Yeahhh, we've opened the door to the world of English;)
Our unschooling has reached great success because friendly speaking, I was afraid of teaching English the most;)
Why? Because its rules of reading aren't so easy, and why the same letter can be pronounced in different ways is really a challenge to explain;)
I wasn't in hurry with our English in comparison with other mothers who start English lessons at 4-5, or better even at 1 together with the mother tongue!
I don't support such an approach, and I think a kid should have definite interest to what he is going to study, and that's the way to fast success.
So I really was waiting why my son would have interest that would become his main motivation.
At first he saw my Hive posts in English often, so it was Ok for him his parents used English.
He saw English words in everyday life in the streets or in videos etc.
He was listening to English songs and asked me what they were about.
After Spiderman movies he even tried to study some words by heart to sing with a singer. He asked me how some words were pronounced, we started to use some simple phrases in everyday life just for fun,.
So it was the best moment to start!
He really was interested in English!
I found a great book of a famous Soviet psychologist and scientist, a teacher and an author of many books Genrietta Granik that is called "My very first English book".
I liked the title! That was what we needed because all textbooks started with reading as if it was enough for a kid just to see letters!
English reading is much more complicated than Russian one!
Moreover, a kid should train it well not to mix letters of 2 languages because some of them are the same or look similar.
In this book we have funny stories and fairytales that were written in Russian, but with some English words inside of any story. It was a great way to make a kid remember new words fast!
Then we have time for writing a new letter, for reading it in different syllables and combination of letters.
Using many oral games we repeat and repeat words and it was enough to remember them!
Combination of writing + reading + physical activity for new letters (if we say "go" we are going around the room, if we say "run" we are running) work wonderful!
We spent about 1,5 month and my son started reading and writing by himself!
Moreover, he knows many new words, he can listen to me and understand what I am saying in English, we make dialogues, we play English games, and he knows all ABC now!
The last challenge is to remember letters combinations in reading, but now I am not afraid any more;)
English goes very easy for him, much easy than Maths:)) So I'm sure after reading he will have fast progress because he will be able to read all he sees and to remember it better.
So, yeah, I've done it;))
Thanks to a genius author of this perfect book that helped our unschooling English.