German 1st grade instruction

[EmilyGF]

Hi all,

I have a first grade boy who reads excellently in English. I want to introduce some sort of German reading/writing/grammar curriculum, but most of the 1st grade materials expect the child can't figure out syllables. He can understand most basic spoken German but doesn't produce much, so I want to do some writing together to help him with systematic production. Any suggestions on how to start or on a curriculum?

Thanks, Emily

[regentrude]

The way we started was by teaching the kids to READ German as soon as they had understood the blending of sounds to words in English. Since your son already knows German, you are not restricted to using beginners materials, but can read real books.
I found materials for teaching German as a foreign language pretty much useless for children who are speaking fluently (which I guess may be the case in your family as well?). So, we are using only materials intended to instruct German students in their native language, which we import from Germany.
I have started the formal spelling and grammar instruction a bit later (3rd and 5th grades) and had good success using books intended for German students who need a bit of practice preparing for tests etc.

[Frechesmaedl]

Check out http://www.amazon.de/ABC-Tiere-1-Neubearbeitung-Lesezirkus/dp/3619143927/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308270088&sr=1-5
(http://www.amazon.de/ABC-Tiere-1-Neubearbeitung-Lesezirkus/dp/3619143927/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308270088&sr=1-5)

[Steven]

Amazon.de has a lot of stuff available. Ever since I have been looking for the language workbooks that German students use, Amazon.de has been sending recommendations for early readers. They even have a special "Erstlese-Portal" which you can access here: http://www.amazon.de/gp/browse.html/ref=pe_98901_25089791_pe_09/?node=682939031

You might like the workbooks like this: Die Kleinen Lerndrachen: Mein grosses Trainingsbuch Deutsche 2. http://www.amazon.de/dp/312929239X/ref=pe_53711_25182211_pe_vfe_dt1

While in Germany recently, I searched for workbooks for students to use at home, and found that quite a few publishers offer suitable books. Just browse around on Amazon.de .

I taught my daughter to read German after she was a good reader in English; she was about 5 and a half when we started. Having grasped the mechanics of reading, she had no problem learning to read German. We systematically went through all the letters and key blends and diphthongs, and then moved right into reading early reader books.

[naturalmom]

If you get a Fibel (a primer), it will go through the various sounds. There are loads to choose from. Here is Kunterbunt from Klett. It's for all of Germany except Bayern. If you click on the little red book next to the listing, you can see the contents of the book (be sure to look further than the first few pages):

http://www.klett.de/sixcms/list.php?page=titelfamilie&titelfamilie=Kunterbunt+-+Neubearbeitung&modul=produktansicht&view=388856


Here is Frohes Lernen that is for Bayern:

http://www.klett.de/sixcms/list.php?page=titelfamilie&titelfamilie=Frohes+Lernen&modul=produktansicht&view=117857



Die Bücherwurm Fibel:

http://www.klett.de/sixcms/list.php?page=titelfamilie&titelfamilie=B%FCcherwurm&modul=produktansicht&view=79193

globalbooks.de has free shipping to the US if you spend 44 Euros.

After the Fibel, here's a neat site for free reading material:
hamsterkiste.de

For more reading practice, Lesemaus is good. The level one readers have some of the words replaced as pictures, so if you don't want that, skip to level 2. They are quite cheap, I think 4 Euros/book.

Another option that we have really liked is Lesedetektive from Duden:
http://www.lesedetektive.de/index_3_1.php
Click on a book, and then click on "Leseprobe" in the blue box. You can see several pages of the book, and that can give you an idea of the level of the book. You can buy these at globalbooks or amazon.de. They cost more then Lesemaus, but they are nice hardback books, and the stories are interesting (some of the Lesemaus stories haven't been as engaging)

I don't want to go on too much, but if you want more ideas, or possibilities after reading is more solid, let me know.

Oh, another option for ordering (if you don't make it to 44 Euros and don't want to spend the extra on amazon.de!) is IBIS:
http://www.ibiservice.com/

You are then only paying US shipping. They don't inflate the prices for books, and they can order almost anything in print.

Good luck!

[kristinannie]

I am planning on using KIKUS (http://www.hueber.de/huebershop/liste.html?selected_elka_id=583573&p=407982:408103:408104:583571) German (either starting in K or 1st...I haven't decided). It is available on Amazon.de for 14 Euro shipping per order. I also ordered a lot of children's books to read and some DVD's (you will need a new DVD player). Mostly, I am going to just speak to them a lot in German as well!

[naturalmom]

pmeilaen: I actually used the Tobi Fibel for ds! I couldn't remember what it was called, since someone had lent it to me, and I don't have it anymore, so I just listed some other possibilities. But the Tobi one was fun:)

[Serenade]

Check out http://www.amazon.de/ABC-Tiere-1-Neubearbeitung-Lesezirkus/dp/3619143927/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308270088&sr=1-5
(http://www.amazon.de/ABC-Tiere-1-Neubearbeitung-Lesezirkus/dp/3619143927/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308270088&sr=1-5)

Can you order from the German Amazon site if you're in the US? I added this book to my cart, but I guess it was a German cart because it didn't show up in my regular Amazon cart. Is there a way to switch it over, or would I have to set up a German account? So confused....

[loesje22000]

You can order from every amazon, no matter where you live, but you have to create a new account: I have 4 amazon accounts
:001_rolleyes:

[kristinannie]

When I added Amazon.de, it even brought all of my credit card info so I didn't have to retype it. They are completely different entities though so you can't combine an order with the amazon.com. Amazon.de has incredible customer service! :D We got an empty box (it had been obviously tampered with) and I could not believe how apologetic they were. They said, "I hope you will order from us again." I guess these things don't happen over there! I am sure whoever did it was upset to find out they were all German kids' books! :lol: