Is your little one starting in a Gaelscoil? Here's how to help
Now that the summer has rolled around, many parents are already considering how September will fare for children starting school. If your child is due to start in a Gaelscoil and you're worried about how they will cope, here are some ways to support them before they get to the school gate.
Gaelscoileanna in Ireland follow the 'tumoideachas' or immersion education system.
Immersion education is a system which helps children to become fluent in Irish naturally, by giving them daily experience of an Irish-speaking environment. This means that all subjects, apart from English, are taught through the medium of Irish right up until 6th class. It also means that Irish is the language of communication in the school, both inside and outside the classroom and in the playground. In this way, children's fluency in the language is supported.
Try not to get too caught up in how much Irish is needed, while some children starting in a Gaelscoil might have some Irish from home, plenty are starting afresh most take a second language in their stride. If you'd like to prepare yourself and them for more Gaeilge in their day before they start school, introducing daily activities as Gaeilge is a great place to start.
Books
There are plenty of brilliant books available in Irish. Many of the books for this age group rely heavily on pictures and therefore, you won't need to be fluent yourself to undertake a bit of scéalaíocht. Introducing a book or two in Irish into the bedtime rotation is an easy win. Futa Fata have a collection of picture-books available to buy and your local library probably does too!
Music
Listening to songs in Irish is a fun way to get to know how the language sounds. There are a ton of playlists on Spotify to get you started, have a listen to Picnic Teidí or Gugalaí Gug as a gateway to Gaeilge.
Cartoons
If your child watches cartoons, TG4 has its own tv channel dedicated to children called Cúla4 and it features some gorgeous shows bound to enchant them in any language.
Enjoy the journey agus go n-éirí go geal leo!
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