How to Help Your Child Feel Confident when they Start Dual Language Kindergarten

Have you just enrolled your child into a dual language program? First, congratulations on making this choice. It is never easy! Second, breathe and trust the process. Language will come. For example, our fifth grader and third grader are still learning Spanish but can speak so much and read even more! Moreover, they understand Spanish spoken by others. Your little one will learn the new language, they are amazing little sponges who really can learn anything with the right support.

Preparing for Dual Language Kindergarten

Those first few years of learning a language can be rather overwhelming, especially if the teacher doesn’t use the child’s native language at all. In an earlier post, we provided a few tips for helping your child to navigate those first few days in the classroom. Additionally, all of these are necessary skills for beginning successful in school, but especially in a dual language classroom. However, we know that we can offer our child more assistance at home too!

Even if you speak only one language at home, you can still assist your child. Above all, remember that you are helping your child, even if it seems silly to you. Likewise, remember that it might seem just as silly to your child. Plus they love seeing you make mistakes as they too will make mistakes as they learn another language. You are in this together! And remember, Google Translate is our best friend. It really can help us with most words and common phrases.

As you begin your Dual Language journey, we encourage you to learn a little more about how your child will develop their second language. Our post on Language Development for Dual Language Learners covers the research for children learning a second language. We go into the time lines for learning language and when you can expect your child to speak the new language, as well as read and write well in the second language.

Basics to Learn in Both Languages

As your little one starts in a dual language program, they may feel a little overwhelmed in the beginning. To help your child feel more confident in their dual language class, be sure to immerse them in the new language whenever you can. It’s okay if they don’t understand and just enjoy the language. In addition, teach some key vocabulary words so that your child can navigate the first few days.

Immerse your Child in the Language

1. Listen to stories in the target language. We use Raz Kids to listen to stories in Spanish in addition to our English reading. Not only is he hearing the language, but he’s also learning some important vocabulary words because these early readers often have great picture support. For example, most level AA or A books use a repetitive sentence where the only word difference is supported by the picture.
2. Watch TV shows or movies in the target language. We encourage our kids to watch some of their favorite TV shows or a favorite movie in the target language at least once a week. Firstly, begin by watching TV shows that are familiar to your child. After that, watch the show in the target language. Additionally, feel free to use closed captioning in both languages once your child can read.
3. Listen to music in the target language. Pandora has a few great kid stations for Spanish, but also pop Latina music too. During cleaning each day and on the weekends, we play Spanish music to dance too. Likewise, there are some great Spanish Podcasts too!

Teach Specific Dual Language Vocabulary

1. Start the year teaching the different materials used in school in both languages – native language and target language. The best place to find these words are the school supply lists. In addition, they usually offer a school supply list in the target language of the program, so you can see the words that the school is using. Additionally, check out our Dual Language School Supply Vocabulary Words. These will help you provide pictures and language support for your child.
2. Teach colors and numbers in the native and target language. The first few weeks of Kindergarten really focus on colors and numbers, so having this vocabulary will help your child to participate a little. Additionally, teach the words for color and number too as categories are so important! And we have a Dual Language Color and Numbers Vocabulary Word printable too.

*Just a reminder, all our resources are currently English – Spanish resources for families. If your children are learning another language, our resources still provide a great starting point of words to teach. You will just need to find the translations instead.

Listening to Language

Listening to your child’s new language is so important. The more language your child hears, the easier it will be for your child to pick up the language. As a baby, we learn language by listening to our parents speak. Just listening to language can help your child to learn the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of the language. Not everything translates word for word, instead sentence structure and grammar may alter the sentence. By listening to the language, you begin to learn all these idiosyncrasies in the language.

Similarly, if you are not fluent in the target language, you get a feel for what it’s like to be your child. Having an understanding of what you child is feeling or going through will help you to support them through their journey. You will be able to offer better strategies and even console your child when they feel overwhelmed.

Directions

Where do we go next? We suggest learning some key direction words that your child will need to navigate the classroom. These are common phrases you will hear in a Kindergarten classroom throughout the day. Even though, the teacher may use these words in longer phrases, but having some vocabulary is a great start.

For example:

1. Put your materials, coat, backpack away.
2. Put your folder/binder in the bin/on the table.
3. Sit down.
4. Listen/pay attention.
5. Raise your hand.
6. Color, write, draw, count
7. Come here.
8. Get in line/line up
9. Go to the right/left.
10. Go get your backpack.
11. I need help/I don’t understand.
12. Please/Thank you/You’re Welcome
13. Sorry/Excuse Me
14. Look here.
15. My name is/What’s your name?

Places and Common Items

Once your child has some basic vocabulary, move on to learning places in the school and common items that aren’t on the school supply list. Further, you can also work on directional (position words). Below you will find a list to help you with some words to teach. Check out our Dual Language Places in School Vocabulary Words for a great head start here. Additionally, our Dual Language Positional Vocabulary Words are a wonderful way to learn these important words that are used in almost every sentence in a kindergarten classroom.

