How to teach english to children

How to Teach English to Children: 3 Powerful Strategies for Impressive Results

Do you often hear precious little laughs and dramatic sobs in the same day?

Have you ever felt like you’re becoming your mother (“Stop making that face or it will freeze that way!”)?

If you answered yes to any of these, you might just be an elementary teacher!

And if you teach elementary ESL, you may often find a smile on your face.

That is, until you run up against some of the struggles that are unique to teaching children—because they certainly do exist.

Language by nature is very abstract and intangible. Children, on the other hand, are very literal and concrete.

This makes it challenging to explain grammar or syntax rules to children. (How do you explain the conditional tense to a five-year-old?!)

But rest easy. As long as you know these three essential strategies for teaching English to children, your students will succeed. Even if they can’t articulate what a first conditional is.

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How to Teach English to Children: 3 Strategies for Success

1. Make It Fun

Fun, fun, fun! This is one factor that really matters to kids. And that goes for kids on the playground as well as those in the classroom. I’ll never forget what my nephew said after his first day of kindergarten: “We didn’t learn anything. We just played!” And though I’m sure his class contained some academics, they were hidden well beneath a thick layer of fun.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language lessons.

Some educators believe that kids learn best through play. And what is true of English-speaking children, in this case, will also be true of your English-learning students. Here are some ways you can make learning more fun with your students:

Play Games

Games are a great way to make learning fun. Not only do games play on the competitive nature of most children, but games also give them a goal to accomplish. When you win a game, you have really done something, and you can feel good about your success.

There are so many games that can be used in an ESL classroom, we’ll only be able to scratch the surface today. But here are a few games that require little to no preparation, and are super fun for young students.

Be Creative

Doing the same things in class every day is boring for your students, and you’re liable to fall asleep on the job, too. So be creative with your plans.

Change things up on a regular basis. Rearrange your students’ seats so they get a different inspirational view from time to time. Give your students the test before you teach the material, and let them answer the questions as they learn. Invite guest speakers in whenever you get the chance.

You can keep the same basic schedule every day, but vary the types of exercises you do. Rotate between doing exercises from the textbook, having students work on the computer on social media or ESL learning websites, and giving them real-life materials to work with rather than ESL materials.

Try a poem by Robert Frost rather than a simple reading passage. You can also have students come up with their own games, activities and exercises. Have your students write quiz question for each other, or give them some simple game supplies and let them make thier own review game for the latest grammar point. You might be surprised at how creative students can be.

Include Art in Your Class

Kids love to make colorful and exciting things in the classroom. Pablo Picasso observed that “every child is an artist.” Take advantage of that inborn quality and use art to teach your young students the English language. Of course you can talk about obvious things like colors and shapes when you use art, but creative projects have so much more potential.

Take Your Class Outside

Have you ever tried taking a class outside? If not, you’d be surprised at what they can learn in the great outdoors. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

2. Make It Active

If there is one thing kids like more than having fun, it’s moving. In fact, Dr. Maria Montessori suggested that young children are not able to learn unless they are also able to move. In addition, involving the whole body in language learning is a useful teaching method. The more language learners move, the better and faster they understand what you are teaching and the more easily they can retain the information.

TPR (Total Physical Response) is a teaching method that works really well with children. In essence, you associate physical movements with language instruction. Students move as they learn. They follow instructions, copy your movements and get their whole bodies involved when they practice language concepts. This is one of the most effective ways to teach ESL to children.

Using hands-on material is also a great way to get your students moving as they learn English. You can use simple items like flashcards, but you can also be more creative with what you give your students to handle.

3. Don’t Put Pressure on Your Students

One of the most important things to remember when you teach children is not to put pressure on them. Remember that children learn some aspects of foreign languages more easily than adults. So no matter what you do in class, they will already be on the road to fluency in English.

Their natural acquisition process will follow three simple steps. They will recognize words and grammar when you use them. They will be able to respond when you ask them questions about the words and grammar you use. And then they will be able to use those language structures themselves.

