Since DS (3.5) has been going to preschool more regularly (3-4 mornings a week) I have been feeling like I have less direction with him in the afternoon. We used to to do all sorts of fun projects, such as making alphabet posters and letters out of clay but I have been lacking inspiration lately.

However, he just gave me the idea of learning some French - he has a card and dice game which we are going to have a go at later but I am trying to find some nice fun resources online and am not coming up with much.

Are there any interactive (free) resources that you can point me in the direction of suitable for little ones? Any other ideas welcome! Do you know a counting song etc.?

Thanks x

When dd started doing an hour of french a week in reception (they had a native french speaker so each class had an hour a week) they borrowed books from the library…les trois ours (3 bears) springs to mind…I think as dd knew the story so well anyway and these stories often have repetition she enjoyed listening to it in french. I also have an evening or weekend when I try and use any french words I know and point things out or drop a word into conversation…my french is not great, but I did A-Level and have always had an ear for languages so just give it a go. The Muzzy vidoes were popular years ago, dont know if they are still around….I can still sing some of the tunes that a friends little sister was learning about 20 years ago!

My daughter picked up a french book (well European, also has German and Spanish) at a charity shop years ago - she was probably 3 and really wanted it, and I thought why not she can pick things up from it as she gets older. She loved the book then and still does now and she often looks at it and is now starting to read the words - it’s one of the books we look at a lot at the moment. It’s been good for me too as my language skills are very rusty!

We found a few places online to play around with words and games - will see if I can find the links still in my bookmarks if they still work.

http://www.digitaldialects.com/French.htm  (learning and then games if I recall)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/  (again, some games I think)

I’m sure there are others and maybe better ones - would be interested in links to show dd.

Muzzy - I think divides people, some people love them, some hate them. We have a copy that was free to us and it’s okay, dd has liked watching bits of it from time to time - I personally wouldn’t have spent loads of money on it though.

I know some Home educators use http://www.skoldo.com but it might just be from school age.  I use French CDs with songs on, I talk to them in French and we read French books (bought cheaply from a French supermarket last time we were on holiday there!).  Songs are a great way to start though, I combine singing them with the sign language we learned when they were young so that they understand what they are singing without resorting to telling them in English.

Diana

Thanks for the suggestions. We went to the library in search of les trois ours or similar but were unable to get anything like that. Still, I really like the idea of a simple story that we already know (and the 3 bears is a favourite of DS) so I think I will order a copy from Amazon - it is less than £5. I also love the idea of songs - I agree, it is a great way to learn and we sing all day long here. Any recommendations? I am looking at the Putumayo one - French Playground which looks good but is quite pricey. There is another one on Amazon called ‘Songs in French for Children’ which has good reviews but I am not sure I like the sound of the ‘Disney style’ singing…

Right off to check out all your links!

x