Language has always been a subject I knew my oldest daughter would explore. From a very young age, she showed an interest and appreciation for different languages–and a knack for imitating them, even in her toddler babble.
The problem? I only speak English fluently. While I had studied French in high school, now over a decade later, most of my knowledge of vocabulary and conjugating verbs had faded into that forgotten place where memories of childhood piano lessons and the one thing I ran into Target to buy go. As the years went by, the idea of raising a bilingual child started to feel more and more out of reach.
When my daughter got a little older, we found a local friend who was fluent in Spanish to give her weekly lessons. Vivian loved what she was learning, but she continued to talk about learning French one day. I couldn’t help but feel frustrated that I couldn’t get her started at an age when her brain was absorbing language at such a fast rate.
Then one day, I got a message on Instagram from a company called The Cultured Kid. Their founder, Shannon, had discovered The Learn + Live Letter online and felt there was a natural compatibility between our teaching methods and wanted to know if we were interested in trying her lessons.
Um, yes, please!
The Cultured Kid is the #1 foreign language program for children designed specifically for parents and caregivers who aren’t native speakers. The program works great in a homeschool or classroom setting, and TCK offers programs for English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Chinese Mandarin. The play-based lessons (which you know I love!) can be taught in 5-10 minutes a day, and then help your child gain a holistic understanding of the language through songs, videos, games, and flashcards that reinforce the vocabulary.
The lesson plans generally begin with songs that you can play throughout the week to help reinforce memorization and pronunciation. From there, free downloadable flash cards and coloring sheets with engaging illustrations give your child a hands-on way to practice speaking and writing their new vocabulary. The rest of the week includes videos, bilingual stories, and games that get your child moving, speaking, and quickly understanding their new language.
The best part, though, is that the grownup teaching the lessons also receives plenty of support, from easy-to-follow scripts to help encourage conversations to simple videos that help with pronunciation and provide visual cues you both will remember easily.
Because they’re short, the lessons are simple to tack onto another homeschool curriculum without adding too much length to your intentional learning time. Or, for more flexibility, you can lump them into one 30-minute lesson a week. And because the activities themselves are rooted in play, you probably won’t hear too much resistance about adding them anyway!
You can subscribe on a monthly basis for $39 per month or buy the annual bundle to get the full year for $397. Want to try a sample lesson? Click here to learn how to teach your child a few French action words (if you’re an L+L subscriber, you’ll also see this activity in our upcoming France Units!). If you download the flashcards, you’ll also have the opportunity to try a 1-month bundle for just $1. Or use code ANNUAL100 for $100 off an annual subscription.
Ready to get your child ready to start learning? Click here to learn more about The Cultured Kid, or here to follow them on Instagram for more helpful videos and tips for teaching language.
We received a free trial of The Cultured Kid annual subscription for testing purposes. The thoughts in this review are our own.