2024 - 2025 German Circle Time with Ms. DiPasquali
Kindergarten marks a crucial phase in a child's cognitive and social development. Introducing foreign languages during this formative period can have far-reaching advantages, enhancing cognitive abilities and cultural awareness while setting the foundation for future language acquisition.
What does it mean to learn a “foreign” language?
Foreign language study raises one’s social conscience and cultivates an interest in and respect for others. The Waldorf pedagogy sees foreign language study as a window into the soul of another culture. Because our way of thinking is expressed through our languages, we nurture a cultural understanding of other people by acquiring their languages. Learning foreign languages at an early age enhances a child’s mental flexibility, improves natural phenomena concept formation, and increases cognitive diversity.
Play-based learning through “imitation"
Striving to be worthy of imitation, Waldorf early childhood educators nurture each child's budding development, providing gentle yet sensory-rich environments and play-based activities that encourage the young child to investigate the natural world, explore social relationships, and expand imaginative capacities. There is a saying that "Play is the work of childhood," which is also true in learning foreign languages. Play-based learning can be an effective way of introducing foreign languages to children.
How is a German ”lesson“ structured?
The teacher leads students through a wide range of activities in a relatively short period of time. In each lesson, students are given the opportunity to alternate between physically moving their bodies and more quiet, focused work. After an initial greeting, the class enters an oral segment that emphasizes a lively, rhythmic pace. This portion of the class may include song, recitation, counting, Q&A, and dancing. These activities bring the class together and put students in a receptive mood for the next activity when new material is introduced.
Will my child start speaking German?
During the first three years of foreign language instruction, the emphasis gradually shifts from receptive to productive language, ensuring that students have plenty of time to absorb the language before being asked to produce it. In the Waldorf classroom, repetition is imperative to successfully acquiring new languages.
Our German language classes primarily address the child's capacity for imitation by repeating the Kindergarten Main Lesson circle time in German. It is also important to tell stories in German that are already familiar to students in English.
Additionally, students learn through Comprehensible Input. The idea of introducing substantial and often complex verses and poetry in another language is based on the belief that until the age of six or seven, children relate less to the meaning of words and more to sound. Simply put, children relate to emotional content long before they relate to intellectual content. Although children may not fully grasp the poem's meaning, they can become familiar with the language on an emotional level through the poem's sound.
What are the benefits of my child being exposed to world languages in Kindergarten?
Children who learn foreign languages at an early age have advantages both in terms of language and non-language. They tend to have more mental flexibility, excellence in the formation of concepts of natural phenomena around them, and have a more diverse mental ability.