Fun French cartoons

Fun is the key to learning.

We all know it is hard to take in new information and concentrate when we are stressed, so it is not surprising to us the children are not thriving in schools.

We have been home educating our son for just over a year now.  It has taken a lot of the stress out of the leaning process (school runs, deadlines, the stress from the teachers of new targets, etc...not to mention bullying.)

We focus maths and English around his interests and he is so much more engaged and happy. This is because he sees it as fun, not a lesson, something he has to do and complete or else....  as it was in school.

As I know, no one can teach anyone anything, we all just learn things by being exposed to them or because we have an interest in them. We don't teach our babies to walk nor to talk they just learn to do it by exposure.  So I have always exposed my son to French, rather than teach it, and this is is how I ended up writing my bilingual book, so as a baby he  had the same nursery rhymes in English and French.

Super hero

More recently I have been reading some French children's magazines called Pomme D'api. My son has really taken to the adventures of a little super hero called Sam Sam.

After I noticed there was a link to one of songs in the story and seen seen the cartoons, he now wants to watch one every night, as part of his bed time routine. Along with the the other stories in the magazine of course. From my point of view the more he want the better, so I am happy.

This makes exposing him to French so easy and fun for both of us.

Here is a link to one of the many Sam Sam you can find on Youtube

I hope your little ones enjoy them too.

FREE French rhymes and story time

Special event at Liden Library,

FREE French rhymes and story time

Wednesday 22nd of October 2014,  2.00 to 2.30 pm.

Come and join the fun with Virginie to sing and copy actions of your traditional songs (head shoulder knees and toes; row row your boat, if you happy and you know and much more) in French.  All children 0-5 years old welcome!
Please book for this free event at virginie@fun-french-learning.fr or 07423065957

Confident parenting

Thank you Kirsten for letting me share this valuable information on my blog.   Confident Parenting: Lessons and Learning November, 2013

Topic: Why am I finding this so hard? This was a question I was asked recently in a post-natal group I was delivering to.  It came from a woman who prior to having her baby was in a highly professional, highly trained, highly stressful job and was excelling at it.  She was at a loss as to how this little bundle of love and light was rendering her completely incompetent! I sympathised, poured her a hot cup of tea and then asked her: why are you surprised? Just because you are a lawyer/ A&E consultant/ teacher/ designer when you have your baby, and successfully managing and thriving in that role, does not automatically mean you will cope as a parent. Why? You had training, learning, exams for your job. Years of it.  Most probably your only introduction to being a parent was watching your own parent you, watching a friend/ sister, and attending a 3 session antenatal class (and that really only talks about the delivery and a fraction of what comes after).  Why do you think you are not going to struggle and have dark days? There is no 'parenting training' and no baby manual. Being a teacher/ lawyer/ gardener provides some degree of emotional separation. You most probably do not teach your own children, represent your own children or garden for your own children.  When it is something of you and from you which is there making demands of you that you're not sure what they mean, it is different. It is difficult.  It is hard.  It can hurt so much more to feel so useless or unknowing.  There feels more at stake and you are emotionally invested in this little being more than you've been in anyone before. Your job probably had working hours.  Whether you had the odd overtime day or went in on the occasional weekend to catch up, there was still a break. Time out. Physical separation.  Parenting is 24/7.  Sometimes there can be no break, at all, for days...  It can be an incredible adjustment to try and make: having demands made on your time, energy, and body constantly. You can do it though- it DOES get easier!  I know that is a bitter pill to swallow when your baby has been crying for 37 hours and has been feeding for an hour, every hour. Right now you probably want to reach through the screen and throttle me with my own platitudes!  You don't want to hear that it will get easier, you want it easier now! Understandably. So here's a few ideas on how to do that: Take a few very deep and very long breaths. Drop your shoulders, relax your toes.  Breathe again. Allow some seconds to gather yourself together and get some distance and perspective.  Breathe again. Give yourself a break- literally and figuratively.  Knowing now why it is not an automatic given to be able to cope as a parent, stop being so hard on yourself!  It is not easy, there are no rules.  You can only do what you can, when you can.  And take a physical break: hand the baby over to someone in your support network, crying or not.  Go for a walk. Go to bed.  Whatever you need to do to feel recharged and calm, do it. talk to another parent. Go see a fellow mother, go to a baby group or have someone come to visit you. You may not feel like exposing your parenting inadequacies to the world but actually, admitting your struggles and sharing them with others, can be very healing and helpful.  You will feel you are not alone which may not solve your immediate problem but can be incredibly reassuring. remember who you were 'before baby' (bb) and connect with that.  As a teacher/ lawyer/ engineer you had numerous skills and talents, draw on them to help yourself through the difficulties.  Just because you aren't 'trained as a parent' doesn't mean all your other abilities are obsolete- you just need to be creative in using them to your own positive effect.  Also, it is helpful if you can, to reconnect with activities you used to do 'bb': arrange to go horse riding/ start knitting/ taking photos- whatever you used to do that was part of 'you'.  You may not be able to do the 3 day sea kayaking trips of old but a little bit of something is better than nothing and will ease the feeling of being completely disconnected with yourself. These are just some of the ways you can make things easier, now.  If you want to take a look at a more comprehensive range of suggestions, you will find tips for new parents on how to thrive rather than survive here.  Remember: parenting is so much about feeling your way as you go.  There is no other 'job' that dumps you in the deep end quite like parenting.  But you can do it. You can.   In calm and confidence, Kirsten Hanlon Mums and More UPCOMING EVENTS Webinars Control Your Critical Voice 6th November 8pm Build Your Parenting Foundation 27th November 8pm ABOUT Kirsten Hanlon (B.A. Education and Psychology, PG Dip Teaching, Dip LC, distinction) Kirsten Hanlon is creator and director of Mums and More. She is dedicated to helping and supporting parents in developing their parenting confidence, using gentle and practical techniques. Her parenting philosophy is not about perfect parenting; just parenting that is perfect for you. With training and experience in Education and Coaching, Kirsten runs a private practice in the Cotswolds, England and works with all mothers and new parents in building life-long parenting confidence. An author and speaker, Kirsten has also worked closely with local authority child-care professionals in developing their expertise relating to post-natal content and delivery. You can find all you need to know and more about Kirsten on https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-hanlon-04516724

