Thursday 30 June 2016

Effective Strategies for Teaching Grammar

Adequate understandings of grammar are required for students to better their language skills. To master a language and learn to communicate effectively in later phase of your life in a working environment, students need to use proper grammar. Teaching English grammar involves few strategies if followed will help in learning grammar adequately.


Must include reading & writing:
The best grammar instruction is considered to be extensive reading and writing. It means simply the teacher reading aloud his instructions and clear in front of all students of different age groups. When students listen and see what is proper, they swiftly incorporate those in their own writing.  This means that the teachers must provide adequate opportunities to students to read and write in a classroom activity.  The writing process is a learning experience for students in terms of grammar improvement. Similarly, self assessment though proof reading, edit and revision of their own work, they learn about the proper use of grammar.
Self assessing ones work:
Students learn automatically when they are left to examine their own writings and identifying errors.  They must be given opportunities to read out their work to the class. Even students can read out to each other. This process helps them to identify their own mistakes and they learn grammar in the process.
Combining sentences:
Sentence combining activities are very effective in teaching sentence structure. In the due process they learn about the grammar principals: - parallelism and variety. They will soon learn how a sentence can simply change by the way clauses are put together.
Mini- lessons:
These are very effective in understanding sentence construction. How a simple comma placement can change the meaning of a document grabs their attention more than just making them memorizing comma rules. Another mini-lesson could be on dangling modifiers. Make a fun environment while putting simple exercises. Hereby the student remember the principal and recognize the errors when they self assess or read or listen to others writings.
Use of literature:
Take any sample literature text to teach students within the context of writing. Students now listen to it and analyse the sentence structure of the author and learn how to use words, punctuation and sentence structure contribute in the overall writing of the author. They often copy their favourite author’s style and improve their own writing.
From the above discussion we can conclude that if taught strategically then they can effectively learn proper English. But few things should be avoided:-
-    It is not a good idea to teach grammar as a subject in isolation from writing or reading.
-    Students do not learn anything about use of grammar by diagramming sentences.
-    Learning to identify parts of speech is not at all helpful in improving the writing of students.
-    Studying grammar in isolation is not helpful for students to avoid grammatical errors in their writing.
-    Teaching grammar in a grammar classroom schedule is not useful. Better the teacher spend in teaching and writing.
Read More: Phonetics is an Important Part of Language Learning
Thus it can be derived that teaching grammar by integrating it into actual writing process. The effective way to teach grammar is to encourage reading and writing. It is highly recommended to follow these strategies for effective delivering of English grammar and help the students to cope up with their weaker points and know the best way to read, speak and write English. Though, it has often been found by researchers that teaching grammar at school level is not at all useful. This is because they lack ability to imbibe complexities of the language learning.  This is partially true as if we do not start teaching at their early stage; students would never grow up with their basic understanding of grammar precisely.

Monday 27 June 2016

Learn Mandarin and Tai Chi while TEFL in China

A vibrant country with fun filled city lives, serene river towns, a fascinating and captivating language and an economy of growth, China is a place ideal for teaching English abroad. When it comes to ESL jobs, China has the biggest market and more jobs than anywhere else in Asia. It is not just the number of people; the cultural factors play a pivotal role in the size of China’s English teaching market. The interest of the parents wanting their kids being able to speak English is an important aspect especially as China forms significant global links.
Overseas education requires knowledge of high level of English. If the Chinese parents hold keen interest in sending their children for high education abroad, there would be greater demand for English teachers in this education system.


