"Baby Steps" Introducing More of the Target Language to My 3 Yr Old

Methods
Many families use the OPOL method of language learning. The One Parent One Language system works wonderfully for native speakers or bi-cultural families. I wasn't so sure it would work well for us though. I am American - a native English speaker, but also speak Spanish and French. My husband is also American and a native English speaker. He understands and speaks a little Spanish, but is not fluent. He is very supportive of the idea of my teaching our boys Spanish, however. When we talked about options for how to teach the boys Spanish - neither of us were completely sold on the idea of OPOL. My concern was that due to work schedules and other factors, I am, at times, the parent with the majority of time with the boys. So most of their English learning opportunities would come from me as well. So I decided to use a system that was more "situational" if you will.

I found this article, in two parts, that relieved some of my concerns. I hope it can do the same for someone else!

Bilingual Children With One Hour of Language a Day - Part 1
http://www.multilingualliving.com/2010/09/07/bilingual-children-with-one-hour-of-language-a-day-part-one/

Bilingual Children With One Hour of Language a Day - Part 2
http://www.multilingualliving.com/2010/09/8/bilingual-children-with-one-hour-of-language-a-day-part-two/

Here are a few things I took away from the article really gave me reassurance:
1- It's ok to start slow. Every little bit counts and as time goes on, you can include more and more.
2-Stick with it. It can take anywhere from 3 months to a year to see tangible results.
3-I get to define success for my family. There is no right or wrong, no deadline for when my children have to be bilingual. Small goals are fine and goals can change and grow and time moves forward.


Putting it Into Practice
I've mentioned before in a different post the Spanish that our older son picked up from Dora. I've tried to maintain those phrases and build on them. We always use "gracias" and "de nada." In the car, he continues to be a good backseat driver. And I work with him to reinforce colors and other vocab relative to travel. By the time we get to our destination, we have always passed several stop lights, stop signs, cars, lanes, and trucks. We've had ample opportunity to connect the green light to going, yellow to slowing, and red to stopping. In being consistent with this every time I'm in the car with the boys, they are hearing it over and over and starting to retain it. Only being a couple of months into our bilingual journey, our 3 year old still asks questions and makes statements mainly in English. But, when I answer him in Spanish, his responses show that he is understanding everything I say. I feel this is a big victory!

I've tried just switching to all Spanish a couple of times, but this did not go over well. I was told in no uncertain terms, "Mommy! NOT speak in Spanish! I don't know HOW to speak in Spanish! You got to speak in English!" Sooo....back to baby steps. I chose one more concept to start in the target language. I started doing our bedtime routine all in Spanish. Each night when it's time for bed, I say "Vamos al baño para cepillarte los dientes!" And we always end up in the bathroom. I hand him his cup and say, "Toma un poquito de agua primero." (because he insists that he must drink water before brushing)  Then while we're brushing his teeth I usually make up a silly song in Spanish about how we're brushing his teeth, his teeth will be clean, and his breath will be fresh. In this process I'm also able to use phrases like "Abre la boca" (open your mouth." Once we're done brushing, I say, "A tu cuarto mi amor - es la hora de ponerte el pajama." So we get jammies on and then, I say "Busca dos cuentos." I tell him to find two bedtime stories to read. Then we use words like "Listo" - ready, "primero"-first, "Segundo" - second, etc... within the process. So by the end of the night, every night, we have used, spoken, and understood a good deal of Spanish

Even if we're taking baby step, I'm proud of our effort and the results I'm seeing so far. I'm excited to experience this journey together as a family!