For example, Place/Items:

1. Classroom
2. Library
3. Office
4. Nurse
5. Gym
6. Lunchroom
7. Playground
8. Bathroom
9. Music Class
10. Art Class
11. Computer Lab
12. Hallway
13. Bus
14. Desk/Teacher’s desk/Table
15. Reading corner
16. Chair/Rocking chair
17. Cubby/Locker/Hooks
18. Book bin/Book box
19. Books
20. White Board

For Example, Directional (Position) Words:

1. on
2. off
3. in
4. above/over
5. under/below
6. next to/beside
7. between
8. in front
9. behind
10. inside
11. outside
12. before
13. after
14. through
15. around
16. by
17. down
18. up
19. left
20. right

Tips for Introducing New Words

When you first start introducing new words to your child, this may seem a little overwhelming. Or maybe even a lot overwhelming. It is for us too, so you aren’t alone. Just know that every extra minute of time your child receives in their second language pays off way more than the one minute. The more exposure to language that your child has, the quicker they will learn the second language.

Plan out between 1 – 3 new words to introduce the next time you have time. We love to write these on notecards on the refrigerator or even put into the calendar on your phone. Then let your kids know the new words and what they mean in English (or your native language). Next, try to use the word a few times in a sentence, book you read, or listen for the word in music or TV. We love to pair this with our language time, but you could pair it with a meal, bath time or even when you are driving in the car.

Whenever possible, pair the word with a visual. This will often help your child to figure out the gist of the word without even needing a translation. Looking for pictures, this is where our visual vocabulary word packs come into play. We pair the same picture with both the English and Spanish words across multiple resources and ways to present vocabulary. These packs also make it so easy to print out the words and just pick a few to practice each day.

Spiral Review of Words Introduced

As you begin to introduce more words, it’s such a good idea to review the older words too. Do you need a specific plan for review? No, but it doesn’t hurt. We love to put all our learned words into a jar and pull out words to review each day. If we know the word well, back into the jar it goes. If it’s a word we struggle with, that’s okay. Just add it to your current words to review.

Another wonderful way to review vocabulary words is through using sensory bins. Our winter sensory activities for dual language learners can help you to review many different words. Just set one up and allow your child to explore.

As your children become stronger in their second language, these words will become second nature for them. However, sometimes they may need to review them again. Another great piece about our products is that they come with a one page review for each of the vocabulary word sets. So you can purge the individual cards and review on the one page list. We keep these in a binder and pull it out from time to time.

Looking for More Vocabulary Words

If you are looking for more helpful vocabulary lists, we suggest grabbing a copy of our Dual Language Kindergarten Vocabulary Bundle. This product comes with 9 different vocabulary word lists. Each word list has between 20 and 32 words to help build your child’s vocabulary in Spanish and English. The topics cover the most common words that children learn before beginning Kindergarten with a few high level words too.

• School Supplies or Los Materiales Escolares
• Colors and Numbers or Los Colores y Numeros
• Family Names or La Familia
• Shape Words or Las Formas
• Preposition Words or Los Preposiciones de Lugar
• Places in School or Lugares de la Escuela
• Calendar Words or El Calendario
• Body Parts or Las Partes del Cuerpo
• Weather Words or El Tiempo

By this point your child should have a pretty good vocabulary in their Spanish language. These are many of the common words that will help your child to follow directions in their classroom during the first months of the school. Additionally, throughout the school year, focus on learning content specific vocabulary that matches what your child is learning in their classroom. In conclusion, remember learning a language takes time and practice, but these key vocabulary words/phrases will help your child to start on the right track.

Where to Go Next?

A large part of Kindergarten is learning to read. In a Dual Language program, your child will need to learn to read and write in both languages. Wow! Learning to read in just one is difficult, but navigating this in both languages is an amazing feat that children can and will succeed! For tips on the key differences between Spanish and English reading, be sure to head over to our post on How to Begin Reading in Spanish. This post breaks down the letter and sound differences between the language.

If you are looking for more resources for reading in both Spanish and English, we’ve got you covered. Jump on over to our Ultimate Parent’s Guide to Teach Reading in Spanish for our favorite resources to use and exactly how to teach reading in Spanish. If you are looking for resources for teaching reading in English, we have a Learning to Read Series. For Kindergarten families, we suggest beginning with our post on Letters and Sounds as well as our post introducing Accuracy Strategies. Our series will take you through developing phonemic awareness skills which lead to reading and writing, learning sight words, and even strategies to support comprehension.

If you have a child starting a dual language program or have a child already enrolled in a program, leave us a comment and let us know. We would love it if you would subscribe to our newsletter for more helpful tips and tricks as well a freebie from time to time.

Hi, I’m Nicole.

Here at Creatingbutterflies we provide families with practical solutions to real life problems for everything parenting, scouting, dual language, and enjoying time outdoors. We are a family of 6 with 4 wonderful becoming bilingual children who loves scouting, camping, and hiking with their family. Mom is an educator and dad is a firefighter/paramedic.