ESL for 3 yr olds in an english speaking preschool program

[tracijenae]

Hello! I am a prek teacher in a childcare center. Our center just enrolled two new students in our 3's preschool classroom who are non-english speaking. One child speaks Russian and the other speaks Chinese. I was wondering if anyone can offer any advice or point me in the direction of good resources for helping these children learn english and integrate into an english speaking classroom. This is a first for our center which has many bi-lingual children enrolled.

A little background:
The russian speaking boy seems to be transitioning well. His parents and grandparents all speak english as well as russian so we have reason to believe he understands most english, but simply does not/will not speak it (this opinion is shared by his family). He has made some friends and is beginning to slowly use english words and phrases on his own.


The chinese speaking girl is having a much harder time. While her parents speak english, they have not exposed her to a lot of english. Her grandparents, who are often caregivers do not speak english. She has expressed to her mom that she is very frustrated and angry that we can't understand her. In class she is often scared and homesick (this is also her first experience in a childcare setting). She will interact and play with teachers if they work one on one with her, but is weary of the other children. She is beginning to repeat single words that teachers try to get her to repeat and associates them with pictures or objects (such as pointing to a ladybug and saying "ladybug").


Both children are 3. We have been learning key words in the children's native languages to help them feel safe and to learn the routines and such, but both sets of parents are greatly encouraging us to help the children acquire English and any advice as to the best ways to get started in that direction, or ways to integrate ESL into a typical, busy 3 year old preschool class would be greatly helpful. The children are just 2 of a class of 17. Also, it might be helpful to note that our center uses an emergent curriculm approach.

[nicolette.brata]

I am about to start a new project for my new 3 years old (not impaired). At the beginning of the school year students (in small groups)will learn 10 basic survival short sentences in sign language (e.g. 'may I go to the toilet?', 'may I have a drink?', 'I don't know', 'I am shy', 'I am scarred' etc.) This is going to be tought by MS/HS students who have a hearing impairment. I am going to make sure I have the translations for these 10 sentences for each language available (I work at an international school) and I will (in the communication book) ask parents to support this at home. The great thing about this is that nobody has the advantage of already knowing this language. It will be interesting to see how each individual is going to learn.
Our aim is to always use the sign language during our circle time activities and 'take it away' to the next class. I can imagine this to be a great ice breaker for second language learners in PreSchool. Do you think something like this might work for your kids to start with?

[musica5]

Great ideas
I had a little girl from Japan once in my preschool and she loved circle time when we did simple finger rhymes on a repetitive basis. Also I encouraged her to bring in her Japanese books, Hello Kitty was her favourite, and it was great for the other children to see how these books opened the opposite way and went from back to front!!

There are lots of simple, repetitive finger rhymes and action songs at
http://www.pamseslclassroom.com
Go to the free ESL song page to hear them or the lyrics page for the words and instructions.

Alice also loved stories where there was a repeated phrase throughout so The Three Little Bears was great.

I am sure you will be so surprised at how quickly these children pick up the language as they get to know their peers and discover how safe they are to take risks in your caring environment.

My own kids went to French Immersion in kindergarten, not the same I know, but pretty extreme for them at the time.

[Svela Elkova]

Hi - I have a 3.5 year old boy who spoke only Russian until he was 3. He is in preschool now and has a lot of problems. He can keep a conversation in English but doesn't have enough language to follow classes. So, during circle time or story time, he gets bored and starts making trouble. PLus, since adults take time and care to try to understand him, he prefers being with his teacher rather then with any of the kids... I would want to tell you how important it is to help such kids with language, to involve them into one-to-one or small group activities with other kids, to establish some sort of a routine for them that they would understand and follow... to give them some distinct responsibilities that would make them stand out in class and help them with their self-esteem in english-speaking class... Unfortunately, in our preschool they just give him timeouts for not behaving in class...

[musica5]

That is so sad. It is confusing enough not to have the language and understand what your peers are saying and then to have the time outs, without any conversation that helps him know what is going on. I agree with your comments about having positive experiences to build on and give him hope and a belief in himself as a successful member of the group.

[musica5]

Hi
I have just started uploading video onto my youtube channel.
I have taught for years and just thought of adding the finger rhymes and chants to my site. These would be perfect to use with kids 3-6

http://www.youtube.com/pamelasunshinetv
I will be adding more every week and if you have a request just let me know.

I also have a CD with loads of finger rhymes and chants available on itunes. It is called Five Little Finger Rhymes and Lots of Circle Games.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/five-l ... 29574?uo=4
So you can just get the individual mp3s that you might want.

I hope some of this helps you and enjoy the kids, they are such a joy.

Take care
Pamela
http://www.facebook.com/pamelasunshine