Wise Talk

These notes are based on my experiences in two kindergartens and two nursery schools. I go to these schools and do English with the youngsters. Typically, I spend 20 minutes with an entire year, so usually I have one class with 3 year olds, one class with 4 year olds and one with 5 year olds. Class sizes vary from 20 to 60 children. The children’s own teachers attend. I’ve no idea whether these notes will be useful for other teachers or not, but in case they are, here they are…

Tuesday, 13th April 2004 - Kameda

The first classes of the new school year. The three year olds are waiting for me when I arrive. Many of them are new at the school and I am new to them, one boy is scared and cries. As I write this I wonder what has been happening in his life to make him so nervous at such a young age. But at the time the best thing I can do is to be friendly and warm and natural. Read the rest of this entry »

Well my second month of notes. These notes are based on my experiences in two kindergartens and two nursery schools. I go to these schools and do English with the youngsters. Typically, I spend 20 minutes with an entire year, so usually I have one class with 3 year olds, one class with 4 year olds and one with 5 year olds. Class sizes vary from 20 to 60 children. The children’s own teachers attend. I’ve no idea whether these notes will be useful for other teachers or not, but in case they are, here they are…

Tuesday, 18th May 2004 - Suibara

My first visit of the year to Nisho Kindergarten. The three year olds are just filing into the main hall as I come through the outside door. The timing is good. I haven’t seen the procedure before. Usually they are in the room waiting for me. I notice how they are being trained to walk in a train, one behind another with outstretched arms resting on the shoulders of the child in front. The lead child holds onto the arms of the teacher who is bent over and shuffling backwards. I catch up and move past them to dump my two large prop bags on the low stage at the front of the room.

Perhaps because they have just been on the move they are more curious about my presence. None of them are nervous and I start to go into the shoe routine. At Japanese Kindergartens it is usual to leave your outdoor shoes at the door. Slippers are usually provided for guests but I much prefer my own indoor shoes. The shoes are at the bottom of one of my bags and it is a genuine struggle to find them. Often the children wear their own indoor shoes. I enter the room without shoes and notice they are wearing shoes. I go around the class pointing at each child’s shoes, first one then the other, and say “Shoe!” Then I look at my own feet and say “No shoes!” I then reach into my bag and look for my shoes. I pull out a toy gorilla and act as if it is a shoe. I do this with a few more toys.

I like this indirect way of introducing vocabulary. By talking to myself, I can introduce items without directly teaching them. It is performance but it is more natural than direct teaching. By saying things like, “That’s not a shoe, it’s a gorilla!” I am giving them an opportunity to hear natural English. Some of them will start to pick up on the concept of “not” and by the time I get a real shoe out of my bag nearly all of them will know what the word “shoe” means. Read the rest of this entry »