6 Easy Ways to Practice Reading With Your Child in French Immersion (When You Don't Speak French)
How to help your child in French Immersion when you don’t speak French; Ways to support reading with your child who is in French Immersion; Simple ways to help your child read in French when you don’t speak French
How to Help your Child in French Immersion
The decision to put a child in French Immersion is not one that is taken lightly. So often parents decide that since they don’t speak French, they would not be able to help their child with schoolwork at all, so they don’t try for French Immersion. I’m here to bust that myth. Listen up! You do not need to be Francophone or a former French Immersion student for your child to succeed in French Immersion. You don’t even need to like baguettes.
Some of the questions I get asked as a French Immersion Kindergarten teacher when I first meet parents are:
How does Kindergarten French Immersion work?
How much French will you speak to my child?
How will I help them at home? I don’t speak any French!
How can I read with them when I don’t understand the words and don’t know how to pronounce them!?
These questions are usually asked with a mix of excitement and anxiety. Parents are thrilled that their little bundle of joy will be learning a new language and they are also worried that when their baby needs help, they won’t be able to help them.
If you have these types of questions, fear not! I’m here to show you how you can help your child read books in French… I promise you’ll be able to start right away and it’s not hard. If you’d like some general getting ready for Kindergarten tips I can help you with that too.
If you are looking for some straight-up support at home, I have got you covered. I’ve created a French For Families resource that will help you teach your child French at home. You want to get your hands on this!
How to help your child read french Immersion books when you don’t speak french
There’s more than one way to read a book and we don’t always need to read the words. We can read the pictures and retell a story as well. Most of the strategies here have to do with reading the pictures (which is the fun part anyways!).
Continue Reading at Home in your Home Language
The most important thing (according to me at least) is to foster a love of reading in your child. Read books they are interested in. Take them to the library and let them choose their own books. Make reading a fun activity you do each day. A child who is interested in learning to read will learn faster and be more inclined to read as a pastime later on.
Teaching your child the English alphabet and letter sounds is also a good idea. If Billy knows the letters and sounds in English, that will serve as a foundation for him. He will have an easier time recognizing and naming the letters and sounds in French as well.
Besides, the consonants in English and French pretty much make all the same sounds ;)
Look at the colours
One of the first skills vocab skills we teach is the colours in French. As you are looking at a French book, point to the different colours you see in and name them in French. This is a good starting point because looking at the pictures can tell you what’s happening in the story. Remember that the goal is to be reading at home and adding in a bit of French practice, so reinforcing this skill they learned at school will be a bonus.
Count items in the pictures
Another first French Immersion skill your child will learn is how to count to 10 in French. When you are looking at a French story, try counting the pictures you see in the book. How many flowers are in the grass? How many birds are in the sky? How many people are in the house? How many people have brown hair? You will never run out of things to count!
Search for Letters in the Book
If you are familiar with the letters and letter sounds in French you can go on a letter hunt through the book. Can you find a letter A on the page? How many letter B’s are there? Can you find the letters of your name?
Listen to Audiobooks or Songs in French
If you want your child to be listening to French at home you can find some videos on youtube in French. I like putting songs that have the lyrics written on the screen for my kids. That way they get the best of both worlds; a catchy tune with music that will hopefully get stuck in their heads and words to read. Ah les crocodiles is a great song I play for my class.
One thing to remember is before you know it your kids will be correcting YOUR pronunciation and teaching YOU how to read and speak in French. The kids will learn so much so quickly and you will be amazed at their progress.
Try not to stress.
Besides, there is SO MUCH MORE to Kindergarten than reading books. It’s about being social, following rules and routines and eating lunch with friends. It’s about fun unicorn-themed crafts and making it home after after-school activities in time for dinner.
You and your kids will be ok.
You got this.
-Breyen
Follow me on Instagram @ouimadamewee
