Do You Offer Bilingual or Multilingual Lessons?

[AmyLeigh]

My philosophy is that education begins and birth and ends at death and "school" often gets in the way of learning. Or at least ****s the fun out of it.

We are homeschoolers.

My dd took a Spanish course last year and has lost interest in the program, but not learning the language.
I am considering getting a Spanish program designed for young ones like Muzzy or Speakee. This would be good to play for my group this summer when it's triple digits.

[Mary Poppins]

We do very basic sign language here and spanish here.

I think offering more is what makes me stand out among other providers and the catch is, I don't charge more. Never have, never will.

Here's what I have done in the past with my childcare and my parents loved it, loved that there children where experiencing things they might not others wise get to do.

Bible story lady came once a week
Skating time with lessons-once a week
Spanish lessons-two that were kindergarten age and my daughter was doing them also.
To many field trips to remember
Dental lady came in to discuss teeth
Learned all about fire safety at Lowes with the firemen this year.
Storytime once a week

and so much more!

I think your parents would like it. Maybe send home a sheet with what your going over with correct pronuncitation so the parents can do it also.

I lovethis your extras!!!

I also like the pronunciation sheet idea. I will start doing that, thanks!

[Sunchimes]

I do Signing Time videos, and the kids love them. I've been doing them since they were about 8 months old (they are 19-20 months now.) We just watch videos when the kids are needing something new-no schedule or anything. Then, I study (!!!!) and start using the signs in every day moments and the kids just pick them up. I try to tell the parents our new words, but they are always coming to me and asking what something means. ;-)

I don't charge extra because it's just an informal, fun thing that I do.

[Mary Poppins]

My dd took a Spanish course last year and has lost interest in the program, but not learning the language.
I am considering getting a Spanish program designed for young ones like Muzzy or Speakee. This would be good to play for my group this summer when it's triple digits.

I put the preschoolers I have on my Rosetta Stone program (which isn't for kids, really) and was SHOCKED! They did way better than I did starting out. I was a bit jealous, really! ::

We don't use a program, we just share what we know. When the cat walks by, I say "there goes the cat!" in German or I'll say "where is..." in English and repeat it with "wo bist..." then ask for them to point to whatever using either English or German. I switch it up. THEY REALLY CATCH ON FAST! It's awesome to witness.

A.J. Jenkins has some GREAT videos for teaching 1-10 in German, Japanese, Spanish, Italian and French. His voice is nice, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO9DAnw39do

[Mary Poppins]

I do Signing Time videos, and the kids love them. I've been doing them since they were about 8 months old (they are 19-20 months now.) We just watch videos when the kids are needing something new-no schedule or anything. Then, I study (!!!!) and start using the signs in every day moments and the kids just pick them up. I try to tell the parents our new words, but they are always coming to me and asking what something means. ;-)

I don't charge extra because it's just an informal, fun thing that I do.

Wouldn't it be great if after doing this fun stuff with your dck's they were able to actually use it to communicate with a deaf child? Even if it's only "hello" and "how are you"???

That is worth it's weight in gold, to me.

Now I really am set on adding more ASL. I only do the alphabet right now.

[daycare]

I have had parents ask me to teach their kids Arabic, but I ask why? Are you going to continue to teach them when they leave here? In our community there is less than .02% Arabic people here and they only speak English.

I see no point in it. I just share with them my maps and show them other places in the world. What kind of animals come from there, food, clothing, toys, games and etc..

If it's something the children could use and carry on like Spanish, then maybe I would consider it, but I don't speak Spanish...

BTW my home language is one of the most difficult to learn..No thanks, I don't want to teach that. I have a hard enough time teaching them to speak English....

[Sunchimes]

I don't know the alphabet, just random words. Please, thank you, eat, drink, water, thirsty, cat, dog, flower, potty, stop, yes, no, bird (for some reason, they love this one!), oh, I don't know what else. Lots of them.

I started slacking off when they started talking more, but then I picked it up again because I liked it.

[Mary Poppins]

I have had parents ask me to teach their kids Arabic, but I ask why? Are you going to continue to teach them when they leave here? In our community there is less than .02% Arabic people here and they only speak English.

I see no point in it.

I understand your reasoning. We lose much of what we learn as we move through life and tend to retain the things that interest us most (or traumatize us - remembering Shakespeare lessons ugh) anyway.

I am in love with the process of learning and believe in instilling that into children so I look at it from that perspective, not whether my dck's will go on to become fluent in a particular foreign language after leaving me. If that makes sense.

I am jealous that you speak Arabic. It has one of the most lovely writing styles I've ever seen.

