How do I appoach biliteracy?

[gabsid]

We are a OPOL family (English/German) living in the UK. DS is 7 now and in Y2 and is doing fine but is not too excited about reading or writing in general.

DP speaks English to him and I speak German to DC, and I want DS to be able to read and write in German as well now but I am not too sure how to approach it.

DS is very good with his German, he always speaks German to me, his DS and he will usually choose to watch DVDs in German if possible, he says he understands it better. He can read a little and will attempt to write in German when its adressed to me, e.g. he drew pictures for us in school and wrote 'I love you daddy!' on one and 'Ich liebe dich Mama!' (not spelled correctly though) on the other.

How do I progress him from here? What are your experiences? Are there any books? I thought in the summer I could start on the reading a bit with some resources for the 1./2. school year in Germany/Austria, gamey stuff etc that includes a bit of writing and grammar too (he likes grammar . I don't want to do too much as we have to keep practicing the reading in English too.

I teach my DSs Chinese - reading, speaking, and a bit of writing when we remember. We always speak Chinese, and I started teaching them to read way before they started school - at first when they were very small I just taught them words they are interested in, then I got a set of textbooks (quite nice ones with lovely pictures and funny stories - that's important, I think) and just taught them a bit more systematically. Of course we continue with stories/DVDs/music etc. We do about 5-10 minutes in the morning around breakfast, and about 20 minutes stories/reading at bed time, probably 4 out of 7 days. We make slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

Also luckily they get along quite well in school and I never had to read with them in English. It's a shame, because I quite like English too, but there isn't enough hours in the day ...

How about sending him go a German Saturday School?

sorry, to

Thanks for your replies!

I tried a Saturday School last year, he wasn't interested in sitting down for an hour and playing the games that had been prepared. Besides, it costs £10 per hour and I feel 2 short sessions each day as Uptapoint described are more effective.

I just need some plan, suitable resources and would be grateful for any experiences and pitfalls.

DS is reading OK (average) in English, but he does not read alone so I have to do that as well, however I use German to discuss what he has read and explain words he doesn't understand.

We I also decided that once a week for a couple of hours of sit-down-and-do-as-you-are-told lessons may not be as effective as tailor-made short sessions at home. My advice would be to find a plan, any plan, any resource, and just start, and remember that just because you've "bought" a plan does not mean you can't modify and change as you and your child grows and acquire different interests and different schedules and different insights. That's the beauty of doing it yourself. And get lots and lots of stories. For my DSs, the more funny and disgusting the better. In fact I have to teach them all the disgusting terms (to do with bogies and poo etc) because they don't get them from their peers).

how about a subscription of a magazine like Sesamstraße?
we are thinking of getting one for dc 5y. had great fund working in it and trying to read when we last were in germany.

Oh, I didn't know there was a Sesamstrasse magazine! Will try him with that! I have looked for some DVDs but on amazon there doesn't seem to be much? I wanted them for DD (3.5) however I have read that for Sesamstrasse (DVDs) best learning outcomes were achieved with 5+ year olds.

Hm, yes, any plan, any resource - that's where I am. I have 2 school books (Lesefibeln 1./2. Klasse) a bit boring I find, and I printed some worksheets/games to practice reading and to look at verbs, nouns and adjectives (he has done that in school already, so just to point out how they behave differently in German).

I do read to DS each night.

Maybe that will have to do to start with. There doesn't seem to be so much online as I find in English, e.g. BBC Bitesize, there are lots and lots of websites with games and online activities in English and I just can't find any similar stuff in German.

I make my own stuff -

• jokes/poetry/riddles/tongue twisters/story (lifted from the net usually) with difficult words substituted with ones they know.

• cards in pairs: word + picture (We have millions of this with pictures of everything related to machines and vehicles and the emergency services. )

• song lyrics, cut up in pieces, so they can reconstitute them

• lots of word cards so they can make nonsensical sentences.

All printed on our home printer on slightly thicker paper.

Letters (or email) to and from German grandparents / cousins / friends?

Maybe get reading books in both languages, ebay is your friend here, I got Harry Potter in German for a child learning German who was also a harry potter fan.

Not familiar with German, Brazillian friends didn't bother to teach ds to read and write Portugues beccause it is phonetic, ds learned to read and write in English then just transfered it.