ENGLISH
Tell your child a story or memory from your family. Use details to describe who was there, what happened, and how everyone felt. Ask: Did anything surprise you? How did it make you feel? What are you curious about?
Share Stories
Point to a picture from a book or magazine, a photo, objects in the house, items in a drawer/ on a shelf, or out the window.
Describe Things
Have your child write/ draw your family stories in a journal.
Invite your child to help you cook a favorite meal. Say the steps out loud and let your child help.
If appropriate, ask your child to organize the items.
Cook Meals
Say: First let’s gather all the ingredients. We need... The next step is to...Can you grab the... As the food is cooking, challenge your child to retell or write the recipe steps!
Read books to your child. Listen to your child read books. Your child can listen to books read aloud on YouTube, try Scholastic Storybook Treasures (English and Spanish) Every few pages, ask: What is happening? What do you think will happen next? Are you wondering what any words mean?
Learning Language at Home
Sing Songs
Listen to your child’s favorite music, sing songs, and dance together! Have your child write/ draw words and phrases from the songs. Challenge them to write their own songs.
Have your child watch and listen to TV shows or movies, try WGBH Kids TV or Discovery Family Channel
Read Books
When finished, ask: What happened? What was interesting to you? What did you learn? What else do you want to know? After sharing, your child can write/ draw something memorable.
Language Routines for Multilingual Families Low-Tech/ No-Tech
Ask: What do you see? What else do you see? What colors/ sizes/ shapes do you see? What are these used for? What is happening in this picture/ photo?
Created by: Paulina Mitropoulos
Watch TV
If you are watching together, pause it a few times and ask: What is happening? What do you think will happen next? After watching, ask: What happened? What did you like? What was interesting to you? What are you wondering? After sharing, your child can write/ draw something memorable.
Children learn languages by listening, speaking, reading, and writing about topics that are meaningful and/ or interesting to them. Families can try these routines in their home language, English, or both! Be sure to use the language you are most comfortable with. Families can adapt the routines to be age-appropriate for their child. Older siblings can try these routines with younger siblings.
Try to incorporate one routine a day!