There are plenty of reasons for teachers to choose China for a teaching career:-
A great place to learn Mandarin: One of the best and most obvious is learning the language where you start your job. There is no better way to learn a language than immersing yourself in it and for Mandarin, China is pretty much the best place to do it. Many of the private English schools offer Mandarin lessons either free or discounted as an add-on which gives a great way to get started. 
If you are excited to travel and explore countries, China has a lot to offer, places like- Yellow Mountain, The Great Wall and Dragon bone Rice Terraces etc will be breathtaking.  There is huge amount to see in China and this requires knowledge of the language to support you while communicating with the civilians.
Travelling to a place is not same as living there and being an English teacher in China. It gives a chance to experience a culture which is widely different from the western culture. The book- Myself a Mandarin is a fascinating look into some of the cultural differences.
Learn Tai Chi, China’s great art: Tai Chi is one of the China’s most prominent and ancient arts which have huge benefit on the health of millions of people as thus are practised widely today. It can be described as low impact exercise down in a slow motion. One important aspect of Tai Chi, is its gentleness and lack of pain and strain good for anyone to practice and reap its benefit.
While teaching in China it is recommended to learn Tai Chi in some of the traditional schools. Anyone young or old with any fitness level or flexibility can practice Tai Chi. Some of the best masters in Yangshuo, who are highly qualified and experienced English speaking are passionate about sharing their knowledge of Tai Chi with you.
TEFL course Asia could be your chosen one for a great career in China. TEFL job project gives you the feel of livelihood and culture of students in China. Before joining as a TEFL teacher it is absolutely desirable to learn Mandarin and Tai Chi to enjoy your stay in China. Your knowledge will be an add-on to settle down and mix with the local people. The Chinese students are highly receptive and show their warmth to the new teacher in their classroom. They look up to the teacher as their guide and they grow an attachment with them. As a TEFL teacher your goal should be to update yourself with information regarding the place you are going to take up your job. And learning Mandarin, and Tai Chi would be beneficial for you while you teach and travel.

Tuesday 21 June 2016

Usage of Flashcards in a Young Learner's Classroom

Introduction of vocabulary to young learners needs special attention. It is a good idea to use real items to engage and involve them.  But it is not always possible or even realistic for teachers to present real items in the classroom. Flashcards could be a great way out in such a situation of introduction of new vocabulary as that the learners can have better understanding of the word or concept.
While introducing flashcards or picture cards in the classroom, try to build up a story by creating mystery or suspense about the cards. This adds to their curiosity and they tend to show their interest in learning. Rather than just flipping the cards and making them repeat words after it, incorporate the cards in various activities. Thus it will be engrossing and eventually the students will remember the words.


Now repeat the vocabulary learnt in other activities or as a part of other lesson that could be story book reading, preparing a worksheet or song. Allow the students to display meaningful gestures while singing together and in the due process practice vocabulary lessons.
Read More: Design Games to Teach Grammar to Young Learners
Some of the ways to introduce and review kid’s learning using flashcards:-
1-One of the simple yet ideal measures to engage student’s interest is by introducing a new item with a Mystery Box. And they give them hint about what is inside and let the student guess.
2- Go through the picture cards and then pick the one which you think will attract attention of the students due to its familiarity. Now place two cards on the floor of the classroom. Then divide the students into two teams and then line up and hand them an eraser to each of the students standing in the front. Now the teacher will call out one of the cards & two students will have to place the eraser on the correct card. Then whoever achieves it first, will win a point for his team. Repeat this several times with more cards while you introduce such vocabulary that are known to the students in the classroom and that point gives them vocal hints. 
3- In a comfortable classroom ambience make the students sit in a circle along with the teacher. The teacher initiates the game by passing the card to a student saying- this is a horse. The student takes the card and passes on to the next student repeating the same. The card passes across the classroom of students in circle. The card returns to the teacher in the same manner, he keeps it aside and passes a new card to the student with another introduction. This can be played tactfully by passing more cards or stopping them halfway and then passing a newer one.  In this game the students tend to learn vocabularies.
4- Choose six picture cards and number them 1-6 with a whiteboard marker and place them on the whiteboard with magnets. Divide the class into two teams. Then ask one student to roll the big dice which the entire class would watch eagerly which number comes up. The first student to say the name of the vocabulary card with the same number of the dice will win points for his own team. If no one knows the answer, make the student learn it and then repeat the game till everyone correctly knows all the names. When such situation arises introduce set of new cards.
5- Take two sheets of paper same as the picture cards. Make several holes randomly on one of the sheets. In the second sheet cut larger holes in the same spots. Cover a flashcard with this second sheet and at the top place the first one with small holes. Now as one looks at the picture could see only a part of it. Now the game would be to guess the whole picture while you slowly remove the large holed sheet gradually bit by bit.
The above mentioned activities can be immensely fruitful in engaging students. You can prepare some more activities based on your experience during Montessori teacher training. The courses on young learners prepare you adequately to deal with such difficult and diversified classroom.

