Wachsenlernen Teaching Resources

What role do language models play in kindergarten?

The educational specialists themselves also play an important role as role models in kindergarten.

Speaking clearly and slowly, without dialect and in short, concise sentences can be a great support for kindergarten children learning German.

Verbs such as ‘then’, ‘later’, ‘afterwards’, etc. should be avoided at first. To show temporal sequences, enumerations using fingers can be a more suitable visualisation.

Subordinate clauses, whose meaning is completely changed by a single conjunction, are misleading. ‘You wash your hands although / when / because / before / after / while we were sitting at lunch.’

Eye contact helps children to know that they are being addressed with a specific statement.

And maybe it's even fun to learn a few words in the child's native language ♥

Your Diana from Wachsenlernen

Learning together

As a special example, I have a girl in mind whose mother works with her child on basic German vocabulary. Colours, numbers, animals – in other words, basic vocabulary in both the mother tongue and a foreign language – are practised together and spoken over and over again.

Yes, the pronunciation is not always perfect as a result. However, this prior knowledge makes it much easier for the kindergarten teacher to build on this basic knowledge.

• Expanding the vocabulary of colours can be experienced in a playful way if knowledge of the individual colours is already present.

• Objects of the same colour can then be searched for and named together.

Talking about animals is made easier when the general word for bird, ‘Vogel’, can be used to refer to the birds in the region, specifically ‘Taube’ (dove), ‘Ente’ (duck) or ‘Schwan’ (swan).

Games with animal noises can quickly become an icebreaker.

To be continued...

Diana von Wachsenlernen

The role of parents in kindergarten and language support should not be underestimated, as in all other areas of a child's learning.

In my observation, it makes a very big difference whether parents learn the new language just like their children and, for example, make an effort to use the new language in the presence of the kindergarten teachers, or whether they basically stick to their own mother tongue and consistently use it with their children.

At this point, I do not want to pass judgement on whether and why parents speak exclusively in their mother tongue with their children or not. On the contrary, I advocate that children should be encouraged and challenged in their family language so that they do not lose touch with their family members.

My only concern here is the observation that I was able to make during my months in kindergarten: children whose parents are also attending a German course, for example, and are making a great effort to apply and improve their German skills in direct communication seem to be a great role model for the children.

To be continued...

Yours Diana von Wachsenlernen

Here, all the words have been magically changed to lower case. Can you find all the words that need to be capitalised?

Feel free to write the solution in the comments.

These great practice cards, suitable for Valentine's Day, are packed with great exercises on capitalisation. For English-speaking German teachers, there are even explanations in English.
You can find the material on Eduki with the material ID: 1209758.

Your Diana from Wachsenlernen

When structures become the enemy in kindergarten

I am not aware of any scientific evidence for the following statement – but I would still like to share my observations:

As described above, fixed processes and structures provide support for a child whose ability to communicate is severely limited or not yet developed.

My observation is that these children in particular have an increased tendency to turn structures into constraints.

I have noticed that children with a lack of language comprehension place much more value on these structures being strictly adhered to by themselves, but also by the other children (sequences of actions in the bathroom or in eating situations, routes to be taken, places for certain objects, etc.). Deviations lead to inner tension and even emotional outbursts, which are not only difficult to grasp but also difficult to resolve verbally.

To be continued...

Yours Diana von Wachsenlernen

Supporting transitions from one situation to the next

In my experience, supporting children through transitions can help them to relax a lot, whereas expecting them to ‘go along with it’ often leads to the situation escalating into despair for the child, with more time and patience having to be invested afterwards to restore inner calm.

Language development can only succeed if children are in an appealing and open learning environment – constant inner tension is the last thing they need.

To be continued...

Your Diana from Wachsenlernen

Dealing with the unexpected

These uncertainties can be clarified and dispelled for a child with whom communication is easily possible. The child knows why it is taking longer, can participate in solving the problem and inner calm can be restored (should the lost slipper have been a cause for concern at all).

For a child who cannot grasp these explanations linguistically, such a situation builds up restlessness and a feeling of insecurity. The explanations as to why the process cannot move on to the next step cannot be communicated and the children find themselves in a kind of holding pattern in which they do not know how they can participate, where the error lies and what is going to happen next. Such situations are also unsuitable for developing language skills, as the child will probably not be able to concentrate on the words and sentences.

I find this point important to mention because, especially in kindergartens with open concepts, it is difficult to establish fixed structures, although it is precisely these children who come to kindergarten for a variety of reasons and initially do not understand German sufficiently who need precisely these structures.

To be continued...

Yours Diana from Wachsenlernen

Oh dear... somehow the double consonants got lost... Can you find them all?

These reading cards are also available for children whose mother tongue is not German, with explanations in French, English and many other languages.
Please feel free to visit Eduki.
https://eduki.com/de/material/1210483/daf-daz-franzosisch-fehlerteufel-doppelkonsonanten-lesekarten-interactive

Your Diana from Wachsenlernen

Transparent processes in kindergarten reduce stress levels

My observation is that, especially for children who have only been able to develop insufficient skills in the German language or have other linguistic difficulties, a daily routine with a specific and comprehensible structure is more important than ever. These regularities give the children stability and they can prepare for the next part of the day without it requiring language skills.

A specific example from the kindergarten as I know it would be going to the toilet, then washing their hands. The children come back to their group and know that lunch will start any moment. They know the individual processes that are the same for all children, they can follow the group and then enjoy their meal in peace. They are not required to resort to speech in these situations, because they can fit into the dynamics of the group.

However, should something unforeseen occur during this process, it quickly throws the laboriously constructed structures into disarray.

As an example, I have noticed time and again that even a small thing like a lost slipper can lead to increased stress levels and a high level of insecurity for the child.

To be continued...

Yours Diana from Wachsenlernen

Language support in kindergarten

While communicating with other people is as much a part of everyday life as the air we breathe, it is sometimes unimaginable how life can function when the common language is lost.

We have to imagine what it would be like if the air we breathe were missing, when communication with the person opposite us is suddenly limited or no longer possible.

Especially for children, regular non-verbal processes and daily structures then become an important part of their day, which should not be underestimated.

To be continued......

Yours Diana from Wachsenlernen

Can you rephrase the sentences using indirect speech?
Use the subjunctive for this ✍

You can find the entire workbook on the subject of “The thing about direct and indirect speech” on Eduki with the material ID: 146076

Your Diana from Wachsenlernen

Can you find the nouns in this word snake?

This is an excerpt from the workbook: The thing about capitalization from the chapter “Nouns can be heard”
You can find all the material on Eduki with the material ID 497031

Your Diana from Wachsenlernen