Toddler Language Play, Song and Dance

04/07/2019

Today we had our last Spanish session and the last session for the term. ⭐

Due to lack of interest, I am discontinuing the sessions for next term. I'm open to restarting in a language of interest should enough people feel that they would find this style of early childhood language exposure beneficial.

Feel free to get in touch if you would like to express your interest, or know a small group of people who would be keen on re-starting our language song and story time together❤

15/06/2019

At our latest Spanish session we sang about dancing, legless cockroaches, hungry sharks and twinkley stars. Thanks Elsa for your famous rendition of the bear as it comes out of its cave in our Spanish Bear Hunt story!

25/05/2019

Elsa sings "Twinkle twinkle" in both Japanese and Spanish. Stay tuned for the details to come of our 5th Spanish session coming up next week! Everyone is welcome to stop by, join in and pick up a few Spanish words effortlessly.

16/05/2019

Yes, our Spanish session is on this morning! I just haven't made an event, but it's same time, same place🤗💕

06/05/2019

Thanks to those who came to our first Spanish hour last Thursday! To those who missed it we will be there again this Thursday. Drop by if you can make it.🎶

Here is a link to "Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes" in Spanish for those who'd like to practice singing along at home. This version is quite good for learning as the words are clearly enunciated at the start and you can follow her facial expression, however it doesn't include the gender. So here is the full vocab list with gender/plural included.

La cabeza (the head)
Los hombros (the shoulders)
Las rodillas (the knees)
y (and)
Los pies (the feet)

Los ojos (The eyes)
Las orejas (The ears)
La boca (The mouth)
La nariz (The nose)

However, if you are a person that says you need to see the word written before you can learn it - BEWARE!⚔️ (Dont worry, I used to learn language that way, you CAN change💪)There is a trap in relying too much on the written vocab list. As is the case with all other languages, some sounds are written with the same letters that we use for English sounds, but are pronounced differently to the way we pronounce those letters in English. Your brain prioritises visual input and learning the word according to the way it is spelled and rather than the way it is heard can cause a block in both your aural comprehension and oral pronunciation. Tip: Listening and trying to mimic what you hear is a far better way to become familiar with the feel of the language you are trying to learn. This is the way our children learn and experience language (without reading), we can learn from their example.❤️

Cabeza, Hombros, Rodillas, Pies Ojos, Orejas, Boca, Nariz :)

09/04/2019

Today is our last Japanese Hour. 🇯🇵
Next term we are switching to Thursday, 11:30-12:30 .
Our new language next term is Spanish.
See you soon!!

21/03/2019

The colour vocabulary from our Japanese hour yesterday is.....

あか aka red
あお ao blue
きいろ kiiro yellow

Interesting fact of the day: although in English we use the word "red" to mean both the noun (the colour itself) and the adjective ( eg a red car, a red boat), in Japanese the vocab above refers to the colours as nouns. To use the word as an adjective, just add an い ("i" ) to the end of the word:

Akai
Aoi
Kiroi

So that's why you may hear that red is "aka" but a red car is an "akai kuruma"

13/03/2019

Here is a photo of the stars from today's Japanese hour.

For anyone willing to sing at home here is the vocabulary covered in our Shiritori song of the four furry animals

こぶた　kobuta - Piglet🐷
たぬき　tanuki 　- Japanese Raccoon Dog
きつね　Kitsune - Fox🦊
ねこ　　Neko 　- Cat🐱

For those that weren't at our Japanese hour today, can you see the pattern that connects the Japanese words for these four animals? If so, feel free to comment below!

12/03/2019

6 reasons to start exploring diverse languages through song with your little one!

Language learning and lullabies.

11/03/2019

In Toddler and Baby Language Play we use music, rhymes, stories and games to introduce kids to other languages and cultures, in an informal and creative way, in the spirit of play, movement and imitation.

Currently we are singing and clapping along to Spanish nursery rhymes to allow the discovery of new language sounds and musical rhythms to stimulate young sensory-seeking brains.

My vision is to provide an ongoing activity that mothers and children can enjoy together. A space for mothers to connect and learn with their children and other mothers (or dads!) while promoting the playful discovery of language and culture.

Personally I have found children's activity programs to be prohibitively expensive, and as we all know, parenting is an unpaid job, which makes cost a crucial concern. For this reason my sessions are run on a "pay as you feel" basis. Only pay what you think the experience was worth, anonymously, after each session. There is no obligation to come for a term, or set number of sessions, just come when you can.

Currently I am targeting the sessions at an age range from baby to 5 or 6 years old, intending to adapt it according to interest.The babies and younger children will be more interested in the sounds and songs, whereas older children will get more out of the stories. If I have enough interest I would also be open to running a session just for older primary school age children.

If you are interested in coming along, please stop by, or send me, Sarah, a pm, or email to [email protected]

So please join us at the activity room at the Joondalup Family Centre on Thursday 11:30 - 12:30.