Apart from things already mentioned – such as using what Irish you have with specific people such as any dealings with the school – you can introduce picture books. Not commercial books from shops, but a copybook or a scrapbook. This can be filled with photographs of objects that the child will come across in school. Words like cóta, leabhar, crián, bord, cathaoir, stól, gaineamh, uisce. The pictures for this kind of item can be found in magazines or on the web (e.g. Google image) and stuck in. Label them in large, clear, non-joined up writing.
If you can take pictures of the school (scoil), yard (clós) and principal (use múinteoir), use these too so that the child can become familiar with the look of the school. Get the school’s permission!!¬!¬ - or see if they have pictures on their website that you can print. It will make school less daunting if they know what they are going into.
Also take pictures of yourselves and put them in and label them. As mentioned before, try using the Irish version of names that the school will be using, where applicable i.e. instead of Mary use Máire, and get your child used to this before they reach the school. Putting yourselves into the picture book helps children to feel a sense of belonging, to both the book and the language used in it.
At first, your child will want to say the words and go through the book – again and again and again. Children love repetition and predictability, so give it to them. The picture book can also later be cut into separate pages and made into a game where they pick a picture and say the word. This should only be done once they have a good grasp of the words already. It is a game, not a test.
Fiú má tá Gaeilge agaibh sa teach is fiú leabhar pictiúir a chur le chéile, chun cuidiú le do pháiste glacadh le scoil agus le cúrsaí scoile mar chuid dá s(h)aol féin.
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