[MarinaVanessa]

I'm fluent in Spanish, actually it was my first language, and I do speak to the children in Spanish. I made the mistake of not teaching my DD when she was young and now at 7 years old it's harder on her to learn it so we use it daily here and there throughout the day. My DS (16 months) understands Spanish more than my DD does and the DC kids are learning it. I don't have a curriculum per say but I use it as much as I can during our day. The other parents either love it or don't mind that I do it but by no means do I promote it as one of the benefits of my program.

We also do simple sign language and like Sunchimes I also use Signing Time videos along with some flashcards (for my benefit : and practice. The babies especially seem to really respond to it and can really get their needs across. That's another thing that the parents love. It tales no more time out of my day since we incorporate it with whatever we are doing.

[daycare]

I understand your reasoning. We lose much of what we learn as we move through life and tend to retain the things that interest us most (or traumatize us - remembering Shakespeare lessons ugh) anyway.

I am in love with the process of learning and believe in instilling that into children so I look at it from that perspective, not whether my dck's will go on to become fluent in a particular foreign language after leaving me. If that makes sense.

I am jealous that you speak Arabic. It has one of the most lovely writing styles I've ever seen.

I guess I don't see the point in something they won't use down the road. To me it would be like teaching them something they won't even remember by the time they leave my house. When they get home, parents won't understand and can't reinforce it, so I see it pointless....

Don't be jealous, most Americans don't like people from my county...

[Mary Poppins]

I'm fluent in Spanish, actually it was my first language, and I do speak to the children in Spanish. I made the mistake of not teaching my DD when she was young and now at 7 years old it's harder on her to learn it so we use it daily here and there throughout the day. My DS (16 months) understands Spanish more than my DD does and the DC kids are learning it. I don't have a curriculum per say but I use it as much as I can during our day. The other parents either love it or don't mind that I do it but by no means do I promote it as one of the benefits of my program.

We also do simple sign language and like Sunchimes I also use Signing Time videos along with some flashcards (for my benefit : and practice. The babies especially seem to really respond to it and can really get their needs across. That's another thing that the parents love. It tales no more time out of my day since we incorporate it with whatever we are doing.

happyface

I am so happy for your dck's. They are lucky to have a native speaking teacher.

Spanish is really the important one since it is obvious we are heading toward a fully bilingual nation, which is why I do my best to introduce them to the basics. Here, our schools continue with Spanish beginning in K and we have a huge Spanish speaking population they will be exposed to so it is the most likely one they would become fluent in, if any.

The more I expose myself to it with the dck's the more I realize how similar Spanish is to German in the sentence structure, gender based words, etc. so I think learning one would definitely lend itself to helping learn the other more easily.

[Mary Poppins]

I guess I don't see the point in something they won't use down the road.

Hehehe you sound like my kids when it came time to learn algebra. ::

I totally understand your POV.

[nannyde]

No I don't speak a second language and have never employed anyone who does.

We don't do sign language either. I've had a number of little ones who have been taught infant sign but it's not something that impacts the child's care in my environment.

[Heidi]

English is actually my 2nd language. I moved here from Germany at 3, and we always spoke it at home. I did not teach my children, except my oldest when he was little, and he's forgotten it all.

I do say some things in German and have some German books, but honestly, in this area, most people sort of frown on foreign languages. It's a little redneck here sometimes.

BTW, Daycare, it I remember being teased for being a "Nazi" as a little girl, so I can relate to your statement. You can count me out of the the haters, baby!

[Heidi]

Once you offer free and new, parents tend to expect is as part of what they are paying for.

Example: You charge $150 a week for daycare. You add in foreign language and sign language into your routine without charging. If you stop these extras, the parents tend to ask what you are going to offer in place of these programs.

The great thing about your business is that you can do what you want. I know my group of children better than you and based on that, my opinion was that it wouldn't be fun or interesting to them. Most are 3 and under. If I tried to sit them down and toss funny sounding words at them, they would give me the stink eye and go about playing.

That was all I was trying to say.

I do understand your reasoning. Daycare rates in this area are about $110 per week. That's the same amount of money I got 22 years ago in Madison! In one way, it's nice to offer extras that set you apart. But, there is only so much one can do, and it's not right that we keep adding more and more and more and more special things, yet it does not reflect our income. It used to be $110 got you decent childcare. Now it's supposed to get you exceptional childcare, developmentally appropriate practices, preschool, organic meals, foreign languages, music, phy-ed, and the lastest; a FCCER"s rated environment. Meanwhile, 3 people in our direct area run illegal daycares that answer to no one (accept the parents), and have been for up to 20 years.