Back to Escuela:
Some Tips for Making the Return to School a Language Opportunity
For many families around the country, this is a time of great anticipation and maybe a little confusion. Particularly if you and your child have had a great summer exploring a new language, or if your child will be starting to learn a second (or third!) language for the first time in class this fall, the transition from the long days of summer to the regimen of the school year can seem to be a little abrupt. Here are some ideas for how you and your child can not only make this transition smoothly, but can also turn it into a great opportunity for more language learning!
A Smooth Start is a Great Start
It is important to remember to ease your child (and yourself!) into the routine of a school day. If they have gotten used to sleeping in late and staying up late, it might be time to start rolling back those times a little bit each night. Remember to make breakfast an important part of the morning, and try to schedule lunch for the same time your child will be eating it at school. Set up a calendar checking off the days until school starts, and make that calendar a school calendar, with dates of vacations and tests on their proper days. For an added learning opportunity, try to make this a calendar that has the names of the months and the days of the week written in the language your child is learning, and have them write (or tell you) the words for the numbers of each important date.
Designate a specific homework place in your house, and try to decorate that area with educational posters and art projects or drawings your child has worked on over the summer—particularly if some of them have words in the language your child is learning!
See if your child's school has a time set up before school starts where you and your child can meet her teachers and see the classroom. Make sure your child knows where other important locations in the school—the bathrooms, the library, the secretary's office—are. You can turn this into a language opportunity by learning some school-related vocabulary words—how to say "teacher" or "chalk" or "desk."
Address your child's concerns and worries before school starts—remind them of the great things about going back to school—seeing old friends, making new ones, learning new things. Make sure your child's backpack and clothes are comfortable. Maybe even have a big party the weekend before school starts—have a barbeque, have a water balloon fight, watch your child's favorite movie!
Building a Bridge from the Summer to School
If your child has worked this summer learning a new language, it is important that they feel this effort "translates" to school-time, regardless of whether they'll be receiving instruction in the language in class.
In addition to learning some school-related vocabulary words, you can learn some words about clothes and school supplies to use when you go back to school shopping. Make a list of things your child likes about school, and go over vocabulary words that relate to those activities. Send notes in your child's lunch or backpack—even if it's just a word a day, that touchstone makes your child's summer of learning feel like it's become part of their school-time.
Try to devise a sort of culminating activity for the summer—maybe it's a scavenger hunt where your child has to find objects around your house and yard labeled in the language she's been learning. Or writing a story using words they've learned or even sentences, illustrated with their own pictures!
Getting the Most out of Language Instruction at School
If your child is learning a new language—or continuing one she's already had experience with—at school, there is so much you can do to support their class-time activities. First of all, be excited—ask questions about what they learned, and ask them to apply it to things at home, or when talking about their friends. And you don't have to know the language or speak it fluently to do this—the critical input from you is your enthusiasm, that your child knows her efforts at school have a home with you.
Try to explore more language opportunities that will supplement what they're learning at school. Go to the library or to your local bookstore and find some books, DVDs or CDs in the language your child is learning. Especially try to find books they've found out about at school, or books their teacher is reading them—try to find a translation of it in your child's new language. They'll already be familiar with the story, so it should make it an easier—and a more fun—read!
Going back to school (or going for the first time!) is a tremendously exciting time for a child. Their enthusiasm and openness to new experiences can be a launching pad to start or to further their explorations of a new language. Enjoy the opportunity, and make the most of it!
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