Archive for the ‘Portuguese Classes’ Category

After School Activities – choices, choices

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Dear Members,
When thinking about what activities to sign my son up in the fall, I faced many choices….music, sports, drama classes, arts and more…..I decided to look for classes which were fun and educational, so I kept him on our Easylearn programs for foreign languages, math at Mathnasium to keep his math skills, music to develop brain connections and concentration and a sport, which will be football due to his size!!!!!!I had no trouble picking a sport, I must say that!
Parents often talk to me about continuing with foreign language classes and I tell them it is for the children’s benefit to continue while they are young and learning is as easy as playtime!
This fall choose well, ask for demo classes but above all choose something your child enjoy doing!
It’s all about having fun!
Saludos,
Claudia Krusch
Director of Easylearn programs

Easter in Portuguese

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Dear Members,

This time of the year brings the best memories of my childhood. When my mom used to stay hours in the kitchen preparing the seafood dishes for Easter! My dad would spend hours stirring Vatapá, Camarão, arroz branco, farofinha…..makes my mouth water. Those sounds and smells still surround me when Easter times come, so I try to make this a special time for my son as well…bringing some of the traditions like purchasing the one pound Easter Egg at the Brazilian store….making sea food on good Friday and working on a two hour sweet bread which allows me to share some of my memories with him.

If you wish to share some traditions with your child or use some interesting materials in the classroom, I would suggest:

Use bunny songs which can be found in YouTube:

De olhos vermelhos or Coelhinho da Páscoa, words for the songs can also be found online

Memory game with Easter vocabulary like, coelho, cesta, ovos, chocolate, colorante, páscoa

Print easter egg from online free coloring pages and cut them in three parts, have the children put pieces of the eggs together, this can also be used to review colors on the eggs.

I hope my ideas help you share Easter traditions!

Feliz Páscoa!

Claudia Krusch

Director of EasyLearn Languages Programs

Teaching a Child a foreign language – good or bad?

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Dear Readers,

This is a question I often have to answer. Parents are worried about children who don’t speak English yet, who have speech delay, can’t differentiate colors after 24 months and other concerns……they are afraid a foreign language will make the situation worse or will bring a problem to their children.

NNELL and our website: www.easylearnlanguages.com lists thousands of articles which defend the early introduction of a foreign language to a child, proven  not to be only beneficial but instrumental in early reading, math, reasoning and other skills which were more developed in children exposed to foreign languages in early age.

My students, we currently have 150 enrolled in our programs have demonstrated those studies to be true and their learning process to say the least, have brought a joyful and educational experience to them.

Next time you decide to give a gift certificate to a child on their birthday, think of that!

For more information on classes and programs, please visit our site or a school in your area.

Claudia Krusch

Director of EasyLearn Programs