TEFL Young ChildrenTeaching English to Young Children Aged 3-5
TEFL Young Children Catherine Cheetham has lived and taught English to students ranging from young children to university students. Read her excellent article and thoughts on living and teaching in Japan. Before coming to Japan, Cheetham
taught English in South Korea.
TEFL Young Children When I teach English to young children I try to imagine that I am a father figure to them--which of course I am. I am warm and try to kneel down to their level. I am very tall so can be intimidating if I stand over them. We are all giants to very young children, and need to build their trust. If the kids feel okay with it, I sometimes pick them up and point out new vocabulary as I hold them. The other kids are watching and listening (and learning). Week after week I do this and there comes a day when the kids say what the thing is before I can. That day is always rewarding. I act like a big kid and play games with them. The most important thing in all your teaching I feel is fun. The students should have fun and you too should have fun. *(If I ever get in a rut in my teaching I find an activity that I think is fun, then inevitably it is fun for the students too.) Mothers know that fun is very, very important. It seems to go with being a mother. They know if their young children are having fun, they are learning and will want to learn more. Often their first question to their children after class is: "Did you have fun?" Yet you need to combine fun with teaching English. Some teachers forget this at their peril.
Bring Me Activity One activity I do is to pre-teach 7-10 vocabulary cards then have the kids hide them around the room, or weather permitting--outside. When all the cards are hidden I say: "Bring me a __dog."_ etc. When I am handed the card I say "Thank you." Sometimes the students enjoy being the teacher and they tell the others what to bring. If you allow the parents to participate in your classes you can get them involved too. We do this until all the cars are found. (Sometimes some of the cards are not found ever--or are found very soggily three years later. It is amazing what can grow on an English vocabulary card if you leave it out in the Japanese weather long enough!) *It is a good idea to have a set of cards that you use only inside and one for outside.
Get into the Head of the ChildWhat does that child in front of you like to do. What games and activities does he or she enjoy?Does she enjoy puzzles? Does he enjoy drawing pictures? Does she enjoy listening to stories or looking at picture books.All of these activities have some teaching opportunities within them--not only for English but for social skills and practical knowledge. Ever thought of using Lego in your Classes? Almost all very young children like to play with blocks, Duplo(Lego) or if they are old enough or dextrous enough, Lego. You might be able to get some ideas from Lego Country our otherwebsite. Burns Brick Country talks about Lego and activities you can do with these wonderful blocks. TEFL Young Children-- Lisgo`s What is red? David Lisgo has been teaching English and writing educational materials for many years now. In what is red he gives us more opinions and ideas about teaching English to children. Other Activites for Teaching English to Young ChildrenJazz chants, (and there are some great books and CDs about them),dancing, reading them a story from a story book (with lots of pictures),telling them a picture story--using picture cards,playing slam (in Japan this is called kulta or kultatori),drawing, playing the card game: remember (where you try to find two matching pairs of cards), are all great activities for teaching English to young children. Some other activites are making a floor puzzle together and having them talk about the things in the floor puzzle picture. You can say things like: "Show me a fire truck." --after first pre-teaching the vocabulary. If your school allows it, there is great English learning software available for teaching simple English to young children. Encourage the parents to show their children simple English learning DVDs, Disney videos, and use learning software at home if possible. Some parents are great and get quite involved in a positive way, while others of course leave it all to the school. You can learn more activities to do with young children by joining: ETJ: English Teachers Japan TEFL Young children: get more advice on teaching children TEFL Young Children--Education: Kindergarten At Getting into Kindergarten they ask some pertinent questions: What`s the big deal about applying to kindergarten?
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