Using Spanish In Care

[LindyT]

Hi everyone,
In the next few weeks I have a just turned two Spanish ESL child. His Mother would like both English and Spanish used in care.

Does anyone have any resources they can recommend?
I dont want to trivalise his cutlure but I do need to learn spanish along with him learning english.

Thanks
Lindy

[Lorina]

Hi Lindy,

Spanish is not a very difficult language to learn. It’s got the same alphabet as English and you basically read exactly as the word spells. I recommend that you incorporate Spanish words into sentences that you’re using. For example:

“where is your verde (green) hat”?

By doing this, you can also help the other children in the group learn Spanish as well.

Here is a Spanish site you can use which has lots of Spanish vocab.

http://www.spanishtown.ca/spanishforkid ... P4ijr8a5MI

,
L.A

[LindyT]

Thanks LA thats site is excellent!

[fchaudari76]

Interesting ... I have taught many bilingual children and usually I recommend that they do one language at school and the other at home, for obvious reasons, I may mispronounce something or say something wrong without meaning to! Yes I can teach them/introduce them to things about (in your case) Spain, teach some basic phrases, things about the culture etc (though not sure how much of that a 2 year old will absorb), they can listen to songs in Spanish, learn about the clothes, dance etc. However language development wise its best to leave the majority of speaking Spanish to the parents. I have only used foreign languages to give the child an idea of what I was saying in English but as soon as they knew what eg "toilet" "lunch time" "play time" meant in English I dropped the usage of those in their language,

[Lorina]

I think it's very important to allow children to use their second language within an early childhood setting. This is how we build relationships with families and promote a sense of culture and diversity within the service. A child may become socially withdrawn because they are unable to understand English however if we attempt to communicate with them then they are encouraged to communicate back with us. Even if it's only a few words.

In my opinion we shouldn't be discouraged to learn a child's language just because we may mispronounce words... This is why parent involvement is crucial at this stage so they can teach us. There is no harm and most likely the child will understand what we are trying to say even if we don't pronounce it correctly, especially if they are fluent in their first language.

I'm not saying you have to learn phrases and sentences to speak to the child, just a few key words which you can incorporate into the daily routine.

,
L.A

[fchaudari76]

I'm not saying we shouldn't either but simple phrases & words. It just sounded like this parent was expecting more.
I've used a multitude of languages in my career in EC but beyond basic and in my scope i can't do and make it clear to parents.

[catchmeifucan]

Dora the Explorer and Diego! They speak Spanish. Kids love their books and their stories have a lot of Spanish words throughout them. Im sure you can find some at the library.

Why dont you get some parent involvement from this? Would the parent be willing to come and teach a few simple Spanish rhymes to the kids?

If you have a look at YouTube you can find a few Spanish videos for kids as well: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... arch_type=

[fchaudari76]

Counting to five in Spanish
Hello
Goodbye
Etc these are relatively easy to learn & yep Dora n Diego always a good idea, haven't met a kid who doesn't like them!!

[LindyT]

Thanks everyone for your input.

Mum is definitely very keen to assist in the learning. Mum is very fluent with her English so I will be able to converse with her. I certainly wont be fluent but I feel by having a few Spanish words and learning opportunities that we all will be better people for the coming together of cultures and mutual understanding.

I am interested in the resources available that people find useful. I will definitely be getting Dora and Diego to help! The website LA referred me to too will be helpful.

I guess for me is that for a very very long time now my families have all have the same cultural profile and I am relishing the opportunity to expand the children's knowledge and understanding of things outside their and my culture and understanding. I have never wanted to be the Educator that tokenises 'multiculturalism' and want each child in care to be accepting and understanding of people and cultures that are different and similar to theirs.

I myself am interested in learning another language and if it happens to be Spanish for now then thats great.

I learnt sign language a few years back to support a hearing impaired child in my care and this facilitated another child (Who's had learning and speech issues)) to form a caring relationship with me because I was able to offer another way for him to communicate and be understood.

I hope all this makes sense.

Lindy