You can avoid putting pressure on students by:

Because language is abstract and children are concrete, they may not be able to articulate grammar and other technical aspects of language, and that’s okay. Just keep things fun, active pressure-free, and your students will be fluent in no time!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

How To Teach English To Kids

Teaching English to children can be incredibly fun and rewarding. However, without the right approach, teaching young learners can also be frustrating, stressful, and a lot of hard work. Learning how to teach English to kids takes time and practice. So, how do you teach kids English? In this article, we look at some practical hints and tips on how to teach English to kids.

What Are Young Learners Like?

To successfully teach English to kids, you first need to understand what young learners are like and what motivates them to learn English.

The first thing to mention about kids is that they have a very short attention span and can become bored and distracted easily. This is especially true in ESL/EFL classrooms where the teacher is conducting the lesson in a language different from the children’s native language.

Another thing to remember about young learners is they are not in your class by choice. Unlike older learners who may choose to take up English classes to advance their career / enable them to travel, etc, young learners are made to study English by their school / parents.

That is to say that kids are not motivated to learn English in the same way that older learners are. So what motivates young learners to learn English?

Young learners are motivated by things that are fun and interesting to them. Therefore it is incredibly important when teaching English to kids to create lessons that are fun and engaging.

This will help to create an environment that makes young learners want to learn and participate in class. This is why games, activities, and songs are so effective when teaching English to kids. For more information on motivating students check out this article by the British council about motivating students.

It is also important to remember that children need constant encouragement. As such, a teacher should regularly praise students when they do something well, even if it is something small.

You can also praise your students in front of parents and other teachers. This will have a positive effect on your students’ motivation to learn and will encourage them to participate more in class.

How To Teach English To Kids Through Games

As was mentioned above, kids have a very short attention span and are more motivated to learn English when they find learning English to be fun and interesting. One very effective way to teach English to kids is through ESL classroom games. Games in the classroom create an enjoyable learning atmosphere and motivate young learners to take part in class and communicate using the target language.

Before Playing A Classroom Game

When creating an English classroom game to play in class the first thing to do is to decide the learning objective of that activity. That is, think about what target language / skill you want your students to develop by playing the game.

For example, if you are introducing new vocabulary to your students you may decide to play a ‘flashcard game’ to give your students ample opportunity to listen to and say the new words.

Or, if you want your students use the expressions they have learned in a communicative way you may decide to play an ‘information gap’ style activity where they would speak using the target language to get information from their class mates.

Whichever kind of activity you decide to teach in class, before students can play you must inform your students how to play the game. This can be a difficult task as you will be explaining the activity in a language that the students have not yet mastered. So, how can you explain the rules of the game?

1.Use Simple Words and Sentences

If your explanation is too long and too complicated the students will likely not be able to follow and may start to ‘day dream’ and become distracted. Remember, young learners have very short attention spans. Instead, make your explanation short and concise with simple words and expressions.

Once you have explained the activity, it’s time to SHOW students how to play. To do this, invite one or two students to the front of the class to help demonstrate how to play the game. You may need to model how to do the activity 2 or 3 times before students grasp the game rules.

3. Check Learners’ Understanding

If you simply ask your students ‘Do you understand?’, most young learners will answer ‘Yes’ even if they don’t. To make sure your students understood how to play the game, ask them some questions about the rules. For example, ‘What’s the first thing you must do?’, ‘Then, who picks up the card?’, ‘How do you win the game?’, etc. If your students are not sure, explain / model the activity again.

During the Classroom Game

While students are playing the game, the teacher has the opportunity to observe the students using the target language. This allows the teacher to notice any common errors in the students’ language and to pick up on any language points that need revisiting later in the lesson.

This is also a great chance to praise the students when they are doing well, which will encourage the kids and increase their motivation to learn.

Types of English Classroom Games

There are many different types of classroom games such as flashcard games, card games, board games, information gap activities, mingle games, etc. For a list of different types of classroom games and some examples and free resources, check out our other post about classroom games HERE.

