Winter Wonderland

It's the season for some fun winter vocabulary. Since all children love snow, here's a great opportunity to teach your daughter or son some new French words.

snowman - homme de neige
snow - neige
winter - hiver

There are many activities you can do with your child to teach them these French words. If you are lucky enough to live in a place where it snows, you can simply go outside and play in the snow together and build a homme de neige saying the new words as you build him. However, if there is no snow where you live, you can either make snowmen with playdough or do something I loved doing with my mother when I was a child. You can make snowmen pancakes for breakfast, while your child watches you. They can help you stir before cooking them and then together you can decorate them after they are cooked. Your child can add raisins or chocolate chips for the eyes, nose and buttons. While he decorates them, make sure you reinforce 'homme de neige' by saying it often, so they learn the word. Be creative and most importantly have fun!

"I can't teach my kids French because I can't speak it."

A lot of people I know refuse to try to teach their children a 2nd language, because they themselves don't know a 2nd language. Some people believe you have to be fluent or even a native speaker of the language in order to succeed. I whole-heartedly disagree. Learning a 2nd language for an individual really can open up the doors in life. That person can do so many things that others cannot. So even if you don't know enough French or Spanish to make your child fluent in that language, you can give them a head start and open up their brain to language learning. When children are toddlers they are like sponges soaking up everything around them. Exposing them to another language will only increase their ability to learn other things, especially math. Also, even learning a little bit of a language now will help them to learn it more later. They will be used to the sounds of French or Spanish and can excel in those languages in school. So, teaching your child a 2nd language really does give them a little boost in life. And there is nothing sweeter than to hear your 2 year old say 'please' in a foreign language.

French Christmas Carols

We are already singing Christmas Carols at my house, so I thought, hey why not teach my children some in French. I found a great website with a bunch of Christmas carols in French, with the English translation right next to it.

http://french.about.com/od/christmascarols/French_Christmas_Carols_Chants_de_Nol.htm .

Happy Holidays!

Puzzles and learning French

Today I was putting a puzzle together with my son Callum and I remembered that we didn't practice any French today. So, instead of working on the puzzle together in English, we just switched to French. Well kind of French and English combined. "Callum where are all of the rouge pieces?" "Which color is this?" "It's vert." I just kind of threw some French in there throughout the entire time we played. Just try to teach your children French in whatever activity you are doing and it will really keep the pressure off of them and yourself as well.

Baking with your kids as a way to learn French

A good French teaching tip that I practice a lot is teaching my children French while we are baking. They are so absorbed by watching and helping with the baking that they don't even realize they are learning French at the same time.

Here are some words to you can teach your kids while you bake something fun together:

sugar - sucre
flour - farine
salt - sel
milk - lait

New Language Web Site

This post is geared more to the parents of children learning French...If you've ever wanted to learn more French yourself, I found a great language site and it's free. It's www.livemocha.com.
It's a great Web Site because you can build a community of friends while you're learning French. You can even record yourself speaking French and then get feedback from native French speakers. It's really a great site for adults who want to learn a foreign language.

Tips for teaching your children French

When you use Flip Flop French, make sure you don't over do it. If your child/student gets distracted and starts looking around the room, or trying to get off their chair, it's time to stop for the day. It's best to get a routine going for when you practice French and use your Flip Flop French workbook, that way they expect it and eventually will look forward to their 'French Lesson'. For my children and for the students I have taught in the past, I think that learning a new language is easier in the morning when they are fresh - about 10am. They are not yet hungry and not yet ready for a nap.

Also, remember that you can reinforce whatever you learned that day in your Flip Flop French workbook in other activities throughout the day and continue to reinforce it in the future. Use the French names for colors as much as the English names for colors. Perhaps you can use the French names for colors in the morning and then change to the English names for colors in the afternoon.

Try different things to motivate your children. You know them best...and as we all know all kids are different so try different things. If your 3 year old like cars, then focus on the colors of cars that day. However, if you 5 year old is really into trains (like my son), then you can play with trains while practicing French. He'll never even realize that you're trying to teach him something. Just find something that interests them and then run with it.

And most importantly have fun!!!!

Spooky Halloween French Vocabulary

Halloween is in the air and it's all my children are talking about...what they will dress up as on Halloween and all about the Halloween decorations around our neighborhood. I am taking this opportunity to teach them a few Halloween words in French. Here are just a few that you can teach your children as well.

the pumpkin - la citrouille
the ghost - le fantôme
the witch - la sorcière
the spider - l'araignée

A nice activity you can do to really reinforce these words is to make Halloween cut-out cookies and everytime they make a witch, say 'la sorcière'. In no time they will be pointing out when you are making 'sorcière'. Be creative and have fun!!

Happy Halloween!

Ici, ici

I think it's important to teach your children very everyday words in French. Especially for young kids when their vocabulary is so limited. For example...Lately I've been working with my kids on 'ici' for 'here'. When we read a book in English or French, I ask them were things are and they will point and say 'ici, ici'. Even my 2 year old caught on in a matter of minutes. Now whenever both of my kids want to say 'here' in English, they are saying 'ici' without any help from me. It's really a wonderful feeling when you know you have something mastered and it is etched in their minds. Other words to use this method are: there, this, that and other common phrases of children.

Practice makes Perfect

Okay, I know that is an age old adage, but it's true. Children are wired the same as adults and need to practice their new language every day. It's easier for them and for you.

If you took a foreign language in high school or college, I'm sure you understand what I mean. During the summer break, you probably lost a lot of what you learned. So when you started back with your language classes, you had to review a whole lot of what you previously learned.

I am not saying that you have to do a whole lesson a day or anything like that. I'm a mother too, I understand. Some days you just try to make it through the day. But on days like that, you can still just do little even if it's saying 'Bonne Nuit' at night to each other and to their stuffed animals.

My advice is to just let them hear the language on a daily basis even if it is only 1 phrase. They will remember that it is 'French' and what they learned on other days.

Colors

One of the first things my children enjoyed learning in French were the colors. The way I really helped them to practice colors was to integrate it with basic everyday activities, like coloring or painting. I would say "Look, mommy is coloring the flower 'rouge'. What are you going to color that tree?" Even if they say "green", just say "oh vert, that's a great choice." Eventually they will start picking it up.

Welcome...

Hi, I'm Yvonne Crawford, the author of French for Little Boys. I have created this blog to give people helpful teaching tips for their children or students. I want to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for your children so check back often for new activities that you can do with your children. And remember you don't need to be fluent in French to teach it to your children.