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La voix des parents de Colombie-Britannique

By Annie Bourret, linguist and children’s author

Promoting French for Everyday Living

The 4Rs in Action

It's all well and good to claim that

young children are veritable lin-

guistic sponges, but they can only
take in what we give them. In a context
where our children’s exposure to French is
often very limited, the 4R approach (rou-
tine, rejoicing, repetition and rewarding)
helps to maximize this exposure.

It's an approach that | have been
advocating for several years, designed
for young children developing _ bilin-
gualism skills in a majority English/minor-
ity French environment. In other words,
the approach strives to compensate for
omnipresent English (the majority lan-
guage) by enriching exposure to French
(the minority language).

How do the 4Rs promote French?

¢ Routine imparts a feeling of emotio-
nal security and promotes French as
a part of regular activities.

¢ Rejoicing associates pleasure with
French (socio-affective dimension).

e Repetition provides a solid anchor
for language learning while putting
the child at ease.

¢ Rewarding imparts a sense of confi-
dence and competency.

Easier said than done? Rest assured,
it’s not all that complicated. The 4Rs are
quite easy to incorporate into your daily
routine.

The 4Rs in Action - Songs
(and Nursery Rhymes!)

Make singing a routine part of inter-
action with the family or with the Franco-
phone parent. For example, sing every
time you are in the car. Sing with the child
often to remind him of the words and the
melody (repetition), until the child knows
the song well enough to sing it alone (re-
warding) instead of following your lead.
Make it a game (rejoicing). Vary the ac-

tions: exaggerate pronunciation, add
actions, dance, sing as quickly, then as
slowly, as possible. If the non-Franco-
phone parent is learning French, ask the
child to teach that person the song (rep-
etition, rewarding).

The following suggestions, from the
GRANDIR CBC set of resources (the
French adaptation of LEAP BC™), involve
singing and rhyming activities, and are
available for free download.

®@ «Tout un monde » activity card (from
birth to 1 year of age) — A short poem
based on something that all babies
do.

®@ «Roule, roule » activity card (from 1
to 3 years of age) -— All you need is a
ball! “Roll the ball on the floor, the
ball is rolling, the ball is rolling...”

@ «Patate enl’air) activity card (from
1 to 5 years of age) — A nursery rhyme
using the fingers that’s worth learning.

@ «Te rappelles-tu quand...? » activity
card (from 1 to 5 years of age) -A
song that can be modified to include
your child's own memories.

You are not familiar wifh GRANDIR
CBS or LEAP BC™2? They are sets of re-
sources on early childhood develop-
ment. Both GRANDIR CB”© and LEAP
BC™ resources are available online for
free. To access LEAP BC™ resources, go
to: | decoda.ca/children-families/leap-
bc. For GRANDIR CB”, go to enfance
> GRANDIR CB. If you are not familiar
with the French songs suggested in the
GRANDIR CB”© activity cards, simply go
to « Chansons pour enfants »» (Songs for
children) at www.fpfcb.bc.ca/chansons,
where you can download them for free
(with or without the lyrics).

: Watch for more examples of the
: 4Rs in Action in upcoming issues
: of PARENThése!

Suggested activities

ROUTINE > Activities that are predictable: reading a book every night, singing a
song while washing one's hands, preparing a snack, eic.

REJOICING > Games or activities that the child enjoys : watching a DVD, singing,
playing hide-and-seek, reading. {(« Alors tu es le gros chat et je suis la petite souris
et tu dois m’attraper, d'accord? » /"Let's say you are the big cat and | am the
little mouse, and you have to catch me, OK”)

REPETITION > Activities that make repeated use of the French linguistic contents
(listening, oral expression). For instance, singing a song until the child masters the
lyrics and the tune, reading the same story over and over, watching the same

television show.

REWARDING > Activities that are pleasant and bring a feeling of success, in a
rewarding atmosphere. (« Bravo! »)/ "Well done!”, « Je suis fier de foi! »/ “I’m proud
of you!”, «C'est beau! »/ “Good going!” , «T’es capable! »/ “You can do it!”)