Six Principles to aid learning

These principles for helping your babies and children learn are based on Glenn and Janet Doman's books 'How to teach your baby to read' and 'How to teach your baby Math'

The six principles are:

Don't bore your child especially by going too slow
Be relaxed, don't pressure your child
Be joyous
Be inventive
Answer all your child's questions seriously
Have one to one time with them to read (without any other distraction (like the TV in the background)

For more details:  Early childhood education blog and
introduction video below on the institute for the achievement of human potential

If you are interested in the books then here is the link. if you purchase from this link you will not be charged any more, though I will receive a small commission which helps keep this site updated.

'Seek first to understand'!

As Stephen R. Covey says in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

So often people mention to me how they are so bad at another language because they can’t speak it.  Often when learning French, for example, at school as a second language, you are expected to understand what is being said, be able to reply and get the answer grammatically correct!  This can make learning a language frustrating, difficult and at worst make you feel like you can’t do it, you haven’t got the ‘language gene’ and unfortunately put you off learning a language all together!

Understanding is everything!  

Simply understanding that the natural process in learning a language is to understand it rather than trying to speak it, can help release all that stress and tension related to learning a language. Babies understand their mother tongue long before thy can speak. A one year old can respond to commands like show me the blue ball, yet is only making da, ma, gaga sounds. 

Exposure

Through being exposed to nursery rhymes, conversations, stories, songs, babies understand what is going on around them and will be able to distinguish different languages even if they don’t know what they are called – English-French-Spanish.  They will also get a grasp of some of the grammar without learning textbook grammar.

Confidence

You will feel more confident that you can learn a language if you are exposed to it in the same way a baby does, lots of repetition and easy things.  Then you develop vocabulary, put words together like milk-more then begin to put sentences together could I have more milk please. It takes babies 3 years to get to this stage so be kind to yourself and anyone learning a language!

This is the process I am using to teach my son French and some Spanish. I use the same principles in my sessions and classes to teach French to English children though nursery rhymes they already understand.