Saturday, November 30, 2013

Picture-Mania

Hi Parents,

As you have all been patiently waiting for pictures I thought I would post some pictures of our last two field trips. The first one from the Plant Nursery and the second one from the Bird Zoo.

Enjoy!
 
 






 
Have a good evening!


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Should I Sleep in English Too?!!

Good Evening Parents,

I'm so sorry for the major gap in posts but my computer was indisposed and I had no motivation to write on another computer. Hopefully this will make up for that!

As some of you may know my bachelors degree was in Speech and Hearing Sciences. I'm currently working on my master's degree for Assessment and Diagnosis in speech and language. So you might be wondering...What does that have to do with KG2?
Well good question and the reality is...a lot! I teach your children the essentials of a new language. I actually chose to be a kindergarten teacher for purposes of studying the development of a new language in children. But the bitter truth is...school is just not enough! Don't get me wrong it goes a looonng way. And I'm sure my parents have noticed how much of a change has happened in your youngsters. When they listen more intently to English, when they say words in English, and when they combine their words together. They've grown so much!

Some people may start to question...well should I do EVERYTHING in English? Well the answer is simply no. That's unreasonable to begin with. Our goal is for your children to be equally established in Arabic as they are in English....so the two must overlap equally. To make this change possible you only need to add a few things to your daily routine. Studies have shown that if a child has about 4-6 hours of exposure to the second language, over a few years they will become equal language users or bilingual. If your child spends 4 hours in school talking in English...then your almost there.

Promoting Language Exposure:
1. Review concepts taken in school. For example if todays topic was shapes...review the shapes with your child. Try to change the context each time. One time use the sentence "I see..." and have your child finish this sentence with a shape they see around them. Example: I see a rectangle (for a door). Next try a different form "I like..." and use the shapes that you like. This increases your child
s awareness for sentence forms. Always, always, always try to review.
2. Increase exposure to music. Youtube is a great website for listening to much nursery rhymes and educational songs that targeting promoting language. A great channel on youtube is The Preschool Learning Station....they have the very famous Five Little Ducks.
3. Increase exposure to English shows and movies. One great thing about English tv shows and movies for children is that they can be very educational. A great show is Curious George which you can find a lot of on Youtube. The magic school bus is also great for kids. Even though your child might not understand everything at first it will become easier with time.
4. Read books. Not only do young children LOVE books...they increase imagination. Language is imagination. We imagine what we want to say...we go to the moon and back with our words. Let your child learn language and explore options...even things that may seem strange and unusual because they open up your child's awareness to things around him/her.
5. Use language everywhere you go. When your in the car..."lets count all the buses we see". "What colors are the cars passing by"...etc. When your in the store..."Which is your favorite fruit"...etc. Use English whenever you can. The more places you use English the more your child's brain will store that information and remember to use it in different times.

I hope this post has been helpful....and I hope you continue to see progress in your child's language. I see great things and I have great expectations. The sky is the limit!
Thanks,
Hanan
Friday, November 1, 2013

Owl I want to do is Read!

KG2 loves to read! We spend so much time in class reading our sight words and trying our sentence combinations with them. Based on our discussions yesterday in the parent teacher meeting, I decided to make this reading booklet for you to use when working with your child.

Click HERE to get this file.

Notes:
1.This is a pdf file, you must click it and then download it to be able to access it on your computer. Print it out if you'd like although I may be printing this out at school and sending it home with the kids as well. This file can be your backup if a page gets torn or missing.

2. This book covers all the words we will take from the alphabet...you can keep going if you'd like or stop and wait for us to take the words in class it is up to YOU!

3. This booklet is for NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL KG2.

4. Please let your child write the words on the dotted word and color in the pictures. This book is supposed to be interactive.

5. The purpose of this booklet is to help you practice words with your child, the final page is a practice for how to put the words together to make sentences. ONLY use words from this BOOK. Do NOT add your own words.

Thanks.

Click HERE to get this file.