In my last post, Sing with your Baby , I wrote about singing with babies up to the age of 6 months. This time I’m writing about that stage between 6 and 12 months when babies are “on the move”: sitting, crawling and pulling themselves to stand. Babies progress from lying on their backs to getting…
Kids
Sing with your baby
Quote from my husband: “It’s just a little baby – that’s all it is!” Gareth Malone’s “The Choir” programmes have proved that singing is energizing, fun and sociable. It’s known to be good for our mental health. It helps with memory and language learning. But what about singing with a baby, before the age of…
Trio – an action and adventure series from Norway
Trio is a Norwegian action and adventure series which has been a great success on Kika German television – and at our house. It’s been dubbed (German “synchronisiert”) into German, so it’s available in Norwegian or German. You’ll need a good understanding of German or Norwegian as there aren’t any subtitles. The DVD cases state…
b small publishing: fun activity books for kids
I’m drawn to b small publishing books by their bright, happy covers. It looks like the content is going to be fun! I’m going to look at several of their books for primary children. They’re good quality, strong paperbacks, and great value at £5.99. I’m starting off with My Family Tree Book By Sam Hutchison…
The Toddler in the Kitchen
Do you want your child to cook for you? Christmas biscuits perhaps, or dinner being made as you sit with your feet up? You can make a start sooner than you think. Toddlers love to get involved, learn new words in their main language or another one they speak, and use their senses, especially to…
Astrid Lindgren’s family adventure stories and films
Now the dark evenings are here and we’ve been watching two bright, warm-hearted films in German: “Wir Kinder aus Bullerbü” and its sequel, just as enjoyable, “Neues von den Kindern aus Bullerbü”. They’re great for any time of year but especially from November onwards, when it’s 4 in the afternoon, the kids are home from…
Sign language: should hearing children learn BSL?
Would you like to learn sign language? If there’s no opportunity at school or in the family, most people don’t get an opportunity to learn it. The reason to learn to sign is of course to communicate with D/deaf people. But as a bonus, signing can also help hearing people to express themselves more…
Get kids eating vegetables: fun, multilingual things to do
Do you struggle to get your kids eating vegetables? The answer might be to stop trying to persuade them, and have fun with the food instead! You could start by visiting a food market like this one we explored in France; it’s Les Halles indoor market, Pau. When you go to a market, can…
The Bilingual Child – a talk by specialist linguist Barbara Abdelah-Bauer
I’d heard of Barbara Abdelah-Bauer before – she’s a psycho-sociologist specializing in bilingualism, and she’s brought up her own children to be multilingual. Last month I went along to an interesting talk which she gave in French at the Institut Francais London. She was talking about the conclusions which have been drawn from the latest…
Exciting German TV series for kids: die Pfefferkoerner
This is a guest post written by my 12 year-old daughter, who has chosen an assumed name. Hi, I’m Charlotte and I’m Jane’s daughter. I wanted to tell you about my favourite TV series ever: ‘Die Pfefferkoerner’ (The translation is ‘the peppercorns’!). It’s a German kids’ and teens’ series that has been going since…