Friday 17 June 2016

A Montessori Teacher is a Keen Observer of Children's Activities

A Montessori teacher’s role is not just teaching but work as a keen observer of child’s activities leading to overall growth and development.  The Montessori teachers are the prime driving factor in the classroom. Initially they prepare and organize learning materials to involve the children in those activities and then observing those and guiding them in the learning process. 
 

Working as a facilitator and a guide, the Montessori teacher prepares a Montessori environment and an atmosphere that mostly designed to move students out of their comfort zone into one activity to another.  Now the teacher steps back a little allowing the students to learn from their own discoveries and draw their own conclusions. The teacher would initiate their thinking by asking them critical questions like how they would solve a problem, and thus enhance their thinking skills or process. It is likely that students learn from the surrounding environment and their peers than directly from the teacher. Thus while planning daily lesson; Montessori teacher must be alert to the changing moods, behaviour, interest and progress of each child.
Read More: Montessori Classrooms Should Be Buzzing With Activity
Montessori teachers are scientific observers of children.  They must avoid rewarding and punishing for good or poor work. They never criticize or intervene in a child’s work or discovery. It is in this trusting environment that a child’s personality grows. Children therefore must have the freedom to choose their own activities and learn to behave without any form of restrictions.
Thus the role of a Montessori teacher can be explained in the following points:-
1.    Montessori teachers are the connecting link between children and the learning environment.
2.    They systematically observe the children and interpret those recorded observations to understand their needs.
3.    They are constantly modifying or experimenting with the environment to meet their perceptions of children’s need and interest.
4.    While preparing the environment they should facilitate the independence of children wherein they freely select work that they find appealing and interesting and adding to it or removing materials that are not needed.
5.    They observe carefully each child’s individual progress.
6.    The Montessori teacher respects and protects the student’s independence. Must be aware when to step in and set limits or lending a helping hand, and when to step back and not to interfere all for the child’s best interest.
7.    They are supportive offering a form of warmth, security and stability to each child.
8.    They facilitate communication among themselves and help them learn to communicate their thoughts to adults.
9.    They present clear, relevant and interesting lessons to the children. They attempt to engage the child’s interest and then note their observations which are helpful in generating an atmosphere effective for learning.
10.    They are educators who keep calm and peace consistently while working to with children.
11.    They are diagnosticians who can interpret pattern of growth, development and behaviours for proper understanding of children and make necessary referrals and suggestions to their parents.
Read More: How to Teach Kids to Write
Certificate in young learners could be the best way out for Montessori teachers to adequately guide them into the process of learning. They tend to lose interest and often divert from learning. They are so engrossed in themselves that they hardly engage in activities and communicate with others. The Montessori teacher training courses are ultimate saviour for the teachers. They learn the above mentioned methods or techniques in inspiring students and educating them in the due process. As the keen observer of children activities they know how much they are gaining and progressing. And based on their observation they build an environment of trust and absolutely favourable atmosphere to engage and involve students.

Tuesday 14 June 2016

Journey as TEFL Teacher can be Extremely Exciting

TESOL/TEFL is your passport to teach, travel and touch lives. As English has become a language for communication in everyday commerce. A TEFL certified teacher can find jobs in schools, colleges, universities as well as in language institutes and corporate houses.
This is often a breakthrough for a mid life career changers. During the course of their corporate professional life people often face innumerable challenges. In this cut-throat competitive corporate world they lack the courage or interest to fight back. Such a situation, they plan out to change with their well equipped knowledge and experience. This group of people should take up online TEFL course and experience a change in their life and professional experience with a satisfactory pay package to lead a quality and interesting life. 


A TEFL certified teacher can easily get ESL jobs abroad. Especially teachers with few years of teaching experience in India can more easily get an ESL job offer outside. The demand for English teachers varies from country to country. But TEFL teachers are highly in demand in Japan, China and Middle East.
The TEFL teacher works in variety of surroundings with different age groups - from young kids to adults. They come from different cultural backgrounds having different voices and accent. Numerous voice trainers and soft skill trainers are appointed by companies to train these employees. This helps them to deal with English-speaking clients better. 

