a lot of effort though, if you want to be fluent in a foreign language.

Language comprehension increases rapidly as students gain valuable listening, speaking and pronunciation skills. Online courses can be repeated as often as desired to reinforce oral language skills and build vocabulary. Language anxiety is as real as math anxiety. The charm of using a good German language learning course is that they can welcome you, introduce you, make you feel comfortable and at home with speaking. Languages cannot be taught, they can only be learned. Theoretical grammatical explanations are hard to understand, hard to remember, and even harder to use.

Language is really one of the most important components of identity. Language skills are the key to understanding others.

About Author

Julie Landry is a fluent German speaker that has written a popular Rocket German Review on her site. Learn to Speak German is a site dedicated to helping people learn German. You can learn more about Rocket German there.

Native Speakers for Teaching Chinese

On method for those households that don’t have a native speaker is hiring of a nanny who speaks Chinese. The NY Times had an article noting the increase in au pairs from China. It is also possible to arrange play dates with other children who are learning Chinese as well as finding a Chinese speaking babysitter. Local universities will often have spouses of Chinese working on Masters and PhD’s who are looking for extra income. Another option is finding a local nanny, and there are a number around. If you are in public service, please remember Zoe Baird on the requirements for legally hiring a nanny. Truth to be told, there is a large population of people in the US from China who don’t have papers who work as nannies, so be careful. Nannies are also taking care of your children, so picking the right person is extremely important, especially if they live with you. Friends of ours have gone through multiple nannies and it was not a good experience.

Online Programs for Teaching Chinese

There are also programs to expose Children to Chinese at a young age. I am not aware of any that are online for English speakers at this time. There are online programs for adults learning Chinese as well as native speakers.

Private Chinese Schools

Traditionally non-public Chinese Schools in the US start teaching children when they are old to sit still and copy characters. Most schools are still using traditional teaching rote teaching methods still used in Taiwan and China. For the most part with children in the US, it does not work due to culture classes. There is a huge amount of independence in children in the US and using boring teaching methods that do not capture the interest of the child so they want to go to school without a lot of parental pushing will end up in failure. With the child being forced to go to school and often treating it as just babysitting, and not learning Chinese.

An alternative is finding a school that uses more of a Montessori Method or what is used in ESL where there is a lot of conversation. I was pleasantly surprised by my daughter’s public school language teacher who spoke of using this method in the classroom, instead of the traditional focus on grammar in learning many foreign languages. At a young age, I would suggest programs that teach using a lot of singing and other fun activities.

Summer Camps

Going to a summer camp in a full immersion environment is a great way to learn Chinese! Each year ChildBook publishes the largest list I have found of Summer Chinese Programs. These range from weekend programs in the US to programs that include a boarding school to programs in China and Taiwan. I favor the full immersion process as a great way to Learn Chinese.

Chinese Learning Products

CD’s for Learning Chinese

CD’s come in two different types. One is products that are 100% Chinese of Chinese Children Songs or stories only in Chinese. Some products include a book of lyrics in Chinese, and other’s don’t. Other products are designed to teach Chinese and have a booklet with lyrics in English, Pinyin, and Chinese Characters. The teaching Chinese products are both from from the US (the majority) and a series from Singapore. The products for Teaching Chinese are bilingual, so the songs are sung in both Chinese and English. What I like about the CD’s is they give a parent a chance to be part of the process where they can Sing Happy Birthday in the Teach Me Chinese CD and Book in both English and Chinese (this series focuses on popular songs in Chinese and English). The other series have specially written songs for Teaching Chinese. The Teach Me Chinese Series has Teacher Guides available. The Sing & Learn Chinese CD & Book includes a track of the songs without words (like Karoke). Let’s Sing Chinese is a 3 product series from Singapore that has both familiar songs and new ones. 3 is the most I have seen of any series of Cd’s for Teaching Chinese to Children.

Video’s for Learning Chinese

Video’s such as from Mei Mei use more of a hands on approach teaching basic Chinese vocabulary and she currently has five video’s in her series. From the first one that teaches counting and parts of the body with songs through an approach that children love to later ones that progress such as her Play and Learn Chinese with Mei Mei where an actual Chinese Kindergarten is visited. What is great about this video is it gives your Child the chance to compare their experience and see the differences between their school and the one in the video. From lunch to PE to naps. To select the right video for your child, I recommend reading the reviews (both good and bad).

Books for Learning Chinese

A great book for those just beginning to Learn Chinese is I Won’t Bite. It’s a touch and feel book that has Pinyin, Chinese Characters, and English. The challenge of using a book is often you need to know how to read Chinese, in order to teach from it. A fun book for exposing Children to Chinese Characters is Long Is A Dragon by Peggy Goldstein A selection of books for Learning Chinese Character

Software for Learning Chinese

Any day some Software should arrive that has been highly recommended by customers.

About Author

ChildBook.com for over 10 years has been helping Children in the United States learn more about Chinese Culture and Language. They do this by selling Chinese Children’s books, Music, and Video’s in both Chinese and English. ChildBook.com was started in 1998 due to the frustration of the owners in finding good Chinese Language Learning material to bring their daughter up bilingually.

The preschool environment is designed to educate young children prior to the age of five – when most children begin kindergarten. Preschool is an optional learning experience; some preschool programs are offered through the public school district, but in most cases preschool is offered privately – either in a non-denominational setting or through a religious institution. Because preschool meets the needs of young children, preschool learning differs quite a bit from the learning environment offered at the time of elementary school.

