Dear parents, if you are interested in how English for children is being dealt with in our nursery, believe that you entrust your children into good hands. We know well that in the preschool age, it is possible to learn anything and that it is the right age for the first encounter with a foreign language; especially if learning is served to them in a non-violent, playful form and in an atmosphere they are used to. When choosing the methodology, we relied on a proved British teacher, Steve, and his methodology WattsEnglish, on the basis of which our teachers Janča and Domča completed a training. They have learned to use a character of Steve and puppet Maggie whom children love, and they move ahead through “Wow!” materials which are unique because of the fact they were created for preschool teachers (and not for language teachers as other education materials on the market.)

 

Just as children adopt their mother tongue via more senses, we offer handling activities as well as and constructive and graphic ones to help understand a new language and build a vocabulary. We use sense and psychomotor games, and music and movement games, too. In teaching, we employ either video projecting in a huge format, or only audio recordings to learn and drill new curricula playfully.

 

Children can stay fully focused only in the scale of several minutes and just in case they are interested in the activity. That’s why lessons last only 20–25 minutes, during which activities alternate every 5–10 minutes. So, every lesson contains the initial ritual, revising of already known “curriculum” with children, a movement activity, a song, a game, or working with a workbook, and the final ritual. This way, relatively relaxing activities change with active activities. Individual lessons are repeated often in the month, thanks to which consolidating of already gained skills and knowledge take place. By repeating, children acquire necessary confidence, which helps them eliminate potential stress when they speak. Another technique is repeating songs and rhymes, and other playful drill forms. Not even after the lessons, children say goodbye to English, as one of the teachers talks to children in English in the course of the day, and thanks to a small number of children in a classroom, our teachers have sufficient time to devote to every child individually during the day, too.