 
Again, as the teacher training course are recognized and accredited globally, it would be your right choice to explore places. It is an international program for teachers where the candidates are acquainted with the innovative techniques and creative learning process in the field of teaching. The three weeks international TEFL course prepares you by way of imparting comprehensive training on a range of techniques for teaching English. The enrollment to the course does not involve any restriction in terms of qualification of the students, teaching experience, or their age, race, sex or nationality. Many TEFL teachers are in their 50s and 60s and are comfortable with the new and exciting career.
With the completion of the TEFL course the candidates are given options to opt for TEFL job projects i.e., teaching practice sessions. The one month or three months internship prepares the teacher for a successful teaching career across the world. The eligibility criterion of ESL job depends on the recruiters. The candidates are provided free accommodation during this period. A TESL certified teacher with adequate job exposure at the initial level are all set to explore the exotic locations across the countries. Now both fresher and experienced teachers should immediately contact for more assistance regarding the course or to join and make a great career choice.
Many a time primary school teachers consider that teaching abroad helps to gain practical experience and by which they can return home to teach at the ground level. This is a noble thought indeed. But there are countries like Nepal where literacy rate is quite low especially in the interior regions. These teachers with their TEFL certification can volunteer and educate the less privileged.

 
After reading this blog you might get over your fears and doubts in taking up this career. There will not be a single moment when you regret on your decision to start your career abroad. On one hand you take the charge of strengthening the backbone of future generation. On the other you get to visit the most beautiful places on the earth.  This is indeed a stepping stone to an enriching life.

Monday 13 June 2016

Your Teaching should Increase Pupil Engagement

Engaging students is one of the major challenges teachers face on a daily basis. Motivation and engagement play a vital role in student’s interest and enjoyment in school. Because it has been observed those who are engaged in learning tend to perform higher academically and are better behaved than others. Student’s engagement and achievement are therefore correlated and all depend on the skill of the teacher in classroom management.
Student engagement can be described as a tendency to be behaviourally, emotionally and cognitively involved in academic activities. Teachers play a vital role in their engagement and motivation. Your confidence in teaching, enjoyment and effective orientations in the classroom leave a positive impact on the student’s engagement.


The following suggestions will guide you to improve and cultivate student motivation and thus engagement that comes with it:-
Maintaining your physical and mental stability: Undeniably teaching is a stressful job and it is absolutely necessary on the part of teachers to take care of their mental and physical wellbeing. They should engage themselves in relaxing activities because as much as you alleviate your stress it will reflect in the classroom and have positive impact on the mutual relationship between student and teacher. Teachers who feel good about themselves maintain patience and mingle and interact in a better way with the students. Stress busters for teachers could be: yoga, work-outs, jogging, healthy eating, biking, dancing and meditation.
Welcoming classroom environment for students of all cultures: To be engaged in a classroom, students must feel the environment where they are accepted and affirmed. The environment should be warm and inviting towards students giving a feeling of warmth and attachment.
Read More: Build a Safe Learning Environment as a Pre-primary Teacher

Ensuring student’s self belief:  Researches have shown that student’s engagement to achieve goals important to them is possible when they have self-belief. They must believe in themselves that they can learn, deal with failures and gain experiences from those. Students hence must be involved in problem –solving activities and in discussions to solve those. This helps them to work on their commitment and confidence towards learning.
Observation of Student’s preferences:  Teachers can connect with students having adequate knowledge and understanding what students like and dislike. It could be favourite books, movies or games they like most. This collected information can be used for motivating and engaging in the academic activities by building a rapport with them.
Work autonomously & collaborate with peer groups: Student’s should be allowed to work autonomously and with others, and thus develop a sense of competence and thus resulting in greater student engagement and motivation. 
Active learning group:  The key components to engagement are active learning groups, peer relationships and social skills.
Challenging and enriching educational experiences: Easy learning activities are not always effective in engaging students as those do not pose challenge to them. With difficult activities students start reflecting, questioning, evaluating, conjecturing and thus are engaged. Your responsibility is to create rich educational experiences that would pose challenge to the student’s ideas and make they walk a level ahead.
Recognizing the teacher’s role: Teacher must keep up their professional development through involvement in various educational activities such as reading journals, attending workshops and webinars etc. Thus you have to keep yourself updated with all the new techniques and strategies of teaching.
Read More: Smart Things Every Teacher Should Teach the Kids

The role of a teacher in motivating and engaging students is not an easy task as it might sound. While much of it is intrinsic to the student, teachers play a vital role in cultivating student’s engagement. And this has a greater implication on the student’s academic and behavioural success. Teacher training courses highlight on these qualities of a teacher to perform better and engage students in the learning process.