Research has shown that children of this age are especially conducive to learning; their brains are like sponges picking up concepts through the use of all of their senses. Such is the reason that preschool learning concepts are taught through play-based programs. It has been shown that preschool aged children learn best through play, absorbing fundamental lessons without being aware of anything but having fun.

Curriculum designed for preschool learning often incorporates core concepts into fun, tactile games; ball play promotes hand-eye coordination, physical games sharpen gross motor skills, card games practice memory retention, writing games hone fine motor skills, and books and storytelling further a love for reading and language. And all the while, children are also learning fundamental social lessons such as working together, respecting each other, and taking turns.

The modern preschool environment will also incorporate the use of computer games into the curriculum. Preschool learning of today can take place through the use of computer software that engages children through the use of color, sound, and interactive play.

Creative preschool teachers are crucial to successful preschool learning. It takes an inspired, resourceful individual to effectively deliver educational lessons in a way that interests and motivates small children. Holding the attention of students so small can sometimes be the most difficult accomplishment.

Most importantly, the goal of preschool learning is to foster a lifelong love of learning; children should leave the preschool experience with a feeling of accomplishment allowing them to move forward in their education with comfort and confidence.

About Author

For easy to understand, in depth information about preschool learning visit our ezGuide 2 Preschool.

Most parents do more than they realize to support their child’s journey toward reading. In this article I hope to reinforce what you are already doing and add to a few more ideas to your repertoire with specific suggestions that go beyond the oft repeated: “Read to your child.” As our children leave their toddler years and head into pre-school and then kindergarten, at some point most parents feel a twinge of anxiety as they wonder “When will my child learn to read?” Parents who had a difficult time mastering reading themselves might be particularly nervous about their child’s success at reading. Every parent wants the transformation from non-reader to reader to go smoothly for their child, (truthfully, we want EVERYTHING to go well for our children) and there are many things parents can do to facilitate the learning of this essential skill. The bottom line is that children enter school with very different previous experience. Studies show that one child in a class may have had over 1,000 hours of exposure to print while another may have had 0-10 hours. One child may have heard over 2,000 words per hour, while another has heard only 616. This makes a huge difference when predicting which child will be a successful reader. Reading trajectories are established early and children on low trajectories tend to stay on those trajectories and fall further and further behind in school. Despite a great early start, some students still struggle with reading, in the upper grades. It is important for parents to know that all children can learn to read, though some may need specialized instruction from an expert reading teacher. This means they learn differently NOT that they are less intelligent. Smart kids can have difficulty learning to read, but with proper support and instruction, they will become readers.

Supporting Your Pre-School Child

Indeed, reading to your child and talking with your child are the cornerstones of his learning. It is never too early to begin reading to your child. Don’t worry about variety. Reading and re-reading the same few books hundreds of times (long after you’ve memorized them), provides important language experience. Equal in importance to reading is talking with your child, especially in the early years when a child spends most of his time with one adult. Talk to your child about the world around him, what he sees, smells, hears, tastes and feels. Tell him the plan for the day, what you expect of him, whom you will see, etc. Build conversational skills by listening to your child speak without offering corrections regardless of the logic or truth of his words, or the accuracy of his pronunciation. These conversations build language skills, vocabulary, comfort, and confidence, and help form a bond between you and your child. Also, spend as much time as you can manage giving your child your undivided attention. With so many other demands on our time this can be a formidable challenge, but the benefits are immeasurable. Good attention from a parent is irreplaceable in building a child’s self-esteem and confidence. It tells him that he is a communicator with something worthwhile to say. These are your child’s first and most important lessons.

Few children have access to adult attention every minute of every day, but the good news here is that lots of important learning happens independently. To facilitate this learning, when your child complains of boredom you can tell her to “Go read a book.” Her response might be “But I don’t know how to read.” To which you can say: “Try having fun looking at the pictures and words” or “You can look at the pictures and tell your own story.” Encourage your child to read to stuffed toys or other non-real friends, and when you hear her chattering away in an empty room, just smile and know she’s practicing her language skills. Preschoolers will look at books independently if the books are interesting and accessible, so make sure your child has a selection of books in her room, some in the playroom and a few favorites next to the potty. Strategic placement of eye-catching or familiar books invites young pre-readers to engage in reading-like behavior. Some children will be happy to read alone, but you may need to keep a few books tucked away in the kitchen, for those children who still prefer to spend most of their time right under your feet!

Just as there are things you can do to support your child’s journey towards reading, you can inadvertently impede this process. Some words of caution: Be sure not to make comments that may create anxiety around the process of learning to read. Don’t mention reading (or academic) difficulties you, your spouse or another sibling experienced. Don’t refer to the process as “hard”. If children worry, as many inevitably will, that they’ll never learn to read, you can respond with a comment like one of these:

• It may seem hard right now, but you are still little.
• I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful reader some day.
• When you go to school you’ll have teachers whose job it is to teach you how to read.
• As you get older it will get easier and easier.
• Enjoying books is an important part of learning to read, and you really love your books!

Finally, so much wonderful literature is now available on tapes and CD’s. A great way to enjoy a well-told story is to listen to E.B. White reading one of his classics: Charlotte’s Web or Trumpet of the Swan. The Little House on the Prairie series is also available, as are many others in your local library. These are especially good for long car rides and when enjoyed by the whole family, provide opportunities for sharing and talking in ways that may not happen otherwise. Maintaining a relaxed attitude of invitation and fun is the key to creating positive, optimistic feelings about learning to read.

About Author

Laura Berkowitz, M. Ed. has been an educator and parent for over twenty years. She is the owner and administrator of Options In Learning, providing private tutors and special education consultation services, including testing, to parents and schools in central New England.