Many parents want their children to start learning English as early as possible, explaining this by the fact that at an early age, language development takes place in a more natural way. Foreign language specialists strongly support this aspiration, citing examples that if a child starts to learn English since childhood, he usually has no problems with pronunciation and memorization of foreign words.
The exact answer to the question of when to start learning a foreign language, no. However, if we take into account the fact that preschool age is the time when cognitive abilities develop most effectively, it is considered that children's English learning will be more successful if it starts from early childhood.
Teaching English to preschoolers
Before you start learning, you should be as interested in the child as possible in English.
1. At the age of 2-3 years, you can begin to get acquainted with the cartoon show in English. Explain to the child why he does not understand the meaning of the dialogues. Ask if he would like to learn to understand those who live in distant countries.
2. You can also give the kid a foreign friend-toy, who came from faraway England and wants to find new friends. With a new friend, you can learn the first phrases of "Hello! Good bye! Thank you!", With which the baby will greet and say goodbye to the toy.
3. Learn with the child a song or a verse that you can sing along with the toy. For example:
Stishok about the dog:
My dog can not talk
But he can bark.
I take my dog
And go to the park.
Verse about the frog:
The little green frog
Jumps on a log,
Takes off its cloak
And begins to croak.
4. Enter new everyday phrases for communicating with your favorite toy: "Good night! Sweet dreams, honey!" When you put the toys to sleep. At the same time the child does not just learn new vocabulary, he learns it the same way as his native language.
5. You can learn songs and rhymes, accompanied by movements. You can perform them as a charge, warm-up or just as an interesting game.
Verse-workout for the crocodile:
Here is the alligator (show with the right hand the mouth of the crocodile)
Sitting on a log (right hand on the left)
Down in the pool (draw circle with hands)
He sees a little frog (showing the frog, as if looking through binoculars)
In goes the alligator (movement by hands, as when diving).
Round goes the log (we do circular movements with our hands)
Splash goes the water (raise your hands up)
Away swims the frog (do hand movements, like when swimming).
6. Constantly expand the active vocabulary, using games: teach colors, names of dishes, toys, etc., using games.
Methods of teaching English to children
When the very first phrases are mastered and the child is interested in further development, the question arises as to how to further teach the child to English. Continue to learn a foreign language better by choosing a specific methodology that will help to provide systematic knowledge. For children, the most effective are two:
- The technique of Glen Doman , which is a card with pictures and words written under them. The technique develops visual perception and words are remembered by themselves with regular repetition.
This technique is suitable for classes with children, both breast and school age. - The project methodology will be of interest to preschoolers and children of primary school age. According to this methodology, a few topics are devoted to one topic, including various activities. Throughout the project, the child is working on a creative task, which will be the result of the activity.
In order to teach the child English, parents should, as organized in the classroom:
- it is better to practice for 5 minutes, but every day;
- be sure to fix the passed material, proceeding to a new one;
- use different activities, supporting interest in studies