Thursday 9 June 2016

Early Childhood Education Develops Creativity in Learners

Early childhood education plays an important role in supporting children’s ability in art, dramatic expression and creative responses to different problems. Creativity enhances a young child’s desire to learn and supports intellectual development. In order to enhance creativity of children, few things are needed to be kept in mind:-
-    One important way a child learns about his/her true self is through this direct interaction with you
-    Always maintain positivity while responding to a child’s work and ideas
-    Focus should be given on the uniqueness of each child and encourage to nurture her trust and creativity
-    Organize group meetings where children can freely express themselves in different areas


Now let us explore different ways of jump-starting children’s creativity in different curriculum areas:-
Use of art: Finger painting, drawing, and clay work- are few activities that promote creativity and are adopted in many early childhood classrooms. Adequate observation and monitoring of these activities will reveal creative discoveries. During this time, the preschool teacher will appreciate the child’s discovery like layering more and more colour changes the density of the colour. Your sensitivity towards the child’s discovery will increase his confidence and passionate commitment required for creativity.
Read More: Early Childhood Teachers Teach Young Learners the Basic Skills
Dance and Movements: Some kids need to be involved in active movement a lot of time. It will be wise for the teacher to encourage them in dance and movements as much as possible like dividing the students in two groups. One group will make music by singing and associated with clapping their hands, tapping their feet on the floor, playing rhythm instruments. The other group will dance to the music in their own innovative ways, free style.
Herein children learn to represent things by use of their bodies. They can use this movement to express their various emotions - joy, anger and surprise etc. They can act like butterfly, bunny or an elephant.
These ways of creative thinking helps them to grow in their overall personality. It’s growth of both body and mind.
Imagination Games:  Imagination games help them to fancy things, retrieve information from their memory, compare and contrast ideas, and make connection to every bit of information. Like asking a child to pretend to act like an animal of their choice - now teacher observes which animal they choose and how they act upon behaving like that animal throughout the day. In the due process they learn about themselves, their capabilities and preferences and reactions.
Read More: Design Games to Teach Grammar to Young Learners
Classroom get-togethers:  Create a form of summer picnic in the classroom. Start by spreading a large sheet on the floor; put some seashells across and small tubs full of sand or water. And engage each one in making sandwiches and various slices of fruit mix. All this unleashes their creativity in organising an event of fun and entertainment for a large group.
Read poetry: Reading poetry to them develops their language and their understanding of what coming next. This leads to brain development which is vital at this stage of growth.
Thus relationship between the preschool teachers and children, how classroom time and space are organised and available resource materials are important factors in the development of the creativity of the children. It is prime responsibility of the teacher to unearth resources to satisfy children’s creative thrust to know and develop in the due process. Classroom thus is the place where creativity is likely to blossom and grow. Early childhood care and education is the foundation phase for any kid’s development process. During this phase instead of pushing them across the edge with intensive studies, involving them in various creative activities are immensely useful.

Tuesday 7 June 2016

Phonetics is an Important Part of Language Learning

Phonetics plays an important role in speaking English as a second language. It is an indispensable component of English language. Teaching phonetics to Indian students is too difficult because various dialect problems are bound to arise. And many of these students think that there is no constructive usage of learning pronunciation. They know that all languages are spoken first and written second. If they could speak English with local people, whatever the pronunciation may be, it is not observable but while communicating with foreigners, the speakers must articulate standard pronunciation. But this is a wrong notion. As pronunciation is not an optional for the language learner, rather it is an integral part of language like any other aspect like grammar, vocabulary etc. It is necessary because the spelling of an English word does clearly state how we should pronounce it.


