If, like me, you always start each New Year with a handful of resolutions but find that by mid-February they are all but forgotten, how about sharing these resolutions with your children?
We all know how good children are at reminding you of promises you’ve made, especially when they are involved as well!
Making bilingualism possible at home is a group effort. How can we expect our children to speak English if we don’t set an example? Forget resolutions like joining a gym or watching less telly – why not make bilingualism at home your resolution for 2013?
In July I made a few suggestions about how to keep your children engaged with my article: English over the summer holiday. Why not try them out at home over the next few months? Draw up a motivation chart like this wonderful one here
New Year Resolutions Chart
New Year Chart
and work out some fun family prizes that you can treat yourselves to once you have worked hard to reach your goal. Remember to keep language learning easy and natural as your kids have quite a tough schedule at school already. Here are a few more suggestions:
New Year’s Resolutions for Preschoolers
We will learn how to count up to five
We will learn the colours of the rainbow
We will learn five animals and five shapes
New Year’s Resolutions for School Age Kids
We will play some indoor or outdoor games in English
We will listen to English language nursery rhymes and try to sing them together (all of us, not just the kids!)
We will count in English when buying things at the shops, getting our pocket money or purchasing tickets for the cinema.
We will watch our favourite Disney films in English with our parents.
New Year’s Resolutions for Teens
We will go to social events in English such as pop concerts, cinema or theatre.
We will send text messages in English – hopefully without causing too much confusion!
We will read teenage literature in English (parents: if your English isn’t good enough to read then why not choose books that are available in Spanish as well? Go on – teenage literature isn’t as bad as you think! Please feel free to contact me if you want some advice on where to start: info@littlefingersfirst.com).
As for me, my New Year’s resolution is to brush up on the subjunctive tense in Spanish… I’ve been here for 13 years and still get it wrong. Wish me luck!
Follow our blog to stay up to date with the latest events in the life of Madrid.
