It is not only common but also natural for most parents to have the urge of teaching their kids how to speak in English, irrespective of whether it is a second language, or a third or a fourth language. However, the biggest impediment that they face is how to make it fun and interesting for their children to learn English. Parents usually like to teach their kids English at home but most of them are confused about how they should start.
Teaching anything to children can be extremely rewarding, anyone who has had the experience of teaching something to children can tell you that. But that doesn’t make it fun all the time and at times it is not even too easy. English teachers and parents who wish to teach their kids should be well aware of the challenges and obstacles that they may encounter during the session. Prepare yourself accordingly. Read on to know how you can simplify teaching English for kids from the comfort of your home.
How to start teaching English to your kids at home
When you start teaching English to your kids at home, it doesn’t matter if your own English is not too strong or perfect. The only thing is that you should be enthusiastic and give lots of encouragement and boost to your kids. If you exhibit confidence and enthusiasm, your kids will also pick up on the same. Don’t start worrying if your kid doesn’t start speaking English as soon as you teach them as they require their own sweet time to absorb the new language. Be patient and keep praising their efforts.
Organize a daily routine
Organize a daily routine for English at home. Frequent yet short sessions are always better than infrequent and longer ones. A time span of 15 minutes is enough for very young kids as you can always keep extending the time of the session as per your needs. Make sure you keep activities varied and short so that you may hold on to the attention of your child.
Repeat doing some activities at the same time regularly. Kids usually feel more confident and comfortable when they are aware of what to expect from you. You may read an English story with your kid during bedtime everyday or play an English game with him everyday after he returns from school. In case you’re blessed with enough space at home, you may create an English corner where you may keep English books, DVDs, games or things made by your kid.
Play games – Incorporate fun and excitement
Children learn naturally when they have fun. How about using flashcards to revise and teach vocabulary to your kids? There are various games you can play with flashcards like Kim’s game, Memory, Happy Families or Snap. Here are exciting games you can play with your children to help them learn English.
- Board games: Snakes and ladders or some other conventional games
- Action games: Charades, Simon says and What’s the time Mr. Wolf?
- Word games: Hangman or I spy
- Online games: You could finish your English teaching session with an online game
Use everyday situations to practise the language
The biggest benefit of teaching English at home is that you can use daily situations and real time objects that lie around in your house to teach the language naturally. Here’s how you can utilize this trick.
- Suppose your child is getting dressed, talk about clothes or when you’re sorting laundry, keep speaking to him about his clothes, dad’s T-shirt etc.
- Teach him vocabulary for furniture and toys when you’re assisting him in tidying the room.
- When you’re going for shopping or cooking, teach him food vocabulary. Whenever you take him to the supermarket, assign him with a list of things to find out. Keep revising the vocabulary when you arrange things at home.
Storytelling can be a nice trick to teach English to kids
Young children love to read books which have bright colors and interesting illustrations. Point out at the pictures together and repeat the words loud as you point to the pictures. Soon after, you may ask your kid to point out at the different things and check if he can say the right words. If you read out stories to your kids, they will get acclimatized to the rhythms and sounds of English. The stories with animations are a brilliant way for kids to develop reading and listening skills.
Which words should you teach first?
While deciding the topics to teach, analyze his personality and interests and then let your child choose the topic. Here are some topics to start with:
- Numbers
- Colors
- Adjectives
- Our body
- Clothes
- Toys
- Animals
- Food
Whatever may be the approach to teaching kids English, something that you should never forget is to have fun, relax and make the process of learning as enjoyable as possible. This will help them get a grip on the language sooner.