How To Teach English To Kids Through Songs

Using songs is another highly effective way to teach English to kids. As was mentioned earlier, children are easily distracted and may find it difficult to concentrate on learning a foreign language. However, using a catchy ESL song will grab and keep your students’ attention.

While singing and dancing they will feel less like they are studying, and more like they having fun a play time. Not only are ESL songs great for energizing and motivating your students. Singing songs can also aid in language learning.

The music and rhythm of the songs naturally helps learners to remember the words. Also, singing the songs repeatedly over many lessons helps learners to commit the words to their long term memory.

I can still remember the words to the ‘months of the year’ song I sang in French over 20 years ago. You can probably remember the songs and nursery rhymes you sang as a child, too. For a list of the best ESL songs for children, arranged by topic, click HERE.

How to Teach ESL Songs to Kids

1. Before Listening to the Song

Before introducing the song to the students, first put the song in context and find out what students already know about the topic. For example, if you’re teaching a song about the four seasons, you might ask learners to look outside to check what the weather is like. You might then ask students what the weather is like in winter / summer etc. This is to activate their existing knowledge which will help them to better understand the lyrics of the song.

2. Listen to the Song

Play the song and ask students to just listen and try to remember some of the key words from the song. Then practice some of these key words with the students and elicit their meanings.

3. Teach the Song

To teach students how to sing the song, teach the lyrics of the song little by little by playing and pausing the song and asking students to repeat (sing) after you. Once you have practiced the lyrics, try to sing the whole song from start to finish. Then introduce some simple dance moves and try to sing and dance to the song. It is quite easy to make up simple dance moves to many ESL songs, but to make it more fun why not ask your students to help you come up with some funny dance moves.

4. Practice Practice Practice

The first few times you sing the ESL songs with your students you may notice that they can’t quite sing the whole song from start to finish, but don’t worry. Kids are happy to sing and dance to the same song over and over again if it is fun. Sing the same song many times over the next 5/6 lessons and they will remember the song for years to come.

Teaching English To Kids: Classroom Management

Classroom management is incredibly important when teaching English to kids. Without the right classroom management techniques, the class may quickly turn into chaos.

This is especially true when you are playing games and singing songs in class. Here are some useful classroom management tips when teaching English to Kids.

Classroom Routine

A classroom routine is essential when teaching English to kids. This will help students to know what to do and when to do it. It may take several lessons to establish a classroom routine, but once it is set up, your class will run more smoothly. Here are some things you can do as part of your classroom routine.

Start Each Class in the Same Way

Beginning the class in the same way will help students to realize that break time is over and it is time to start the class. A great way to start your class is with a song. There are some great ESL ‘Hello Songs’ that you can start your class with. Or, you can use an ESL song to do with the topic you are studying, or even an English pop song.

Using a song to start the class also has the additional benefits of energizing the students and creating a positive learning atmosphere.

Establish an Effective ‘Call and Response’

A ‘Call and Response’ is a signal to students to stop what they are doing and look and listen to the teacher. This is an important part of your classroom routine as this will help you to get your students’ attention and get them listening to your instructions. There are many different call and response techniques. The one that I find works best is I begin a countdown from 3 to 1 and clap my hands two times after every number.

Then I call out ‘Look at Me!’ and the students respond with ‘Look at you!’. At which point students should look at the teacher and be quiet. Once you have established an effect call and response it will be much easier to get students’ attention and get them listening carefully. For some ideas, check out these Fun Classroom Attention Getters.

End Each Class in the Same

Establishing a routine for the end of your class is also important. If students are packing their bags, moving around, cleaning their desks, etc, while you are trying to review the lesson or tell them important information, many students will not hear your instructions.

Also, a routine at the end of your class will ensure your students don’t go running for the door as soon as the bell rings. This can be quite dangerous, especially with large class sizes.

A routine which has worked well with my young learner classes is to ask students to pack their bags and then sit nicely at their desks. Then I look to see which students are sitting nicely and I let those students line up first. Soon, all students are sitting quietly looking at me as they all want to go first.

