[Home English] Even a lazy mom can do it! Practical methods that helped all 4 of my children achieve high English proficiency
A realistic day of zero-effort home English for a 0-year-old
“What should I do for home English?”
I hear this really often.
I am not good at English.
I am not confident in my pronunciation, and I don't know grammar in detail.
Even so, my 4 children achieved results in English.
The reason is simple.
Because I didn't teach them English✨
All I did was
create an English environment!!!
Today, I will write about
a realistic day for my 0-year-old.
Before that, what do you think are the
two things that are truly important in parenting
that I genuinely believe in?
These two things are enough.
Minimum greetings and English ability.
This is perfect. The rest will grow on its own.
Even with such a lazy mother, my children have high self-esteem,
the ability to solve problems on their own when something happens,
and life skills. Thanks to home English,
they are becoming happy adults.
My children's achievements
・Eldest daughter: TOEIC 905 in college (perfect score in listening)
・Eldest son: Eiken Grade 3 in 6th grade of elementary school
・Second son: IELTS 7.5 while studying abroad in Hungary
(almost a perfect score level for TOEIC)
・Second daughter: 1st place in high school English mock exams consecutively
Morning
When you wake up in the morning,
just play English songs.
I played them like background music.
What I used were
・Mother Goose
・English nursery rhymes
The children are just playing.
I am just doing housework.
Even so, a baby's ears
are absorbing the sounds firmly.
And during meals, instead of songs,
I focused on conversations and stories such as
・Sawako's Day (sample)
・Yukio's Day (sample)
If it's a song, they start singing or playing,
so they won't concentrate on their meal.
I also often played things that came with a set of Disney picture books and CDs.
This is just for listening during meals, but I recommend it because you can also look at it in conjunction with the picture book.
Daytime
During the day, when we were at home, I would casually play songs in the living room.
The older two were in kindergarten, so they enjoyed picture books on their own when they felt like it. I think I read to them too?
The younger two were in nursery school, so I remember them asking me to read picture books when they finished getting ready early.
In the car
Even when riding in the car,
I would play English CDs.
What I played most often was
・English nursery rhymes
・Mother Goose
The car is the perfect time for background listening.
Especially since there is nothing else to do in the car, it is the best environment.
Fun songs are great, but it is also a good environment to try
things that are slightly more advanced, interesting, or new
that you don't usually let them listen to.
Night
At night, before bed, I would often
read one English picture book.
I didn't read a lot every day.
Just one book when I felt like it.
I had about 20 picture books in total,
including ones I bought in Australia and ones I received from friends.
Background listening time
I am often asked, but background listening was
about 1 to 2 hours a day.
Morning
Living room
Car
I used these times.
Diaper changing
I use simple English when changing diapers.
For example,
・Let's change nappy or diaper
・All done
・Good job
I don't use difficult English.
Only simple, short words.
At the park, on walks, or on the train
Just saying things like 'Look' while watching something is really about the extent of it.
Names of playground equipment at the park, or 'train', etc.
With my English ability, 'wash your hands' was the most
complex sentence I could manage.
For example,
・Ball
・Open
・Close
More like talking to myself than English? Just speaking to them?
Bath time
The classic thing to do is
counting while soaking in the tub.
Otherwise, I would sing English songs...
My home English approach is to do it anytime, anywhere♪
Since I'm lazy, I've never gone out of my way to set aside specific time for it.
The important things are these two
Order & no burden on mom!
There is an order to English.
① Sound
② Meaning
③ Output
④ Reading and writing
At 0 years old, it's
the ① sound phase
So
all you have to do is create an environment for listening
That's all there is to it.
Summary
The reason I could do it even as a mom who is bad at English is
Because I didn't teach them!
Home English is nothing special.
It's about creating an environment.
In the next article, I plan to write about
what 90% of families do too much of in home English
.
🎀 Free PDF Gift 🎀
Mom's English skills not required [7 tips that helped all 4 children achieve high English proficiency]
✔ The environment you should set up first
✔ Things you don't need to do
✔ The turning point for elementary school students to become self-directed
Even if you are bad at English, and even if you don't have time or money, it's okay.
I have summarized only the things you can start doing today.
♡ Register on LINE to receive ♡