English homework

[bettylo]

hello/bonjour! i hope i have posted this message in the right place, forgive me if not. i'm french and have been living in the uk for the past 17 years or so. i have two daughters to whom i have always spoken to in french (regardless of their english speaking peers). my elder daughter has just started school and i'm just wondering how best to approach homework? i would happily leave it to her dad, who is british, to deal with but he's rarely back at home to see the girls before bedtime, so it is not an option. she's keen on her letters and phonics but having never uttered a word of english to her, i just don't know how best to deal with it! any tips would be appreciated, merci!

I am in the opposite position to you. English living in France.

I do speak about the homework in English eg 'Tell me how to spell 'hirondelle'?' but when we are spelling French words we use the French alphabet. At the moment the maths is simple sums so we read the 'énoncé' out loud and then DS will say in English 'I need to add 9 to 6 and then I'll know how many Euros she needs'.

I think you will have to use some English but you can keep it to the minimum. I tend to follow DS' lead.

Message withdrawn

Interesting one. I am English mother tongue, never spoken to my DCs in anything other than English and am now doing German homework with them. The biggest problem is DD refuses to speak German with me, "because you speak English mummy." 'Tis strange as she hears me speaking German to other people alot.

hi, thanks for sharing your experiences. it seems the best way forward would be to do the explaining in French. will get on with it and shall report back! i just hope that she does not see this as an opportunity to speak to me in English. i am well aware that the 'speak in French, i did not understand what you said' is now running thin! thanks again.