My second day at kindergarten.

[trof]

I'm volunteering one day a week at our elementary school.

We have 5 Hispanic kids, 3 girls, 2 boys.
As near as I can tell, one boy and one girl speak no English.
One little girl is so shy she doesn't say much that's audible in either language.
My rusty tourist phrasebook Espagnol is really getting a workout.

Today went a little better than the first day because now all the kids understand that the volunteers are going to do something fun (but also educational) with them and they get some much needed one-on-one time.

I started thinking about my first day as a volunteer.
And I imagined I was a little 5 year old kid in Mexico or Spain, just starting school, who spoke only English.
Why does teacher want me to go somewhere with this old man?
I can't understand what he's saying.
What is he going to do?
Am I in TROUBLE?
At least he's smiling.
Maybe I'm not in trouble.
I hope I'm not in trouble.

I had a lot of wide-eyed, worried looking faces that first day.
If kindergarten is so new and different to an American child, what must it be like for these?

I do as much as I can with gestures (reassuring), facial expression (lots of smiling), and tone of voice (soothing, soothing, soothing).

Last year, Miz t. had Alberto.
Zero English.
Today he spied her in the hall and ran up and grabbed her around the legs.
And began chattering like a magpie.
In English.

They get no language training.
Just pick it up by osmosis.
Amazing.

It was a good day.
:-)

P.S. Seven out of a class of 23 were absent today.
At least three with confirmed Swine Flu.
The whole school is awash in hand sanitizer.

[HopeHoops]

1. My wife (Kindergarten teacher) got reprimanded by a student today for "being WAY in the RED ZONE!"

She weighs all of 98 lbs and is under 5' tall, so her general approach to getting to things up high is to monkey her way up the furniture. Note, she's a 20+ year veteran teacher. She was standing on a counter to check on some things on a top shelf when one of her students called her out. She admitted that he was correct and tried not to explode in laughter. One can only assume that being "way in the red zone" is a common means of apparently effective discipline at home.

[marzipanni]

11. Later, when she reads Curious George books to her class

they feel an odd sense of déja vu. ;)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear trof!

Ah, how good to hear your (and their) adventures!

Yes, kids at that age do pick up languages nearly by osmosis...

They are little sponges!

Good for you...

:hug:

[Suich]

3. I love hearing these stories, trof!

They always bring a smile to my face...I hope you keep posting them!

:hi:

[targetpractice]

4. Their brains are designed to pick up language quickly at that age...

There's no way to stop them from doing so, actually... They sort out the rules and will instinctively learn any language that they are exposed to frequently.

I was trying to convince my sister to put her toddlers in a daycare room with Spanish-speaking teachers, but she's afraid that will confuse them. Linguists have known for a long time that it does not.

[Kali]

5. nice

*something in my eye*

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. mine too

*and my nose is kind of stuffy*

[mzteris]

6. aww - you're a good guy

I like the stories. Please keep them coming.

[trof]

7. Thanks for all the kind replies.

It's actually a lot of fun.
Try it!
:-)

[femmocrat]

8. Thank you, trof.

I love reading about your adventures in kindergarten. :hug:

[havocmom]

9. you are a peach

and your tales are a gift.

thank you

[ShenandoahAspen]

10. that's a nice story.

Thanks for sharing. It's amazing how kids can pick up on things so quickly. I guess the mind works best when it's very young.

[kwassa]

12. They will speak English by first grade.

We get many who come into kindergarten with no English. It is the norm here in the DC suburbs to have children from as many as 90 different nations in the school

They are little sponges at that age, though, and they will not only speak English, they will have no accent, either. These kids get ESOL, but still it is just a matter of immersion.

[snailly]

13. What a good guy

I have a smile on my face. Please keep doing what you can. You are awesome! I think I love you!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. ~ It was a good day ~

damn straight :thumbsup:

[LiberalEsto]

16. I didn't speak English when I started school

but I picked it up quickly.

Even though I was born in the US, my multilingual immigrant parents wanted me to learn Estonian first, so that I would speak it well. They knew I would pick up English fast, because kids do if they're under 7 years of age.

My mom and dad spoke Estonian, English, Russian and German fluently, and knew smaller amounts of other languages including Finnish, Polish, French, Latin and Esperanto. Unfortunately I didn't inherit their linguistic talents, because I was a total washout at high school German, despite hearing it spoken all my life. Those damned declensions and gender nouns got me every time.