Eliminate Distractions

Kids can become distracted very easily and if they are distracted they are not listening to the teacher and are not following the teacher’s instructions. The best way to prevent students from becoming distracted is to prevent these distractions before they happen.

One of the major distractions that can cause students not to concentrate are the things on the students’ desks. Kids will pick up, touch, play with, look at, draw on, anything that is in front of them. And while they are drawing on their books, or rearranging their pencil case, they are not listening to the teacher.

So, to prevent this, make it a rule in your class not to open books, pick up pencils, etc until it is time to do so.

Also, if you plan to give students a worksheet, puzzle, board game, etc, don’t give it to them until you have fully explained and modeled how to complete the task. Otherwise, the students will be looking at and playing with the materials, rather than concentrating on the teacher’s instructions.

Other distractions are things like students wanting to go to the bathroom, drink water, etc during the class. With kids coming and going from the classroom, not only will those kids miss out on important information, but they will also distract the other students as they are moving around the class.

So, it is a good idea to encourage students to use the bathroom, drink water, etc, before the class starts.

Have a Reward System

A Reward system can be a very effective way to help control students behavior. Reward the students also encourages the students and increases their self-esteem and motivation.

A Reward system doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. An example of a reward system could be the following. Students can have a simple reward chart at the back of their books. Then every lesson students can get stamps / stickers on their reward chart for completing the tasks and good behavior.

At the end of the month / semester, count how many stamps the students have got and give out certificates that they can take home and show their parents.

Whatever reward system to you have, rewarding students for good behavior rather than just punishing bad behavior can have a real positive effective on your class.

Lesson Materials For Teaching English To Kids

Here on Games4esl.com you can find many free, fun, and engaging lesson materials to teach English to kids.

Download and print free ESL flashcards, student cards, and board games from our printables page. And visit our activity videos section for free ESL classroom games you can stream straight into your classroom.

How to Teach Kids English: Everything You Need to Know About ESL for Young Learners

Kids, children, and teens, collectively referred to as “young learners,” make up one of the most common student demographics within the TEFL/TESOL industry, and teaching this group, which is common in Asia, Europe, and online, poses unique challenges and rewards for English teachers. As more countries around the globe put a greater emphasis on English language learning, teachers who are equipped to teach English to young learners are in increasingly high demand. Learn more about how to teach kids English!

Table of Contents

Who is considered a young learner?

Technically, a young learner is considered any student under the age of 18, though some schools may even include young adults beyond 18 in this category.

Within this broad group, you will find smaller subgroups, including very young learners (pre-K and kindergarteners), children/young learners (usually referring to school-aged kids under 12), and teenagers (around 13 to 18). Like all learners, these subgroups each have their own distinct characteristics related to their stage of development.

Knowing how to teach English to these students, and having Specialized Certification in Teaching Young Learners to demonstrate that, can be a great boost to your professional TEFL/TESOL prospects.

Where will I teach English to kids?

Children and teenagers learning English can be found around the globe. In some regions, it’s common for foreign TEFL/TESOL teachers to either teach or assistant-teach in a K-12 setting (either in public or private schools), while in other regions, teachers work with students after school and on weekends at language centers or virtually. Regardless of the classroom setting, these are the regions where it’s most common to teach kids.

Teaching kids in Europe

One region where it’s popular to teach kids is Europe. Standard teaching positions exist at language institutes working with a wide range of ages.

Another popular type of opportunity in Europe is working with kids at English summer camps. These camps are short-term and 100% English-focused, making the experience fun and immersive.

Many European countries also have government programs, such as France’s TAPIF program, that allow you to teach in public schools on a renewable annual contract. Some may even help you find housing or offer options to live with local families while you work.

Teaching kids in Asia

Another region where it’s extremely common to teach kids is Asia. Asian countries have put an increasing emphasis on English language instruction in recent years, leading to a large number of TEFL/TESOL jobs. Within the public school systems, the EPIK teacher recruitment program in South Korea and the JET program in Japan are examples of this push.

