Anyone teaching languages to kids Help!

littlemissfixit

I am a french tutor, have only ever thought to adults but have been asked now by few people to teach their kids (5 to 10 yrs old) and I would love to get some advices, tips, examples of lessons from anyone teaching to kids any languages to help me get started!

Thanks!

niamh_eile

The key with kids I think is fun and games where the language is used as a medium of communication and the focus is on the game rather than the language being the focus. Also you can tell stories ABOUT the French-speaking world as all kids love stories. Every so often you can slip in some words or phrases.

I'd say it's much more fun than teaching adults. You just have to be a little creative. Maybe you can contact your local Naíonra/Gaelscoil and get in contact with one of the teachers there to sit in on a lesson to see how the young children acquire language through play.

Roadtrippin

It can be a lot of fun to teach kids but depending on the group size it can also be quite a challenge. I used to teach English and German to kids and I found it quite rewarding to see their progress but it was also difficult to keep the little rascals happy and entertained
I find games with flashcards work really well, e.g. memory or pictionary or something like it. I used this website to print out flashcards: http://www.esl-kids.com/ It's originally for English learners but you can print the cards out without the English labels and then they work in any other language as well. They also let you print out worksheets for different games etc. about different topics.
Another game I used was Bingo, not just for numbers but for any vocabulary item. There are other websites that let you create Bingosheets but the above one will also let you create some on a number of topics: http://www.esl-kids.com/worksheets/worksheets.html
All I can say from my experience is try to make it as fun as possible and use loads of games and songs to keep children entertained. They're attention span isn't that of an adult and you need to break up the 'lesson' parts into manageable chunks so they don't lose interest. Generally, I found they remember things best when they can sing about it or play a game with the vocab you've introduced.
And the most important thing: be bubbly, smile and try to enjoy teaching them because they can feel if you're having a good time or not.
Hope this helps!
Happy teaching!

littlemissfixit

Thanks for the reply. Feel out of my depth. I have kids myself and they are learning french day-to-day, but they are toddlers. I will have a small bunch of 3 or 4 around ages of 7-8 I think, so I dont really know that age group at all. Great idea to find maybe a school I could sit in for a lesson or two, thanks for that!

Roadtrippin

littlemissfixit wrote: »

Feel out of my depth. I have kids myself and they are learning french day-to-day, but they are toddlers. I will have a small bunch of 3 or 4 around ages of 7-8 I think, so I dont really know that age group at all.

Don't worry about that at all! Having children has already prepared you more than when I started teaching small kids! I didn't have a notion at the start but with the help of loads of songs and games etc. I got the hang of it. Have some faith in yourself

littlemissfixit

Well, had the first lessons, thanks for the reply, it went brilliantly. Had 7 pupils and they were all delighted... dont think I want to teach adults anymore now