January 2007
Happy New Year Everyone!
I hope that everyone has had a great holiday and that you're getting ready to get back to teaching those lil cuties!
What's new at the Teach-ESL-to-Kids website:
I've done quite a bit of work adding my top games to the site. Games are often touted as one of the best ways for children to learn English. If they're having fun, they don't even realize that they're learning.
So check out all the games I have added by clicking here.
I'm also working on craft ideas for the site and I am frequently adding to that page. So far, I've been a bit behind in getting the craft pages up, but getting up craft instructions in a timely manner is my number one priority for 2007. Check back with the craft pages often.
Click here for the main craft page.
I primarily teach a group of kids from 9am-1:30pm Monday through Friday. But I also teach groups of slightly older kids who come in only a few times a week for a shorter period of time. I know that this style of lesson is more common in the ESL world. What works for you?
In the past, I would try covering a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures within the 40 min time frame that I have with these kids. But recently, I started experimenting with taking one theme and covering it in different ways throughout the lesson. I've been finding it to be quite effective.
The ABC lesson plan is the first of this kind.
Are there any other themes that you'd like to see?
I also have a lesson plan for babies up on the site as well as two different pages to help out mothers:
Now, on to something non-teaching related. I don't know what it's like in other countries, but when you first get to Japan, you're bombarded with many different international calling cards. Seems like a good idea at the time, but they actually can be quite costly.
I know I am about to sound like a commercial, but that's just the way I get when I find a product that I like. And I like Skype. In case you haven't heard of it, Skype is a free program that you can download to your computer. If your friend or family member also has Skype, then you can talk to the for FREE!! And even if they don't, it only costs about two cents a minute to call to a regular phone. I've been using Skype for over a year with nothing but great feelings about them. If this sounds like something that you're interested in, then download Skype.
If you have another product that you use that you think is better, please let me know.
I really want to expand a bit on non-teaching related resources for living in other countries. I know first hand how hard it can be to move to a foreign country. Everything is so different! So if you have any great ideas for this page or things that you want to know about living in a foreign country, please please please let me know!
As always, I wish you all the best!
Love,
I didn't go anywhere exciting for our holiday break. Lucky for you, because I've been doing a lot of work on the site. Admittedly, it's not as much as I had hoped, but then again, I tend to set really lofty goals. I hope that you find things useful.
Essential Vocabulary for Mothers
and
Top 10 ESL Phrases for Mothers
Shannon Sensei