Few techniques and activities can be practised for useful results for learners and teachers:
1.    Reading aloud: - The learners should read aloud the paragraphs or text to improve good pronunciation. The teacher’s responsibility is to identify the errors and mistakes in pronunciation made by the learner and give them quality feedback to improve their skills of communication. The classroom techniques and activities for teaching EFL pronunciation make the learner add on their talent for bettering their pronunciation.

Read More : Motivating Students and Staff is Part of Education Management

2.    Conversational Activities: -
The teachers are responsible for designing communicative tasks so that he/she can indirectly improve the learner’s pronunciation and speaking skills. Mini-conversations or dialogues for both young and adult learners in an EFL classroom will practice particular sounds, especially those which are not there in their mother tongue. Such activities could be participating in plays, debates, discussions, rehearsals will help them to improve on their pronunciation and they gain confidence in due process.

3.    Dictionary Practice: -
An authentic dictionary provides the meaning and the phonetic transcription. It helps the learners to develop on the syllable division and stress mark. They could easily find the right pronunciation and correct themselves. It is thus helpful to take note from the dictionary which provides both grammar and vocabulary.

4.    Repeating sounds: -
Pronunciation by using and repeating the sounds, one can easily learn the correct articulation. Thus the learners must practice word frequently; they can easily remember its pronunciation and phonetic transcription.

5.    Computer-assisted language learning: - CALL plays a significant role in learning phonetics. They can find out their mistakes through using computer. The learners get various benefits out of it. They will be monitored, guided and given full freedom. Teachers can make use of the visual displays of speech pattern to teach intonation, stress and phonemes to learners. This tool is useful for all categories of learners.

Read More: Computers in Classrooms Benefit Students' Learning

6.    Self-help: - When the learners practice the phonetics and pay attention to it, the improvement will be in their articulation. Self –monitoring is also the important action in terms of self correction and fixing one’s inaccuracy after they have repeated the word or phrase correctly. The teachers must teach the learners to self monitor, and give their feedback regarding the same.

Thus we can conclude that phonetics being the indispensable component in English language is a compulsory constituent in speaking a second language. The activities and techniques suggested above will bring high-quality articulations. Phonetics courses as integral part of teacher training courses must be pursued to deliver adequately or learn the techniques to involve students of different age groups the proficiency and accuracy to speak English in a correct way and manner.

Sunday 5 June 2016

Pre-primary Teachers Need to Develop Innovative Classroom Materials

Teaching job India faces biggest challenge while encountering young learners in capturing their attention and putting across ideas and activities that will stay with them even after the classroom session is over. Thus they have to keep up with the kids and develop innovative classroom materials to make classes more interesting.


Here are some innovative ideas and materials that can be helpful for teachers in generating interest-
1.    Teachers will take help of creative tools to stimulate creativity. This will involve playful games or forms of visual exercises that will energize young minds and capture their interest. This is indeed a much tested method to identify young learner’s creative abilities and encourage a fruitful contribution. So they must introduce aspects of creativity in all subjects, like mathematics, science and history. Now encourage them to explore new ideas with compete freedom from your end.

2.    Incorporate audio-visual materials in your classroom sessions. Supplement textbooks with models, pictorial materials, filmstrips and movies. Use info graphics or other mind and brain mapping tools that will unfold their imagination. These methods will have an impact on their ability to listen, and also help them towards better understanding of concepts. For example, you can make use of oral history materials, playback recordings of public lectures or conduct live online discussions etc such smart apps for students. These audio –video tools can be utilized to create slideshows and presentations.

Read More: Computers in Classrooms Benefit Students' Learning

3.    Linking your lessons to real world learning. By introducing real world experiences into your instructions will make teaching moments enriching and refreshing for learning. Now materials can be related to real life situations and thus involve and excite children by generating their interest and curiosity. The smart apps should be introduced in these sessions to make it all the more interesting.

4.    Keep adequate time for brainstorming sessions in your classrooms. These sessions are conductive to get the creativity flowing from the young kid’s mind. During the discourse multiple ideas will come up in solutions to one idea that you have generated and in due process everyone will be involved. Herein the students will freely express themselves without worrying about right or wrong. Before starting a session always set some ground rules like group session or pared session or simple brainstorming, this will create decorum and habituate the kids to discipline even in the midst of chaotic situation.

