The Parkside School Pre-school and Kindergarten in Thalwil is bilingual. Both staff and children speak a fluid mixture of English, high German and Swiss German. We work with the children in a very focused way, for example with songs and rhymes, flash cards, letters, and even reading and writing. Each child is supported individually.
In addition, we combine our thematic subjects with the language. For example, if we have the subject "farm" we then translate and use the specific words in both languages. Like that, the children learn the two languages in a playful way.
The Kindergarten group uses an English learning system called Jolly Phonics. Jolly Phonics is a fun and child centered method that uses actions to describe each letter sound. Children learn how to use the letter sounds to read and write words. More information can be found on www.jollylearning.co.uk.
We offer "German as a Second Language courses" ("DaZ", Deutsch als Zweitsprache) for kindergarten children that are signed up with Parkside School. This is an additional course outside of the normal kindergarten hours for children that may benefit from additional German lessons in addition to what we already do in the normal kindergarten hours.