| Teaching ESL to children is | | | | class. Whenever possible, have children |
| | | | working in groups |
| challenging but also very rewarding. Before | | | | |
| I walk into a | | | | and in pairs.4. Review, Review, Review. New |
| | | | information is absorbed and |
| class of 10-year olds, I take a deep breath. | | | | |
| Children have | | | | has meaning when it is related to |
| | | | information students have |
| no attention span AT ALL, and so I tell | | | | |
| myself to slow right | | | | already learned. Quickly review new concepts |
| | | | at the beginning |
| down before I start. Teaching children | | | | |
| requires patience and | | | | of each class.5. Encourage students to |
| | | | correct themselves and other |
| a sense of fun and playfulness. Even though | | | | |
| it seems | | | | students. Self correction or self-regulation |
| | | | is an important |
| obvious, a common mistake is to think that | | | | |
| children are | | | | part of learning. Students should be |
| | | | encouraged to ask, "How |
| simply 'short adults!' This is sure to get | | | | |
| you off on the | | | | am I doing?" and "Am I doing this right?" in |
| | | | an open and |
| wrong foot!Here are some tips for teaching | | | | |
| ESL to children:1. Involve Children in an | | | | non-judgmental environment. Children raised |
| hands-on Activities. Children's | | | | in |
| | | | |
| minds are incredibly open and they learn by | | | | authoritative cultures may need additional |
| absorbing ideas | | | | re-inforcement.6. Use what is learned in |
| | | | different contexts. The more |
| and concepts directly. Children need to be | | | | |
| actively | | | | contexts used the better, and the more |
| | | | concrete and 'real |
| involved. Get students up and out of their | | | | |
| chairs and moving | | | | life' the contexts the better. Make it real |
| | | | for students by |
| around. Sing songs, and play games.2. Avoid | | | | |
| talking for long periods of time. I find that | | | | talking about them and their lives.7. |
| the | | | | Praise, Praise, Praise. Encourage and build |
| | | | students up |
| energy level of the classroom drops lower | | | | |
| and lower. Explain | | | | in a natural way. Learning occurs when |
| | | | students are |
| an activity quickly and then go to it. Keep | | | | |
| the energy | | | | motivated and feel good about |
| | | | themselves.Looking back on my years of |
| moving! If your planned activity is a flop, | | | | teaching, the children's classes |
| move on. Keep a | | | | |
| | | | took a bit of getting used to, but were the |
| few extra activities handy for this purpose. | | | | most memorable |
| Children need | | | | |
| | | | and fun!George and Daisy Stocker have |
| lots of stimulation all the time.3. Children | | | | traveled the world teaching |
| learn by interacting with each other and with | | | | |
| | | | ESL to children and adults. Their website, |
| | | | offers ESL curriculum, including textbooks |
| the teacher. Try to talk to each child | | | | and Storybooks for children age 7 - 12. |
| individually each | | | | Their adult ESL site, offers ESL activites |
| | | | and curriculum for adults. |