How can you help your child in . . .
Reading:
The first step before reading is knowing the sounds that letters make in French. About half of the sounds were learned in 1st grade. The other half is learned in 2nd grade. Students learn a new sound every week.
You can practice the sounds here: French sounds.
Here are some activities you can have your child do:
- Every day, have your child read the page about this week's sound. You can know what sound we are on on the homework section of the blog. I suggest those steps:
1) listen & follow: the student listens to the recording while following along with the finger on the page (or screen)
2) listen & repeat: the student listens to the recording and PAUSE the recording every few seconds to repeat what he just heard (while following along with the finger on the page).
3) read along: the student listens to the recording while reading aloud at the same time
4) read & check: the student reads aloud one sentence, then PAUSE and listens to the recording to check if the pronunciation was correct.
5) read alone!: the student reads aloud the whole page :)
The recording for each page is about 1 minute, so that should only take 5 minutes each day.
- Practice previous sounds: follow the steps above for a sound studied previouly!
- Practice vowels & digraphs: Consonants sound the same in French and English but vowels are totally different and they are the reason for most pronunciation mistakes. a e é è i y o u
In French, there are also many digraphs = 2 letters make a whole new different sound. Those are tricky and can never be practiced enough! an = en / in / on / ou / au = eau / oin
You can practice the vowels on the phonology page of this blog: there is a Quizlet app with games :)
The second step after sounds is to read real books. Students can check-out a French book from the school library once a week. It's also a good idea to start building a French library at home!
The website: Reading A to Z is an AMAZING ressource for leveled books. You can read the books for free on this website and all books are available in English and French.
Levels AA, A and B are 1st grade levels.
2nd grade students are between levels C and G.
Understanding:
This is one of the most difficult thing to practice from home. To be able to understand new contents in French, students need to:
- know their basic vocabulary from 1st grade: school supplies, colors, days of the week & months of the year, animals, numbers up to 120, and some verbs and connecting words.
- review the words that we learn every day at school, to make sure that they memorize them and don't forget them with time. Each week, we learn words related to one big theme (clothes, food, body parts... etc). Practicing those words a few times per week makes a huge difference! It is important to learn the current weekly words, but also to review some older words!
- watching TV in French: most DVDs have language & subtitles options. I highly recommend choosing the French language (no subtitles needed: they are not reading fast enough in French or English!). This is great to develop their ear to French sounds; and understanding usually is not a problem, especially if they are watching something that they already know. There are also plenty of French cartoons on youtube!
Speaking:
The best way to speak a language is: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
If you have never heard your child speak French at home, this is not a good sign. Speaking French should be part of their daily homework :)
I know most parents don't speak French, but here are some options:
- practice questions and answers on the blog: you can find them here. Those questions have to be 100% mastered by the end of 2nd grade. Use the recording to check for pronunciation and sentence syntax, and also, make sure your child can answer them AND ask them to someone else!
some common mistakes in 2nd grade are :
using 2 verbs instead of 1 : Je a mange une pomme (I have eat an apple)
using the pronoun MOI (me) instead of JE (I): Moi mange une pomme (Me eat an apple)
mistaking the verbs ETRE (be) and AVOIR (have): J'ai content (I have happy)
- have playdates with other students in the program: set a timer and tell the kids that the next 5 minutes are going to be FRENCH ONLY! If they don't know what to tell each other, they can practice the questions and answers listed below. If you hear one English word, the timer goes back to 0, until they have 5 minutes of uninterrupted French :) Next time, increase the time to 7, 10, 15, 20 minutes... or even more for chattier kids!
- talk to a relative who can speak French (or a missionary): there is nothing better than a real life situation!
Just remember that a lot of children are very shy at that age and you probably won't get a lot of success if you ask them to speak in front of the whole family during Christmas dinner. They need to build self-confidence with French speakers who have the same level! Older siblings are not always the best solution, as they will try to correct the younger learners or set the bar too high (or too low!).
