Welcoming bilingual pupils into primary schools

My daughter came to England with us last year understanding a lot of English but Japanese was her first language. Within a year she now uses English predominately, thanks to a year spent in the local school's nursery. Like other  EAL (English as an Additional Language) pupils I've met in my own workplace, her first reaction to a new language in nursery was one of shock and quietness. Children are listening, assessing and assimilating the new language in this first phase, before they start to communicate. I think my daughter spent 6 months at her first nursery doing so. The staff all thought she was very quiet...so NOT true!! At the nursery she started in January of this year, she was also thought of as being quiet but I think they are seeing her true colours now. Her English is also amazing, full of imagination, questions and excitement. She has had some wonderful and sensitive help from her present nursery; we have seen a huge change in her confidence and language since she has been there.
Here's a link to Dorset County Council's EYFS policy for bilingual children:

Welcoming Bilingual pupils into Primary Schools’ – Dorset County Council

Help your kids with school work: Sparklebox 家で英語を教える

イギリスの小学校の先生がこのウエブ・ページをよく使っています。
フォニクス、数字、理科などいろいろプリント・アウトでいるの。
使ってみて！
今娘が宇宙について勉強しているなので、Sparkleboxで宇宙を検索して、宇宙のポスター、宇宙飛行士のマスク、宇宙人の粘土マットとか印刷した。娘かなり気に入った。

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/

Absolutely super website used by primary school teachers for ideas in Maths, English, Science...everything!!
Reinforce what your kids study at school by helping them at home too.
All kinds of resources can be printed out and they all look so good.

Right now my daughter's doing space at school, so we've printed out a space banner, astronauts for a rocket and space-themed playdough mats, just to name a few!!

Really, really check it out.

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/

Moving to Hebden Bridge!

My daughter has to apply for primary school (actually it's reception class just before year 1 starts)  this month. What a panic that brought us when we found out just a few months ago!! So considering her future, we decided to move somewhere a bit nicer than where we are now, with better schools and a better environment.

My daughter's English is now better than her Japanese. In just six months, she has flipped from using Japanese as her main language to English. It is totally fascinating. Now we have to make sure she doesn't lose her Japanese...or should I say, her Osaka-ben??!!

The power of her peers!! 子供同士の力

Just after one week of being at nursery in the U.K....
My little girl can sing the whole of the nursery rhyme, Baa, Baa Black Sheep!!!
And she starts to play and talk in English too. She even says things in English that her daddy cannot catch.  He's going to have to do some studying to keep up with her in the future!!! It just goes to show how much language develops when surrounded by friends of her own age at nursery.
She is free to move from room to room at her nursery. Each area of the room has a theme, such as water and sand play, painting, a pretend house, computer corner and playdough and so on. There is also a good-sized playground with toys outside, as well as a small garden with apple trees and flowers. She has a nursery journal,called a Learning Jornal, which the staff update with my daughter's photos, drawings, and achievements.

My little boy is also starting to talk. He has the most beautiful, "Yes".

イギリスの幼稚園に入って、一週間が経ったの娘が。。。
こどもの遊び歌、”Baa, Baa, Black Sheep"　を全部歌えるようになった。
そして遊びながら、英語で自分に喋ったりする。　たまにお父さんが何を言っているか分からないだって。娘に残さないように、彼も英語を勉強しなくっちゃ！幼稚園の同級生のは言葉の力になるですね。
娘の幼稚園はとても自由です。たぶんもっと日本の保育園に似ている。部屋の中いくつかの遊びテーマがあって、たとえば水遊び、砂遊び、色塗り場、ママ事コーナー、パソコン・コーナー、ねんど遊びとかある。そして外のグラウンドにも遊び道具がたくさん。リンゴの木とかお花が植えているの庭もある。自分の幼稚園日記もある。写真、絵描きのこピーとか娘の達成できた事。
ところで、最近一歳になった息子も話始まっている。世界に一番美しいの"Yes"と言える。

Just the terrible two's? 魔の二歳？

Since we moved to the U.K I feel my little girl has a lot of stress. Maybe it's because she has to share me with her younger brother who's just one and still breast-feeding. Maybe it's because everyone around her is suddenly talking in English, not Japanese. Or maybe it's still the 'terrible twos'....when do they end anyway??She's nearly three. And we experienced the earthquake in Japan last March. I guess it's a lot to cope with. Am I asking too much that she do what she's told and not hit her brother every day?? That she stop her dramatic tantrums that occur daily, two, three or more times? I don't know whether I have been too easy on her and not strict enough. I feel my words are useless, as she doesn't listen anyway.
We've had to leave her playgroup early twice in the past two weeks because she wouldn't listen, or sit down with the other seemingly well-behaved kids. She will start nursery in September so I hope that some time away from us will do her good.

イギリスに引っ越してから、娘がストレスをたまっていると感じる私。理由はなんだろう。。
まだおっぱいを飲んでいる弟に嫉妬しているかな？
周りの人たちは日本語じゃなく、英語を喋っているから？
魔の二歳？でも来週は三歳。ところでいつまで続くなの？
そして日本の大地震も体験したね。
たぶんこれだけで娘は精いっぱいかな。。。
でももうちょっと私の言う事を聞いて、弟をたたかないのは期待したい。毎日、に、三、何回もだだをこねるのをやめて欲しい。無理？
私はずっと優しいすぎて、もっと厳しく育ったほうがよかったかも。今言葉を使って、叱っても、娘は聞かない。

通っている子供とママのサークルは二回も娘の怒りで早めに帰った。他の子供達みんなちゃんと座っている、楽しくにうたっているけど。
四月からずっとママとパパと一緒だった娘はたぶんちょっとわがままになった。９月からやっとイギリスの幼稚園に入る。もうちょっとほかの子供達と一緒に時間を過ごしたほうがいいかな。

バイリンガル子供達 Our bilingual kids

My little girl and boy have both been living in the U.K. now for just over a month.
My little girl is almost 3. Her primary language is Japanese but since moving here I've definitely noticed an increase in her English skills. She lives with us and her uncle as well as meeting her grandad and grandma every day.
She can already sweet-talk her grandad into giving her cookies and grapes. When she comes back home, she calls out, 'Hiya Uncle Jon!!!' or 'Hiya Grandad, hiya Grandma' when we visit my parents. At the moment we are trying to get her to say, Oh yes' instead of 'Oh yeaaay! Example: Do you want a cookie? 'Oh yeaaay', Do you want to go to the park? 'Oh yeaay' and so on. I guess she's copying my 'Oh yeah' so it's up to mummy as well to sort her English out!!
She still chats to herself in Japanese, which her daddy is also trying to change from standard Tokyo dialect to his Osaka one.
Bless her, it's as if she has 3 languages going on in her head at the moment!! She takes it all in her stride though.
More than anything, I want to move and get settled so she can make friends and start school in September.

What is your Mother Tongue?

Just the other day I had lunch with a group of Japanese friends and their kids. My daughter was running around screaming laughing and generally having fun with everyone. Her Japanese is great I thought. It seems to be her dominant language these days. Funny how 'mother tongue' is used to refer to our native language. The language from our mother. But right now, my little girl speaks more Japanese than English, which is my mother tongue. Japanese is the language of the country she lives in. So it doesn't go to say that your children will speak their mummy's language when living in another country. Is that why we don't hear the expession mother tongue so much these days? The power of friends and community seems to be stronger than that of mummy when it comes to language learning!! Oh and I must not forget the power of daddy too!!!