I decided each morning after breakfast we would dedicate some time to skola (school). Prior to the twins arrival, I spent ALOT of time making flashcards. I used the English/Latvian dictionary Jennifer gave me to look up all sorts of words I wanted to teach them. I even color coded them. Calendar days were purple, like days of the week and months, numbers were blue, verbs/action words were green (like eat, play, go shopping, go swimming), food words were black, feeling words were pink (sad, happy, tired), etc. This lasted about 3 days. I think they indulged me at first, but then frowned and refused to repeat words very quickly.
Time to get a little creative. I think this was easier because I had siblings. They were naturally competitive, while at the same time always "watched each other's back". My greatest secret became teaching with a playful smile. Whatever we did, meals at the dinner table, boardgames, getting ready for bed, cleaning up -- everything became A WORD CHALLENGE!
The rules are simple:
An adult points to an object at any time throughout the day, and the child must say the word in english 3 times in a row really, really fast! If neither of them knew the word, I would tell them and have them then each (separately) repeat the word 3 times fast.
Before we knew it, they knew so many words. Let's just use breakfast as an example. I would point to all of the things on the table, including their food, and they would say each word 3 times. In one meal they would learn, plate, cup, fork, spoon, cereal, orange juice, fruit, pineapple, watermelon, grapes, napkin, table, chair, breakfast. I would also ask one of the children to say a before meal prayer, which always included thank you for (all of their new American friends names). This was a good way to review everyone they had met the day before and incorporate their names into our prayers.
Going to the grocery store is another wonderful way to learn lots of great words. Before we left for Publix, I would open the refrigerator and point to certain foods. I would ask the kids to name the foods and then to write it on the grocery list. Once we got to the store, we would read the list together and decide who had to go get what. If we were in the vegetable section Veronica would read "3 tomato's" and then go get them while Alex would read "2 cucumber" and be responsible for getting those. I also always had them give the money to the cashier and count the change together. I found the more I was willing to teach them, the higher level of learning they were capable of taking on.
Here's a biggie: I think most of the hosted children understand english much more than they are initially willing to speak it. I found this out at our 1st visit to the russian grocery store that I mentioned earlier. The clerk told me they said "we understand almost everything she says, it's just frustrating we don't know how to respond in english." I found this to be VERY TRUE. I also witnessed other children making fun of them when they did speak english because of their accent, which is a major reason I think they are hesitant to speak english. By having them repeat the word 3 times, make sure they are saying each word clearly, without their accent.
For example, Alex was made fun of for calling the grocery store Pooblix. I had to teach him the 'u' sounds for Pub. He really appreciated it. It just takes time. Make english lessons a 24/7 part of hosting, but most importantly.... make it fun! Praise them!!
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