Writing:
(coming soon)
Math:
(coming soon)
The first step before reading is knowing the sounds that letters make in French. About half of the sounds were learned in 1st grade. The other half is learned in 2nd grade. Students learn a new sound every week.
You can practice the sounds here: French sounds.
Here are some activities you can have your child do:
- Every day, have your child read the page about this week's sound. You can know what sound we are on on the homework section of the blog. I suggest those steps:
1) listen & follow: the student listens to the recording while following along with the finger on the page (or screen)
2) listen & repeat: the student listens to the recording and PAUSE the recording every few seconds to repeat what he just heard (while following along with the finger on the page).
3) read along: the student listens to the recording while reading aloud at the same time
4) read & check: the student reads aloud one sentence, then PAUSE and listens to the recording to check if the pronunciation was correct.
5) read alone!: the student reads aloud the whole page :)
The recording for each page is about 1 minute, so that should only take 5 minutes each day.
- Practice previous sounds: follow the steps above for a sound studied previouly!
- Practice vowels & digraphs: Consonants sound the same in French and English but vowels are totally different and they are the reason for most pronunciation mistakes. a e é è i y o u
In French, there are also many digraphs = 2 letters make a whole new different sound. Those are tricky and can never be practiced enough! an = en / in / on / ou / au = eau / oin
You can practice the vowels on the phonology page of this blog: there is a Quizlet app with games :)
The second step after sounds is to read real books. Students can check-out a French book from the school library once a week. It's also a good idea to start building a French library at home!
The website: Reading A to Z is an AMAZING ressource for leveled books. You can read the books for free on this website and all books are available in English and French.
Levels AA, A and B are 1st grade levels.
2nd grade students are between levels C and G.
Understanding:
This is one of the most difficult thing to practice from home. To be able to understand new contents in French, students need to:
- know their basic vocabulary from 1st grade: school supplies, colors, days of the week & months of the year, animals, numbers up to 120, and some verbs and connecting words.
- review the words that we learn every day at school, to make sure that they memorize them and don't forget them with time. Each week, we learn words related to one big theme (clothes, food, body parts... etc). Practicing those words a few times per week makes a huge difference! It is important to learn the current weekly words, but also to review some older words!
- watching TV in French: most DVDs have language & subtitles options. I highly recommend choosing the French language (no subtitles needed: they are not reading fast enough in French or English!). This is great to develop their ear to French sounds; and understanding usually is not a problem, especially if they are watching something that they already know. There are also plenty of French cartoons on youtube!
Speaking:
The best way to speak a language is: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
If you have never heard your child speak French at home, this is not a good sign. Speaking French should be part of their daily homework :)
I know most parents don't speak French, but here are some options:
- practice questions and answers on the blog: you can find them here. Those questions have to be 100% mastered by the end of 2nd grade. Use the recording to check for pronunciation and sentence syntax, and also, make sure your child can answer them AND ask them to someone else!
some common mistakes in 2nd grade are :
using 2 verbs instead of 1 : Je a mange une pomme (I have eat an apple)
using the pronoun MOI (me) instead of JE (I): Moi mange une pomme (Me eat an apple)
mistaking the verbs ETRE (be) and AVOIR (have): J'ai content (I have happy)
- have playdates with other students in the program: set a timer and tell the kids that the next 5 minutes are going to be FRENCH ONLY! If they don't know what to tell each other, they can practice the questions and answers listed below. If you hear one English word, the timer goes back to 0, until they have 5 minutes of uninterrupted French :) Next time, increase the time to 7, 10, 15, 20 minutes... or even more for chattier kids!
- talk to a relative who can speak French (or a missionary): there is nothing better than a real life situation!
Just remember that a lot of children are very shy at that age and you probably won't get a lot of success if you ask them to speak in front of the whole family during Christmas dinner. They need to build self-confidence with French speakers who have the same level! Older siblings are not always the best solution, as they will try to correct the younger learners or set the bar too high (or too low!).
Writing:
(coming soon)
Math:
(coming soon)