👪 How to help your child learn English at home
Ten or fifteen minutes a day, out loud and with pictures, does more than an hour once a week. Keep your home language strong, read together every day in any language, and add a little English with cards, songs and games. You do not need perfect English to help.
Keep your home language
Children who keep talking, reading and singing in their first language bring all of it to English: the idea that print means words, the joy of a story, a big vocabulary of things they know. Don't stop speaking your language at home to make room for English.
A ten-minute English routine
- Pick one topic from the picture cards: food today, clothes tomorrow.
- Hear and say each word together: tap the 🔊, then say it.
- Find it in the house: point at a real apple, a real shoe.
- Use it in a sentence: "I see a cat." "I want an apple."
- Play one round of the flashcards, or an English quiz.
Read together every day
Read a picture book in English and talk about it in your own language, or read one in your language and name a few things in English. The easy readers read every word aloud, so a grown-up who is learning too can follow along.
Make English part of the day
- Label things in the house with sticky notes.
- Sing simple songs and nursery rhymes.
- Play board games: your turn, my turn, roll the dice.
- Watch a short show in English and talk about it after.
When to ask for more help
Ask your child's school what English support it offers and which words the class is learning this week. Most schools have an English learner teacher; they are the best person to tell you how your child is doing.