English education is now commonplace.
There is also a theory that the sooner you learn English, the better.
That’s because there are very good times for language learning in a child’s brain development.
That is the “Sensitive period”.
In the first place, what is the sensitive period of Montessori education?
0-6 years old.
It means [time when it is easy to feel = time when it is easy to learn].
Every child is sensitive to any language up to the age of six.
In short, if you grow up in an English-speaking world, you will naturally acquire English, and if you grow up in a Chinese-speaking world, you will learn Chinese.
By the way, this is not limited to one language.
At this time, the child can distinguish between multiple languages.
Therefore, if you can provide a rich foreign language environment at this time, you can focus on each language and learn it.
It is the same feeling that we adults have when learning a foreign language, and it takes “conscious effort” to learn a language.
During the sensitive period, I was able to learn a language without being aware of it, but after that, I can only acquire it with effort.
Word growth in the sensitive period (0-6 years old)
Newborn babies have the ability to hear what people say in the presence of noise around them.
So all the conversations you talk about around your baby reach your baby’s ears and brain.
Eventually, babies who only listen will begin to babbling themselves, such as “ah”, “bu”, and “oh”.
After that, he learned and spoke meaningful words, and eventually became able to speak in sentences.
In the world of linguistics, this flow of linguistic development is called Syntax, and it is said that by the age of two, you will be able to speak basic syntax (= acquire a language).
The important thing here is that conversation (Listening / Speaking) precedes reading / writing (Reading / Writing).
You can read and write from around the age of three.
On the other hand, conversation begins from the moment it is born.
The baby listens hard to the conversation between mom and dad and tries to imitate it.
By the age of six, the strong interest in the language that I had until then diminished, and language learning became a “study.”
Specific learning methods at home
Children at this time absorb anyway.
When I move overseas with my family on an overseas assignment, there is also the fact that “the child first learned the local language in the family”.
However, when I show an English DVD for 30 minutes a day, I can’t speak much.
Take a lot of showers in English for English, French for French, and Chinese for Chinese.
This is a major premise.
It would be nice if we could do childcare in a native language environment.
However, only a few households can do that in Japan.
If you want to learn a second language regardless of the environment in which you live, parents need to work together to learn.
Even if you try to force a small child to do it alone, there is no way you can do it.
It is important that parents work together.
Tips for choosing learning materials
Give your child two or three choices out of a few “adults have judged good” in advance.
If your child chooses, you can continue with interest.
On the other hand, if you can’t continue, you won’t be able to learn it, so it’s very important to let your child choose.
Storytelling of English picture books
Kids love dads and moms.
Children are happy to imitate the words spoken by fathers and mothers.
By being together, the child absorbs many things.
By reading a picture book in English, your child will naturally become interested in English.
Native English videos
No matter how important it is for parents to study with their children, there are limits to what they can read aloud.
After all, it doesn’t matter if you don’t touch native English.
Nowadays, you can get as many English videos as you want on Youtube, so look for them.
It’s a good time!
By the way, my family is showing the English version of “Curious George”.
It is useful because there are many lessons learned and children can enjoy watching it.
I hope you find the article helpful.
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