Language development
Intregration into everyday life
Language acquisition and language development at rainbowtrekkers are integrated into everyday life using the immersion method. All children are immersed in the bilingual language environment from the very beginning (immersion). In this sense, language development is always an inclusive language education. Unlike school concepts, there is no language level that can be achieved within a fixed framework. Rather, language acquisition is fluently integrated into everyday life and is oriented towards the individual interests and resources of children from one to six years of age.
Our experience shows that a child from a mono- or bilingual home, who starts at rainbowtrekkers at the age of about one year, has an age-appropriate passive bilingual vocabulary at the age of three and can actively express themselves in both languages at the age of six.
The language development integrated into everyday life is based on the individual language development processes of the children. Our pedagogical professionals deal with a variety of situations in everyday life and provide a language stimulating environment. The pedagogical professionals are aware of their important role as language role models and support the children individually in developing their language skills.
Documentation of language development is an important part of the pedagogical work of our professionals. To ensure this, we use the “Language Development Observation Sheet of 1-6 Years” by Kornelia Schlaaf-Kirschner and Uta Fege-Scholz. These questionnaires are part of the IPS method developed by Schlaaf-Kirschner. The evaluation sheets are divided into different areas of competence: Language comprehension, vocabulary and meaning, sound production and perception, word formation and sentence construction, speech melody and intonation, verbal and non-verbal communication, literacy and basic requirements.
The IPS method is currently only used at rainbowtrekkers to evaluate German language skills. With regard to the English language acquisition of the children, however, a short summary is prepared by the experts. The state of development of both languages is explained and presented in detail to the parents during the development talks (twice throughout the day-care year). Due to its visual overview, the questionnaire is very helpful and understandable for the parents.
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