German and English Language Enrichment at the Preschool

Our German and English enrichment is embedded into daily life at the Preschool and runs as a common thread through the Elementary School and all the way up and onto the weekly schedules of ninth grade. The preschoolers who are beginning to learn their second language attend age-appropriate language enrichment sessions daily to gain German or English language skills as well as to learn about culture, values, and traditions of Germany and the US.

The two programs for playfully acquiring language skills in a foreign language, „Finki, ich & wir“ and “Hocus & Lotus“, are designed for early childhood. Both programs speak a preschooler’s imagination. The child is at the center with his or her interests, experiences and individually often different developmental stages and abilities.  Individual instructional modules can be combined in diverse ways as they are integrated into daily life at the Preschool. The modules are complemented by media such as video cartoons (DVD) and sing along CDs with picture books. The materials are suitable for large and small groups as well as for individual sessions and they facilitate targeted enrichment in order to support children with a variety of competencies and different levels of previous knowledge.

When a 2-year-old child starts preschool, the initial focus is on supporting their adjustment to the new school environment and learning all about being a preschooler. Therefore, no instructional classes are held during this initial acclimation period and begin only after children have transitioned to the older mixed-age classrooms (Frogs, Ladybugs, Seahorses and Zebras).

Once children have been integrated into those classrooms, classroom teachers and enrichment educators collaborate at the start of each school year to identify the children who would benefit most from participation in the program. Next, the enrichment specialists begin working with selected children in small groups for short sessions outside the classroom once or twice a week.

These sessions emphasize playful, language-rich activities that introduce new vocabulary, encourage verbal expression, develop sentence structure, and inspire young children to engage with language in a small, supportive, and nurturing environment.

Examples include:

• Talking and telling each other stories
• Creating connections and sequences of events through language, i.e. sorting by sounds/by affiliation, finding umbrella terms, sequencing parts of a story, identifying similar items
• Learning to listen
• Gaining basic vocabulary / expanding and strengthening existing vocabulary
• Learning and using simple sentence structures
• Practicing visual and aural senses
• Recognizing colors and shapes
• Recognizing quantities and numbers
• Develop fine motor skills

OVERALL LANGUAGE CONCEPT:

To learn more about how we are supporting German language competency from preschool to high school graduation, please see the Overall Language Concept .