I'll be teaching this 3 year old kid German as a foreign language (I'm not German).Reading him stories, playin

Question

playing games in German, etc.

Any tips?

How can I make him respect me and follow my orders, and make him love me at the same time?

A kid that age, does he know how to read letters and digits or is it too soon?

How can I make the lesson useful and fun at the same time?

If you were his parent, what would you expect from me?

Thank youuuu

Answer 1

Oh at that age, don't try to be a dictator.  Learning should stem from play, and you might try looking up Montessori methods.

The important thing is to use German and ONLY German when you are with him.  The fact is, he probably blows off a lot of his native language at this age, so don't worry if he doesn't get everything you say.

Depends on the kid as for letters and numbers -- I'd definitely try numbers, but don't do math.

See if you can get a German translation of some Eric Carle books -- I really love Brown Bear, Brown Bear when I teach my English classes, because it has several animals and colors, and I make animal noises, too.  His butterfly book is excellent too -- you cover days of the week, several foods and it's a cute story.

Also, divide your time up into segments -- no longer than 5 to 10 minutes long each.  The lesson should have a theme, and each segment should re-inforce it.  So, if you do Brown Bear, Brown Bear, you can sing Old MacDonald (or german equivalent), do a coloring page on animals and talk about paper/crayons/pencils in German, do stickers, look at some animal pictures from the internet and then go back to reading the book at the end.  That covers 50 minutes.

You need the parents to spell out their expectations, and gently correct them if they think he's going to be reading Goethe at the end of the year.  But I think basic familiarity with animals, colors, toys and how to say his name, he wants something, he likes something, he doesn't is good for at least half a year -- maybe a full year of lessons.

See if you can get a DVD or video or CD for him to listen to between lessons, too.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Teach him through songs and poems, let him learn the words then get him to do the writing. teach him standing, slanting lines so that he can then write the words without much difficulty

Answer 3

Honestly, I think you may be a littl early for the reading part, regardless how old and how bright this kid might be. Reading stories is a good idea, but don't forget the fun part, which is songs and games! If the parents insist on you teaching him like a wunderkind, then and only then would I have him read. The letters must come first, and they must be perfected before the kid can even think about reading. German is difficult enough as is; you might want to teach intensively but at a slower pace.

Answer 4

the intercation will be the most natural way for him to acquire German.  i would advise against pushing the reading bit.  if he's not ready, your eforts will only be met with resistance.  also, understand he probably won't respond to you in German until he's comfortable with it.  that is, he'll want to hear it and formulate some rules about the language in his head (unknowingly, of course) before he'll be confident enough with the language to try using it independently.  just be patient, it will come, but if you force him to respond to you in German and stuff before he's ready he won't like the experience.  if he's resistant to the experience, whatever you teach will be ineffective, so you really have to go at his pace.

Answer 5

think like a kid. act like an adult. be strict in some times. The child has to respect you first.

Answer 6

when i was three, i did puzzles. Is the kid american? if so - get the american cartoon character ones. ( i did seasame street well- disney charactes, nick jr characters, playschool, little people, fisherprice, little tikes games are fun- < i still like to play with those also at this age. heehee>)

I took preschool when i was two. learned numbers and letters also.Sing the kid german nursery rhymes/ kid songs .

I'd expect the kid to eat well- discharged extras (c**p and urine) fine

had fun, learned somethings. don't put him to watch tv.Get to learn songs. could get some words german babies would know- mom, dad, sleep food, in german