5.    Some lessons can be better learnt when taught outside of the classroom. Organize field trips that are relevant to lessons or just take students for a walk outside the classroom. The children’s will feel fresh and exciting and thus will learn faster during their trip.

6.    Teaching through role play is a great way to challenge students to come out of their comfort zone and develop their interpersonal skills. This is the perfect method to take classes on teaching literature, history or current events. Thus they now can relate the academic material with the everyday tasks.

 
7.    Storyboarding is an interesting mode of teaching kids high-conceptual ideas through step-by-step visualisation. History teacher can recreate a famous event through storyboarding. Such visually stimulating activity will ensure easy understanding of complex ideas. It can also be used to free flow of imagination of kids by letting them communicate freely to what they are shown in a picture.

8.    Ambience of the classroom plays a pivotal role in stimulating the student’s mind and helps them think and learn better. Young kids cannot be expected to sit all day at a place and learn. Such creative and stimulating environment will help them to engross and explore subjects presented to them. These have a positive impact on the children and thus are beneficial for the early childhood teachers.

Pre primary schools will vouch for the learning environment for proper development of kids. Herein the teachers play the prime role in innovating effective methods to involve the students in the learning process.

Thursday 2 June 2016

Early Childhood Teachers Teach Young Learners the Basic Skills

Early childhood education is a broad term which describes such educational programs that serve children in their preschool years before they reach the age to enter kindergarten. This stage involves number of activities and experiences designed to aid in the overall development of preschoolers before they enter elementary school. Early childhood is the phase when a child goes through immense growth and development. During this phase the brain develops faster than any other point of time in their lives. The basic foundation for their social skills, self esteem, perception of the world and moral outlook are established during this phase guided by an early childhood trained teacher. They teach the basic skills to young learners which is undoubtedly important and supportive for learning.


Young learners are not like other students. Their needs are unique which the teacher must understand while interacting with them. A child gets absolutely attached to the teacher as a substitute of their parents or may avoid you completely. During this introductory time the teacher must be very tactful in handling the situation. Initially the teacher’s role is of a mediator when the children have problems sharing or learning how to get along. With time, the teacher has to be extremely prompt with the needs of the child as attachment grows.
During this phase of their life, a child learns a lot about themselves and the world around them where the parents are their first contact. As a teacher of young learners, you become somewhat a surrogate parent, their first source of guidance in playing and bonding with others in the classroom. The early childhood teacher teaches–how to share, how to take turns, how to have manners-lesson that will have prolonged impact in the crucial phase of their life. 
Read More: Early Childhood Education Activates the Child's Natural Desire to Learn
Lessons in early education involve certain activities of arts and craft, storytelling, exercise, educational games and more. You have to be always standing on the edge rather innovating new techniques to guide children through their early learning stages.
 Preschool teachers can accomplish their teaching goals by-
1.    Building children’s background knowledge and thinking skills
2.    Reviewing children’s progress
3.    Communicating and coordinating with parents and guardians
4.    Creating perfect environment for young learners
5.    Helping them with listening and speaking skills
6.    Reading books to them
7.    Teaching them alphabets and letter
8.    Teaching them numbers and counting
9.    Teaching children spoken languages
There has been much debate over what should be covered by an ideal preschool curriculum. Actually early childhood is a period of tremendous growth and curiosity that is hard to decide what and when, a child needs to learn. Many preschool curricula establish the teacher as a guide allowing children to discover for themselves while the teacher led them throughout the process.
Early childhood care and education are thus the responsibility of the teacher. In short, they shape future of the children in terms of their learning at higher level. The teacher must have right temperament while dealing with young learners. Patience, sensitivity, creativity and most important, communication skills to connect with the students are some of the qualities that are absolutely must. Besides, you must have proper schooling and credentials and have qualified the teaching standards of a state.
Read More: How to Help a Slow Learner?
As because teaching young children are a highly specialized field, some schools require a degree in early childhood education. This could be pre primary teacher training course which improves the teaching skills and build confidence among teaching faculties. Once you are certified, the most important way to build your career is through experience. Elementary teacher training involves a practical teaching practice experience before becoming teachers.