Wanting to get a sense of where to put my expectations.
I married a wonderful man from Eastern Europe, when our first child was born we brought his parents over. They are only 60 so his dad still goes back often, but his mom (my MIL) is all about being here and helping with our little ones (2.5 & nearly 4).
His parents don’t speak much English (tricky for lots of things, but I figured it was AWESOME for our kids).
Well, for as much time as our kids spend with them, they don’t seem to use any of their language. I have bought them flash cards, games, workbooks, books, puzzles, and have continually said no to screens/TV. But they don’t use anything I have bought. It all sits in a closet. And they don’t seem to do a lot of purposeful engagement, it’s mostly just being together and having the kids play.
Don’t get me wrong, my in-laws are fabulous. They adore our kids, are with them almost everyday for some amount of time, never get annoyed to care for them, always ask if we need help, we trust them always, and are very thankful to have such a great support system for our nuggets.
But the language part bums me out a lot.
For reference, my nearly four year old has been using 8-10 word sentences since she was two, my 2.5 y/o is following right in her footsteps. Both really enjoy reading time (naptime, bedtime, or anytime- they grab a stack of books to read together), love when my husband and I tell them made up stories, can sit with me and do flash cards or workbooks: they are very absorbent lol.
1.) would it be reasonable to expect some dual language comprehension by now?
2.) what else could I encourage? What else can I do?
3.) how can I push a little harder for my in-laws to purposefully engage (without offending them)
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via Learn Online English Speaking
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