Any suggestions about ESL classes

swathikamahesh · Mar 11, 2010

HI IL,
I have a 4 year old son He will be going to kindergarten this september.When i went for registration they asked him some questions he did good in all the part except for the questions the teacher asked about the story that she red.He didnt listen properly and didnt answer it correctly.So she recommended ESL class for him.I dont know the details about it and some says it it appears in the report card it might me a problem when he goes tho college.Can anyone pl tell me what is this all about.

I have one more concern about him.As far as academics is concrened he does pretty well at house he can read lot of words as well as math.But when he goes to school he kind of shadows himself when the teacher asks him some questins to the class he doesnt answer but when she comes to him and ask he answers it and i feel he is kind of copying others behavior a lot.I need ur help to make him stand out and be bold beford he goes to KG.

Thanks
Swathi.

teacher · Apr 13, 2010

HI Swathi,
Your son is 4...I assume you speak Tamil or another regional language at home? This is a normal part of early language acquisition in young children-especially for beginning bilingual instruction. From what you say, it looks like he might have been ok answering questions requiring factual responses-yes, no, what is your name? etc.

The part about reading a book and ansering questions has other skills-like answering questions based on the plot of the book,
sequence of events (What happened first, what happened next...),
making inferences (identifying information not explicitly stated in the book-also called reading between lines),
making predictions (what do you think will happen?eg,will the big bad wolf blow down the third pig's brick house?).

Get lots of picture books-not the early readers (This is spot, see spot run kind of books). select story books or non fiction (on trains, cars..whatever interests your son) and read to him. Start with familiar stories and then move on to others. Start with plot based questions-what happened in the story? Who are the characters? Where are they? Follow up with open ended questions like what do you think will happen next? Why do you think this happened?

Make sure your son has opportunity to give his own answers-unless the question is about a specific event in the book, there are no right or wrong answers. After you read, ask him to draw his favorite part of the story, or make something related to the stoy (build a house with sticks)...let it be his own creation. Then ask him to describe it to you. This way you are increasing his comprehension and expression. Later on ask him to narrate the story to your husband or family members-if he forgets a part of the story, cue him subtly but let him continue his own story.

Once he practices engaging in these areas, he will be fine unless there are other factors-which will come in to play only when he is older...ESL is not appropriate for a 4 yr old.

R

swathikamahesh · Apr 14, 2010

Hi teacher,
Thank u so much for ur wonderful reply.As for as talking is concerned he talks english most of the times in house too.I think the problem is with his concentration.Though i read books 4 him i havent really asked him much of questions or ask him to draw pictures.Thats a good idea.I'll start it from now on.Hope it works.thank u once again.

Regards,
Swathi.

teacher · Apr 14, 2010

Hi Swathi,
If he is entering kindrgarten in the fall then you have plenty of time to increase his exposure. If there is any other issue, it will come up in the kindergarten year as that is the beginning of true academics in the US...any extra classes or techniques they suggest will actually help if you start right at the beginning. So see how things work out and if there is still a lag, you can always find appropriate help.
R