Getting Them Ready To Learn

I've written in the past about the times that Leilani is so excited for class that I can't get her to leave.  Well last Saturday was not one of those days. Leilani started crying halfway to class, because she didn't want to go today. In addition she was traumatized because I forgot her gloves.  It got me to thinking, how can we make sure our kids are prepared when we take them to school.

Good Night's Sleep

This one is obvious but class was on a Saturday and I was a little lax about getting Leilani into bed at a reasonable time the night before.  Well when she's tired she's grumpy, and she moves slow so we start running late.  Nobody ends up happy.

Talk about the class on the way

Leili has always had a habit of answering Spanish questions in English, and as a consequence she listens to Spanish better than she speaks it.  So on our way to class we talk about the project she'll do and I reinforce the point with questions like, "Are you go gonna be a good girl and speak lots of Spanish today?"  Then when I pick her up she almost always tells me, "I was a good girl!"

What did you learn today?

My wife and I both ask this question when class is over.  I do it in the car and then Crystina asks again at home.  It's a great way to reinforce the knowledge, so it's not forgotten in a weekend full of games, toys and TV.

Let's look at your project/homework

Language Stars classes always have a "projecto" and some homework.  It's easy to look at the project, because Leilani is excited about it and wants to show us.  It's a little harder to get her to sit down and look at the practice, but so far she's young enough that she's still excited for homework so it's not that hard.  Both of these help reinforce what she's been learning.

All of this probably takes a half-hour at most.  In fact much of it is just ordinary conversation, but they are extremely beneficial in terms of getting your little one to get the most out of any classes.