Instead of just sharing holiday posts with suggested activities like we normally do, I decided to share my personal discovery and journey through Christmas traditions of my own country, Brazil and Hispanic countries, when I research the topic to bring to my classes.
My first stop will be the Shoe on the Window tradition!
The story I was told when I was a child was that Santa would come at night and drop off toys in the shoes left on the window….because of the safety issues, we would leave them outside our doors and Santa would leave the toys!
There is a song which has remained in all my wonderful Christmas memories! Deixei meu sapatinho
So, to bring this tradition to my son, I explain to him, since it is warm in Brazil, there are no stockings, we have shoes and I ask him to place shoes outside his door and every Christmas morning, Santa leaves stocking stuffers in them, along with new slippers! Fun! Divertido!
This is an easy recipe which you can make it and bring a foreign language at the same time!
Cook 2 Tbsp of butter
1 Tbsp of chocolate powder
1 can of condensed milk
Cook in low heat until mixture is not stuck to the pot, it falls off. We are looking for a more firm consistency. Spread butter on a plate and spread the cooked mixture and let it cool off until you can take a piece and make a 1 inch ball with it. Roll the ball on jimmys or sugar or nuts. Ask kids to help you make the balls and count them in Portuguese or Spanish as you roll them.
I thought a lot before offering Valentine’s classes in Portuguese because Brazilian people don’t celebrate it! I decided to bring the theme and incorporate some ideas used in the Spanish class, so they would still learn the vocabulary without meaning less translations.
I created a math worksheet with hearts, they learn the word heart, coração and had to add the hearts on the page, children 3 and under just had to look, count on fingers and give me the answer in Spanish, with them I used hearts I cut out and we did the math on the rug.
I also used the song beijo, Ivete San Galo to talk about Valentine words…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXvcKm6tERQ We played a tic tac toe with pictures cut where they would have to use thier piece to try to win
I used pictures of hearts- coração, cupid – cupido, chocolate- chocolate, baloons-balão
I explained in Brazil, Valentine’s Day is in June and it’s called the boyfriend/girlfriend’s day, it’s not for friends, but for people
who are inlove, married, in a relationship.
They loved the activities and learned Portuguese!
Até a próxima!
Abraços,
Claudia Krusch
EasyLearn Languages CEO
I was thinking about good ideas for games to play with my son while we were home during the holidays and new year’s and I came up with some ideas to bring foreign language into our play time, I hope you get a chance to try some of them!!!
1. Año Nuevo – Buena Suerte- make a popcorn string and add a marshmallow after each 10 pieces, they will have to count pieces while placing them on a piece of thin wool or rope, ribbon….
2. Baking together- A very famous holiday baking recipe is for pan dulce, try this recipe and ask children to place dried fruits inside of it, they will have to tell you the colors while placing them. For recipe:
La receta del pan dulce casero es una buena y energética receta que permite elaborar unos sabroso panecillos muy apropiados para almorzar o merendar gracias a su gran aporte energético y nutricional.
Ingredientes para 4 personas:
Pasas de corinto: 50 gramos
Azúcar: 6 cucharadas
Huevos: 2 unidades
Levadura en polvo: 1 sobre (15 gramos)
Harina: 280 gramos
Mantequilla: 100 gramos
Leche: 100 cl
Anís: 1 copa
Fruta confitada: 50 gramos
Piñones: 30 gramos
Preparación:
Tiempo estimado:
Se ponen las pasas en remojo para que estén blandas cuando las tengamos de utilizar
Por otro lado, se separan las claras de las yemas de los huevos. Las claras se reservan y las yemas se ponen en un bol junto con el azúcar y se baten enérgicamente hasta obtener una consistencia espumosa
A continuación se añade la mantequilla previamente derretida y, sin dejar de remover, se van agregando alternativamente la harina, la levadura el polvo y la leche vertida lentamente
Cuando está todo bien mezclado se agrega el anís, las pasas previamente pasadas por harina, los piñones, las frutas confitadas cortadas a trocitos
Por otro lado se baten bien las claras de los huevos a punto de nieve y se añaden a al mezcla anterior
Se remueve todo bien hasta que quede una mezcla homogénea y esponjosa
A parte, se unta un molde con mantequilla y se enharina para que no se pegue el pan a las paredes del molde
Se vierte la mezcla en el bol y se introduce en el horno a 180? durante una hora. Cuando el pan esta cocido se saca del horno y se deja enfriar a temperatura ambiente
3. Counting Beans- In Brazil, people place lentils or beans on the table during new year’s eve to bring prosperity, place a bowl with beans or lentils on your table, explain the tradition and count the beans together!
4. Print some foreign language words and hide them in cookie dough, bake them, after cooling it off, have children break cookie before eating and they will read the words….make sure you know the meaning and that words are previously explained to children before baking or in another activity! Suggestion on words: Spanish: coche, pelota, libro, agua, jugo, galleta, Portuguese: Carro, bola, livro, água, suco, biscoito.
I wanted to share some of my experiences in the past week with children in our Spanish and Portuguese classes!
Some interesting things happened when we asked children to make a lista de presentes or lista de regalos (gift list), one of our students told me that he didn’t need anything, he had everything and asked me how you say that in Spanish! Another student had a 20 item list and we spent the whole class, trying to have him say the gifts in Spanish….off course they came up with fuzzoodles, zuzu pets and other wierd names….I used my imagination to help them say those things in Spanish and Portuguese!
We also brought some cookies and had them decorate the cookies and place things on Santa’s plate (prato de papai noel/plato de papá noel). We also did a craft with cookies, chocolate and milk. We placed a plate on a coloring page, children cut the cookies, candy and candy cane and glued and colored it.
I also share with children that candy canes are not a Christmas treat in South America, gifts are placed in shoes on the windows in many countries and no real trees, just plastic ones! Weather is warm in South America, so people eat lighter meals!
I hope that brought more ideas to parents and educators on how to share holidays with children using a foreign language!
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
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.
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.
The owner of this website, Claudia Krusch, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking Easy Learn Languages Blog to Amazon properties including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com.
