Gaelic education anyone?

[harrisey]

My dh and I are only English speakers but our dd1 (6) is in Gaelic medium education and ds (40 in Croligean (Gaelic nursery.
Just wondered if anyone else had Gaelc-educated kids, whether or not you speak it yourself? My dd has been in total immersion for 7 months and is already fluent, I wish I could keep up.
Anyone else doing it. Tapadh leat!

yes! we especially like Angelina Ballerina in Gaelic!

Hi,

Ds2 seems to have taken to school, and sometimes it seems as if he's always been there! He's had the odd moment when he's done things for the first time with school. He went swimming this morning, and although he's done a lot of swimming with us, he was still quite apprehensive.

I guess in general he has the advantage of having a friend to start with, and big brother there too. So far, big brother seems to be enjoying not being the youngest in his class any more, and the relationship between the two seems reasonably amicable!

Because they are such a small unit covering P1 - 7 and have a teaching assistant in the mornings too, ds2 seems to be coping fine in gaelic. However, quite a lot of activities are together with their age group in English medium too, so that's a disadvantage language wise, although good socially.

I worried about the apparent reluctance of ds1 in speaking, but dh took the boys to Benbecula two weeks ago and apparently he was chatting away quite at home.

I hope you get your SN plan worked out.

dc3 still not appeared - now overdue.

Wondered if No3 had put in an appearance yet?

Sounds like ds2 is getting on fine, Bit like dd2 - as she has 2 people in the school she knows already (as well as the many from nursery) it hasn't fazed her at all.

When dd1 started she was in a similar unit to your ds's and I think it was great. Though I do think that her gaelic has come on a whole lot more being in the gaelic school, as they are encouraged to use it in all interactions with staff adn in the playground too.

The SN stuff is pretty much sorted out. We are back at the hospital next week, so if anything else needs to be done the doc will help then, before they go into full time at the end of September.

It takes a while for them to get used to it I think, but now when I hear dd1 and ds talking gaelic together - their 'secret language' - I don't regret it for a minute!

dd1 was born on the 31st August - 10lb4oz. ds1 and 2 seem very taken with her. ds1 in particular is being very sweet, and ds2 is coming to terms with the fact she can't crawl yet (despite trying to tell him - I think he was hoping for an instant playmate!

Just saw this, A, delightful news. I am sure she is gorgeous and they will be brilliant big brothers! Now they can learn lots of Gaelic baby words! And sing to her in gaelic - my dd2 does a fabbulous gaelic "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and is learning 'Head, SHoulders, Knees and Toes!"

Its her first full day at school today, so I thought I had the whole day to myself - but turns out dh is off today!

Out of interest, where do you go to have a baby in your area if you are not at home? I had dd2 in Raigmore and really liked it, (was transferred for health reasons).

Once again, congrats, sorry it has taken so long to give them.

Hi,

We are just begining to get some gaelic back home from the boys - ds1 has to prove he's a step ahead of ds2, and ds2 likes to tell me what he's learnt - the ups and down of competitive brothers! Hopefully they'll be great teachers for gaelic for dd1.

They are quite excited because their class is going to a feis on Friday in Applecross (a big adventure for ds2 in particular).

I had dd1 in Broadford (midwife led), which was really lovely. I felt Raigmore was too far (1 1/2 hours away rather than 45mins) as ds2 arrived quite quickly, and I also felt it was rather big and busy. Most people here do go to Raigmore though.

I also had home birth planned as back up, but in the end we had lots of time (walking back and forth between the hospital and the pier in the evening will remain a lovely memory).

Broadford is lovely - a good friend (ex-childminder) is an auxiliary there (her husband is the policeman!)

Glad to hear it was so nice - what a lovely place for the birth.

I was emergency transferred to raigmore and would rather have had dd2 in Stornoway like the others - we walked all round the hospital grounds when I was in labour with dd1, stood for ages on the helipad looking out over the sea .....

Ah! Hebridean births!

Glad to hear the boys are doing well at school. Ours love the Feisean and we are planning to go back to Harris for a fortnight next summer so ours can have a turn at the Harris Feis!

Dd2 has just started on her Gaelic phonics - so far we have learned c, m and d! With appropriate actions!! the school is very goos with the phonics (they developed the whole idea!) and she seems to be loving it!

The feis went really well. ds2 wasn't too keen after they went with their class on Friday, but they both went back for the Saturday (ds1 was very keen), and had a fantastic time (we had had the same experience two years ago with ds1 - the Saturday being a fantastic day). They got to try lots of different things, and had a lot of fun too.

We have just had a visit into school to watch a reading class in action, which was interesting.

Hi, am new here - i know this discussion ended some time ago but I was wondering about what Weegiemum said re the children that didn't get into the gaelic school last year. my son is starting the nursery at the school this week and the sole reason we are puttin him there is so he can go to the primary school. Is it normal that they turn children that have gone to the nursery for 2 years before school to be turned down for a place at the school? This is worrying me!!

i want dd1 to go to gaelic school too, we were offered an afternoon place at nursery but i just CANNOT face the travelling with a new baby. now i'm getting worried about places, cos claudi is worried about places...

There are plenty of kids that started in P1 last year that had never been to a Gaelic nursery of any description. They take a while to get up to speed once they start school and need parents who are at the very least on the page ahead of them as far as sounds and colours etc. Other than that I haven't every heard of a single child turned away...yet. 73 started last year in glasgow.

Hi, hope it's ok to resurrect this old thread.

I'm thinking of putting DD into one of the gaelic-medium nurseries in Glasgow when she turns 3. The one in Crookston or the one in the gaelic school would be equalling convenient to get to.

Does anyone have any experiences of these nurseries? Are they oversubscribed? Will going to the nursery guarantee a place in the school (2012 entry)?

DD is v musical and I'd like to know how well this is promoted in the school.

Finally are there any gaelic toddler groups/playgroups in Glasgow?

Does anyone know about the Gaelic provision in Edinburgh?

my youngest daughter has went through GME .She is in her last year at primary .I am afraid to say I regret sending her through Gaelic as she struggled because we were not Gaelic speakers .It was hard with homework especially as she has got older and the work became more complicated and we felt so guilty as we could not speak Gaelic . I would think hard about putting your children through gme if your are not a native Gaelic speaker .It's hard to show interest in homework when you have no idea what it says or is about ..I feel really guilty about our decision to send her through GME and always wonder if she had went through English would she be more ahead than she is now .Think hard about your child's education .

👍🏻 I don't really see much point in it myself.