beginning French for little ones

[Grivas]

We're planning to homeschool dd and ds, but they are still too little for anything formal. DD, our oldest, just turned 3. I have been thinking, though, that I want to start teaching a foreign language early, by just weaving it into our day. Though I took 3 years of high school French, I can't even speak it! Are there any suggestions for podcasts or other audio French lessons for little children? We are screen-free, so I'm not looking for anything interactive online or DVDs. I would love something that we could listen to in the car or during play time at home.

Also, since so many here have more experience than I do, please tell me if you think introducing a foreign language this young is inappropriate. We plan to follow a Waldorf curriculum when the time comes.

TIA!

[mamaboss]

Try children's books from the library that are in French and come with a little cassette to "read along" to. Or if they don't have anything try amazon, they have tons of children's books in French. We love Green Eggs and Ham! I'd say that's one of the best ways at this age especially if you aren't a native speaker who can use it all day. 

[Grivas]

That's an awesome idea. Thanks! 

[wombatclay]

The Canadian Amazon might have musical/sing along options too... we get a lot of our "French Stuff" from Quebec.  Programs like Lil' Pim offer a combo visual/auditory system but you could certainly leave out the visual aspect (if you're ever confronted with movies/dvds don't forget you can generally switch to a French language dub... we do watch films and switch back and forth between the English and the French tracks).  Also I found a bunch of French language cds for children at Borders and B&N... I play those in the car, as well as my own "adult language learning" cds (by Pimsleur, I actually picked Lil Pim because I respond so well to their techniques).

We're moving towards a more solidly Charlotte Mason approach as the kiddos get older, but we've been active in the local Waldorf community for several years and intend on keeping a lot of that philosophy in our daily/seasonal activities.  I can't see anything wrong with introducing a new language to a toddler.  Of course, we introduced French to our kiddos (despite the fact that I can NOT speak French well at all but DH is fluent) from day one.  So I'm biased. LOL

[heatherdeg]

Yeah, I'm biased, too.  I started regaining my fluency through teaching my kids.  But we are not COMPLETELY screen-free, so we had a DVD series that my son watched for a while ("Bonjour Les Amis").

I have found countless French childrens books in lots of places.  Heck, I even got a batch from Freecycle once (they ranged from child through teen--a whole big box!)  I'm not sure why I didn't go to the Canadian Amazon--I went to the French one.  I probably could've saved a boatload of money in shipping.  

But song CDs and books--and lots of 'em.  Word of warning: read the books yourself first and translate them so that you are fluent with the story... the kids will ask.  Even at 3.  :)

Also, re-learn some basic requests in French.  Early on, this was pretty much all the French I actually spoke to my son.  "Open the door, please" or "Don't touch!"  I probably had a good 20 of them in a few weeks.  Nowadays I'm as far as "What did I say to you?!?  That's not yours--don't touch it!  Now clean-up these things and let's go... quickly!" and he understands me completely. 

[kittywitty]

L'Art de Dire by N'Allenart is great. Otherwise, I agree with french movies and music.

[serenbat]

do you still live in the area you grew up in? did you speak to your old teacher or if not go to the local school French teacher- see if you can get a baby-sitter/mother's helper

it would be a win win for both-IMO

or post on your local craig's list for a helper- often a 1st year school student might be interested and the teacher might see it as extra credit for the "teacher" too

just have them play games or do simply activities-or homework

[wombatclay]

I hate to mention this, but my older dd1 (6yo) adores My Little Pony.  And the MLP stories are all available in French.  From the First Reader books right down to the board book versions for younger children.  We don't have a tv and a lot of her friends are homeschooled/unschooled/waldorf schooled but somehow MLP slipped through.  I guess what I'm saying is that no matter what your kiddo might eventually be interested in, or what might attract their attention now, you can probably find it in French!  :)

Shipping from France- LOL!  We live near enough to the Canadian border to visit Quebec a few times a year.  We'd buy stuff while we were there and then a store clerk asked "why don't you just use amazon?" and I had a similar "oh yeah, oops" moment.  Not that I mind a trip to Montreal or anything, but shopping online has it's benefits (like, oh, no car trip with cranky kiddos and a zillion bathroom breaks).

[simple living mama]

My daughter in now 14 and chomping at the bit to take French for high school in Fall. I know very little French but I used to put on her favorite movies that had the language option and switch it to French. It's beautiful watching Alice in Wonderland. Even the music is in French!  

Anyway, she's had a love of languages ever since.  On itunes, there is a great podcast called Coffee Break French that have short easy lessons.  She's learned a lot from those, so they might be fun to play in the car and you all can practice together.