Bilingual Playgroups work. Really.

Roxana Soto of Spanglish Baby posted today about how successful and powerful a Spanish playgroup has proven to be. Her post reminded me that it's high time I give our own playgroup, the Kinderclub Glasgow a thumbs up.

I was more than sceptical when we started attending once I went on maternity leave. It's a large playgroup, with a minimum of 20 mums (and sometimes even a dad) and about 30 children attending. At first, I felt like the newcomer, the only person who didn't know anyone on the playground. Which, in fact, was far from the truth (I did know some people and just like me, there were other newcomers as I soon found out). My older daughter is reluctant to engage with large groups of children and it took months to see her interact with any of the kids. The parents usually have a chat over coffee and cake, which was lovely but I didn't see how this supported my child's bilingualism.

Almost one year on, I've more than changed my attitude. First up, the impact of attending a space where there are people, real people, who speak German is not to be underestimated. So far, Cubling heard me speak German to her, and English to everyone else. It was an oddity that I spoke German and there was no reason for her to follow suit. Suddenly she realised there were other people like me, and children who speak German too. It took a while to sink in, but the importance of this realisation is not to be underestimated (as testified by Cubling's reaction when she saw a German DVD that wasn't animated but had children speaking in German: "Mami, Mami, diese Kinder sind sprechen deutsch!!!").

Secondly, we made new friends. Smaller play dates have been organised, and on the days off, we often arrange smaller meetups too. No doubt that play dates in the homes of children work best - somehow a German space is as important as German people in it. Cubling knows which house is German speaking and which house isn't and she'll now switch and stick to the relevant language much more than ever. Just two play dates with one family markedly improved her fluency and willingness to speak German.

Thirdly, we had fun. I soon realised that Cubling wasn't all too keen to play with the other kids so I spent more dedicated one-to-one time with her than on other days, and this one-to-one time was definitely German as I didn't feel apprehensive to speak to my daughter in a language that those around me don't understand (as may happen at other play groups). It's the most natural environment for us to speak German and dedicated focused and engaged play time with your child is worth its weight in gold to support the minority language. We also had fun at cultural events of course.

Forthly, even the short group singalong at the end provided me with much needed singing material in German. The songs sung at the Kinderclub have become our favourites so that more fun time is spent in German at home too.

Finally, without doubt, Cubling loves going to the Kinderclub. Tired of nursery, not one to enjoy being at home, the Kinderclub is as popular as our weekly Nurture in Nature day. There has been many a Monday where I wasn't up for the treck to the other side of the city, but Cubling insisted that she wanted to go to the Kinderclub. So while I may not get what she likes so much about the Kinderclub (she doesn't play much with the other kids, and there's nothing she wouldn't also do at nursery), there's certainly no doubt in her mind that it's a fab thing to attend. And creating positive associations with German culture is simply the best way to keep the motivation going.

So bilingual playgroups in general and the Kinderclub in particular definitely have my tried, tested and approved badge.

(As have trips to German islands in the north sea with German only speaking kids... It's quite astounding. Must do more often)

Little rascal

I have a feeling that Snowflake is trying to tell me something.
She's been sneakily stealing chips from Cubling's plate and Cubling is delighted to share them with her beloved baby.

Oh and carrots, yumyum, gimme them. Tatties are no bad either. Oh and home made leek and potato soup? Can I have seconds?

Then somehow my ginger nut biscuit disappeared. Oh what a messy face, oh what messy hands, carpet and generally everything.

This morning's robbery beats it though. I must have not been watching with eagle eyes for a second or so, only to wonder why I was feeling all warm and wet on my legs. Surely she wasn't doing a puke on me again?!

It was coffee. She'd grabbed my cup and poured it over herself then me, including the dregs. In front of about 25 mums and their relevant children, for all to see what a caring and able adult I am to fail and protect my baby from hot drinks (only that of course I knew it wasn't hot. My coffees come with so much milk that they can at best be classed as luke warm). There was no hiding it. The dregs on pink trousers have me outed.

Charming.

And no, I have no intention of weaning her on coffee. That one is most defnitely mummy's. She may be a week short of six months but if there's any wisdom in watching baby, the weaning road lies inescapably ahead of us. The irony doesn't escape me that I complained about a certain sample diet and now have to list chips and ginger nut biscuits... Serves me right.

Taking the playgroup outdoors

It was a difficult decision to take a break from my favourite forest kindergarten, where Cubling explored the wilderness of Pollok Country Park on a weekly basis with her good friends and great teachers. However, you only get maternity leave for a year, and as I work almost full time when not on leave, I just want to spend more time with Cubling in this window of opportunity. At the same time my enthusiasm for outdoor learning is undiminished, so the decision to take a break from the forest kindergarten was only made when I found out about Nurture in Nature, an ad hoc group of parents who take their children outdoors twice a week.

It's a great idea and shows what you can do yourself, without an organised childcare setup (and I appreciate that it may only work for non working parents). The group consists of parents who like me value the opportunities that outdoor learning gives to children. And the idea is beautiful in its simplicity. Twice a week, the parents and children meet up at 10am at an outdoor location (which incidentally is also easy to get to by public transport, thus reducing the need for a car) and the children are let loose to play. They play with each other and things they find. There may be some occasional activities that parents initiate, but mostly it's the kids who with their own creativity come up with what they want to do.

A group much to my own liking. It costs nothing, apart from the bus/train fare to the location. Because a parent is present, there's no need to register with the Care Commission or go through any police checks, which means there's no complex administration. The parents just do it. It's effectively taking a playgroup outdoors.

So, from last week, I'm able to offer Cubling (and Snowflake who I take along of course) the joys of the outdoors in company with other children. And as a plus, it's even with mum.

What did we do? Well, we discovered a wood, trees, sticks and the beautiful autumn foliage. We found a swing, logs to balance on, jump off from and sit down on for a picnic lunch. We found a wooden board and built a bridge over a burn, crossed it, and crossed it again. Built the bridge in different locations and balanced it on stones. We then dared to cross the burn on foot. We splashed in extra deep puddles (it's been a rainy week in Scotland), collected sticks and drew in the mud. Cubling got to know new children and told me all about what you can do with leaves, puddles, sticks, logs, water and more. We got very soaked, very cold, very tired and very happy.

:: This post is part of outdoor challenge Monday, which is hosted on 5 Orange Potatoes, where you can read many post on how to incorporate the outdoors in your child's life. You can also sign up to take part.::