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Working Moms
hansa11
member
Nanny teaching the kids her native language
hansa11
member
in Working Moms
Has anyone had a nanny teacher his/her native language to your kids? What was the experience like?
Our nanny has offered to teach our kids, who will be 1 and 3 when she starts, her native language and my husband and I are 100% for it. I'm just worried a little about my older one's adjustment since he'll also be adjusting to a new nanny. And while I think any exposure to another language is good, my husband and I don't speak her language, we don't know anyone else who does and I anticipate that we won't have any opportunity to continue to expose our kids to this language or any others (outside whatever they get in school) when our nanny moves on. So I'm reluctant to have language immersion be the top priority if for whatever reason, the immersion isn't working out for my kids.
Anyway, I'm just curious what others' experiences have been.
Son #1 - September '09
Son #2 - October '11
Son #3 - Hoping to adopt from China some time in 2014!
Our adoption journey: Talkin' 'Bout the Next Generation
Son #2 - October '11
Son #3 - Hoping to adopt from China some time in 2014!
Our adoption journey: Talkin' 'Bout the Next Generation
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Nanny teaching the kids her native language
BFP #1 9/7/10, EDD 5/14/11, Violet born 5/27/11.
BFP #2 4/9/12, EDD 12/16/12, M/C Rory 4/24/12.
BFP #3 10/6/12, EDD 6/16/12., Matilda born 6/17/13.
Go for it! I wish we had that for my DD.
What language, btw?
My nanny only speaks Spanish to my son. He's 17 months now, and while he doesn't talk, he definitely understands both languages (say "milk" or "Leche" and he points to his cup of milk. I think it's great. Her previous family has several children, with the youngest starting with her at the age of 2. He's 6 now and is still bilingual even though he only sees her on Saturdays when she comes to clean their house.
She speaks Portuguese (Brazilian). We're definitely going to do it and I think it's an exciting opportunity. I just want to have reasonable expectations, especially with my three-year-old. I know little kids pick up languagues quickly, but I don't know what that means. A few weeks? A few months? It'll be interesting to see how it goes.
Son #2 - October '11
Son #3 - Hoping to adopt from China some time in 2014!
Our adoption journey: Talkin' 'Bout the Next Generation
Just make sure they are getting plenty of English too. In many families the nanny is the biggest language influence just based on the time spent with the kids (of course depending on how many hours your nanny is there).
Many of my friends have experienced children with language delays once in school because they did not get enough English from their nannies. I can think of a dozen or so people who have told me about their experiences. DH and I really considered that when interveiwing for nannies - especially since where we live where most nannies speak only Spanish. So we made sure to hire someone who spoke English.
Good luck!
Go for it!
SOME children may be delayed in spoken language but the studies show it is extremely beneficial even taking into account potential delays. It employs the executive functioning somehow.
My daughter is in a Mandarin immersion daycare and when she babbles we joke that she is speaking Mandarin. She won't pick it up well enough to speak unless we keep her there an extended period of time, but even if she only stays a year or two she will learn to differentiate between the sounds of that language. I think any exposure to a second language is a win.
http://oi62.tinypic.com/2w73hq9.jpg
Our nanny speaks Spanish to DS and I have encouraged her to do so. I've also bought him books in Spanish and reinforce things in both English & Spanish (I know some Spanish, but am not fluent). Kids learn things so quickly and DS is already picking up words in Spanish. There may be a slight language delay, but it's not something to worry about.
Even though your kids may not get reinforcement in Portuguese once the nanny moves on, I've read that even hearing a different language as a young child benefits their cognitive development. It will also give them an "ear" for language in the future. It really is a great thing for little ones!
This! And Brazilian Portugese isn't too far off from Spanish so maybe it would make it easier for them to learn Spanish later? (since Spanish would probably obviously be more used than Portugese)
We have have au pairs the last few years (from Brazil) and I've always asked that they speak Portuguese to the kids. It's best when they only speak their language, but part of the program is for the au pair to improve on English (hard to do when you are always speaking their native language) and I didn't want to make the au pairs life too hard because in the beginning the kids would not understand anything. They started with foods which was easy because he would show them what's for lunch and just say it in Portuguese, and they picked it up in a few days. Now they can understand a lot of what they say, and speak a little (mainly because neither DH or I speak fluently), but I'm happy that they were exposed to the language, because I think that it will always be in their mind, so when they learn in school it hopefully will come a little easier to them (I was HORRIBLE when it came to learning a second language).
I say this is a fantastic idea! Kids in other countries routinely learn more than one language and I wish the US would jump on this too.
Yes, there can be initially some language delays, but only because children are learning which rules go with which language. It is best, linguistically speaking, to speak to a child in whatever language you are natively proficient, as you will be modeling the correct structure. Someone with low-level English skills speaking to your child only in English is essentially modeling baby talk, which doesn't help them learn grammar and structure. Some kids will absorb both languages for a while before producing language in either language. Others will do code switching, which is sometimes mixing up the languages, as they figure out the rules.
Bi-lingual children may initially test lower on tests on language development, but in no way does learning a second language cause a true language delay, like in the case of autism. They will very quickly meet and exceed their peers, as long as you continue to read to them and model proper English.
I purposely looked for providers that speak to my daughter in another language and am happy with my choice. I think your kids will be fine, and your older one will probabally try to teach YOU new words.
**i was a Spanish/education major in college with a great deal of coursework focused in early language and second language development, and taught English as a second language at the elementary level for 1 year. I have been out of teaching since 2004, but I'm pretty sure the thinking has not changed into thinking second languages are a bad idea**
I was a bilingual baby (my mother and her father spoke primarily french, rest of the family spoke english, for the first few years at least). So was my mother, actually. And then I went to a preschool at four where most of the students were unilingual anglophones looking for an immersion experience - new school for everyone, no english allowed. Honestly, there was very little issue as far as the kids were concerned.
I'm hoping to raise a good little multilingual kidlet soon. They'll probably get three languages, if we can parcel them out to caregivers sensibly. My mother and grandmother highly recommend it - they'll be seriously disappointed if my kid doesn't have two languages by school age.
I'd say go for it. Maybe see if you can pick a little up yourself at the same time
SO JEALOUS! What a great opportunity. I took a good Psych class in college that explained the benefits of learning different languages from birth. They are amazing! By the time kids are 13, they are unable to learn another language as well as if they had learned it before 13. Ironic that schools start offering language classes right around that time, huh?
There is 1 teacher at LO's daycare who speaks Spanish and I would LOVE it if she spoke in Spanish to the babies but she does not. I think it's different for daycare vs. nanny.
Do it! It can only help! Maybe ask her to label everyday things with the language so you and your DH can encourage it as well. (table, chair, window, etc) The teacher at our DC that was speaking to LO in another language got promoted, while we're happy for her, it stinks he doesn't get exposed to it anymore.
This