Advice??

[broken]

There is a couple that I know, that have a 3 year old. They really want to homeschool, but feel hindered because the mom is from Mexico, and English is her 2nd language. They are worried that because she speaks better Spanish to their daughter, and the dad speaks English to her, that (since mom would be the teacher) the girl would not get a good grasp on the English language. They are feeling a bit hopeless here, and I would love to offer some solution. Any words of wisdom from you guys??

[wife]

I have a friend from Australia who homeschools her kids. Well since her English is our English she sent her kids to a tutor for reading. This may be an idea. It would also be good for the mom to sit in so that she can get a better grasp of the English Language. Is there maybe someone she knows that could help her with her child in reading?

[NewWorldOrder]

I don't think they should let that stop them from homeschooling, but I agree that it could hinder their daughter from grasping the English language. I suggest that the mom really start grasping the English language now, before she starts formally homeschooling her daughter. Rosetta Stone is an excellent language program, and they have lots of languages including English. It's a bit expensive, but if she checks on e-bay she may be able to find it cheaper. Since the dad speaks fluent English, he will need to make sure the his daughter is receiving proper instruction in English.

http://www.rosettastone.com/offer/googlepage

[broken]

Girls, that is good advice. The mom is actually a teacher of spanish to a local class, so she knows all about teaching. I'll suggest Rosetta Stone - maybe they can learn together. I know how daunting the idea of homeschooling can be, and how you can feel that you are "shorting" your kids on education. They so do not want to confuse their daughter.

[Sealed]

Just to add....if the mother could find some groups for her and her daughter to join, a Sunday School, play group, homeschool group, Little Gym, or SOMETHING where her child would be around people that were speaking English....that would get her exposed to English and using it....ouside of the tutoring/ lessons.

[true2yeshua]

Agree Rosetta Stone is an excellent resource. The upside of this is the child will be bilingual, and that is a definite plus.

[broken]

She does take her to the library every week, to listen to a book reading for small children. I'm not sure about other groups, besides church and the spanish class she teaches. I'll have to ask.

It's definitely good about the bilingual part. A funny story - when they went to Mexico to visit the grandparents, and her grandpa started speaking to her, she said...."I don't speak spanish!" She's cute. :)

[lisaann]

Many libraries offer Rosetta Stone for free to their members. She should check in the local libraries. Most of the time all you have to do is be a member and then you can access it from your home computer. :thumb I am planning on doing this with my kids for Spanish. I know our local area offers this because they want the Spanish speakers to become more fluent in English.

[broken]

Thanks, lisaann, great idea! We'll check that out, too.

[haveandhold]

Well I am not a native English speaker either :) It's only my second language. We're going to homeschool our children as well, God willing. I've been speaking fairly good English all in my life and I speak English with our children all the time (except when singing songs or saying rhymes on my own language..). We've decided to do this exactly because I was afraid that our children will lag behind in English if I speak to them on my native language - which I didn't want since I am the one staying at home with them, of course. I think it's really vital for the mom to have a very strong English knowledge so she can use both languages with their children. I hear it a lot from others that I should only speak on my native language to our children if I want them to learn it - but I don't necesserily agree with it in all aspects. This is an English speaking country and I, as a non-English speaker have to accept it in a sense that I recognize that it's going to be the most important for our children first and foremost to speak good English. Second languages come after this. Therefore, if they won't have a perfect grasp on their mother's native language at a young age, that's still better than not being able to speak English here in the USA. Once the homeschooling really starts, one can always add this second language in the curriculum. Atleast that's what we're planning on doing.
I still have a lot of worries about our children not picking up everything correctly because of me. (grammatical errors or missing words in my vocabulary..) but there are plenty of ways to improve myself and my knowledge every day and I have to pay extra attention how I speak to our children and so far I don't see problems with our 22 mo girl, who's well ahead in her language skills compare to her age. I know she'd be a lot more behind in her English if I spoke to her on my native language all the time or half of the time. I know this way we miss out on a unique chance of learning two languages from the beginning but I think it's still going to work out to pick up a 2nd language at age 5-7 or so. I'd rather have them speak good English first and foremost if we're already living here. If we happen to move back to Europe then that's another story though..but I don't foresee that at the moment. :)