Category: German for Kids
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There are a few commonly discussed methodologies for raising bilingual children, and MANY more ways language-learning looks in everyday families around the world. In this article I’ll discuss some critical questions to think through if you are planning for the future or trying to address problems that are cropping up. First, a brief summary of…
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You may be wondering why I put such a heavy emphasis on media on this site, rather than, say, parent-directed conversations. I have a PhD in Literature, so, yes, I do think reading is really, really fun, but I also know that media is a critical motivator for second-language acquisition. I’ve talked to many parents…
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Constanze von Kitzing is the author and illustrator of lovely, modern children’s board books (author site). She is well known for her series about a diverse group of preschool children, who have adventures together with their teachers and parents. Von Kitzing’s Wimmelbücher are really sweet and humorous. Here’s an image from the first book in…
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I’ve talked to a lot of parents who worry that their family constellation won’t be ‘enough’ to teach their kids a second language. Here are some examples of family situations like this — This can be a hot-button issue — so many resources will tell you that parents should speak their native language (and only…
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The classic series Ich habe einen Freund, der bist… / Ich habe eine Freundin, die ist…, by Ralf Butschkow teaches children about diverse occupations. In each book, a child goes to work with a different person and learns about their career. They are nice, simple little stories where kids learn about everyday life as a…
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Liane Schneider’s Conni series is one of the most famous children’s book series in German, and follow the everyday life and adventures of a young German girl named Conni. Since the first book was published in the early 1990s, the Conni world has expanded to over 100 stories across four different series, audiobooks, cartoons, movies,…
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Wimmelbücher are picture books where the child looks for different things in a large picture (like Where’s Waldo) and they are extremely popular in Germany. The best Wimmelbücher to facilitate language learning include text that help give the child additional German language input. Here are some top Wimmelbücher series:
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There are absolutely wonderful German nonfiction series for children. The most well known is Ravensburger’s Wieso Weshalb Warum series that explain common topics (e.g. our bodies, robots, airplanes, Christmas traditions). In general, I find that the Wieso Weshalb Warum books go into more depth than Americans might expect for the target ages, which makes the…
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High-quality video has been shown to be a valuable source of authentic language input for children learning a minority language (study link). There are many ways to bring video in to support your family’s learning objectives for your child. Variety in video (as in other media) is extremely useful. We want to give kids access…
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The Kleiner Jakob series is an excellent series for very young toddlers. Each board book consists of about five scenes with one flap per scene. Each narrative has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and includes gentle humor that connects with the youngest readers. The series builds on the expansive world of Liane Schneider’s famous…