Teaching kids online

The market and salary

The online teaching market, in general, is another place you’ll find plenty of opportunities to teach English to young learners, as this is what the majority of positions involve. This is a great option for those who love traveling and want to have a steady source of income while moving around frequently or for parents who prefer to work from home so they can stay with their kids.

Teaching online vs. in the classroom

Teaching English online and teaching at a B&M (brick and mortar) school are quite different. Most online teaching jobs focus on either one-on-one tutoring or smaller virtual classrooms with around four students. B&M schools, on the other hand, will consist of larger classrooms with around 15-25 students on average.

Another difference is that while some online companies allow you to teach the same students repeatedly, others are set up so that your students are different each time, resulting in a very different type of student-teacher relationship than what you would experience teaching the same students at a B&M for an entire year.

Qualifying for online teaching jobs

There’s a lot of competition to teach online, but luckily the industry is growing every day. If you think teaching online is a good fit for you, consider earning Specialized Certification in Teaching English Online to fully prepare yourself for these positions and stand out from other applicants.

What certificate do I need to teach kids?

Most of the TEFL/TESOL jobs around the globe and online will specifically require teachers to have at least 120 hours of general in-person or online TEFL certification. General courses, like the 120-hour Master Certificate, introduce TEFL/TESOL theory and methodology, along with English grammar, and may also include basic introductions to teaching specific groups, such as young learners and Business English students (another common demographic of TEFL/TESOL students).

However, do you need a special certificate to teach English to kids? Teachers who wish to be more competitive when applying for jobs to teach kids, or who want to advance in their current teaching job, should definitely consider taking their certification to the next level with a Specialized Certificate in Teaching English to Young Learners. Topics covered in this specialized course include how to properly prepare lesson plans, manage your classroom, and evaluate progress for classes in these age groups.

Trainees who add this kind of targeted training will also complete more total hours of TEFL certification, thus surpassing the minimum hours required to qualify for most jobs and becoming a more attractive candidate!

How do I start teaching English for beginners?

You may be wondering how you can teach English to children if they are total beginners and don’t speak any English. This can be an intimidating idea for new teachers! However, it’s important to note that for most jobs at language schools, TEFL/TESOL teachers are unlikely to be assigned to work with complete beginners if the teacher has limited knowledge of the local language.

Likewise, in K-12 classrooms of true beginner-level students, teachers who don’t speak the students’ first language (L1) typically work alongside a local teacher, as an assistant. This can be a great way to learn from an experienced teacher and watch their tried-and-true techniques.

However, in some instances, such as when teaching in a classroom of students with multiple native languages or when teaching for a school that uses immersion learning, you may be assigned to beginners despite having no knowledge of their L1. Though that thought may seem scary at first, it’s actually easier than you think if you use appropriate teaching techniques such as TPR (total physical response), props, realia, photographs, and illustrations.

You’d be surprised how much you can get students to understand just by acting out what you’re saying and keeping phrases short and simple.

Carolina, teaching kids English in China

What are the basic techniques for teaching English to young learners?

Young learners present teachers with a number of unique opportunities for creativity and engagement in the classroom. Check out some popular techniques below.

Techniques for teaching children

Use a variety of fun activities

When working with younger children, it is best to incorporate games, songs, videos, props, and other fun and interactive elements into activities to keep the students moving and engaged. Children love to be active and included!

To hold student interest, be sure to build in a variety of activities that involve different skills and incorporate both quiet and noisy tasks so that students experience a balance of calm and energetic periods. Building lessons around themes can also help keep students attentive. It creates a sense of cohesion from one activity to the next and reinforces new material through varied learning techniques.

Kevin, who worked as an English teacher in Portugal, remembers organizing hands-on activities with the children he taught:

“I had my classes draw hand turkeys for American Thanksgiving and taught them simple holiday songs near Christmastime (like ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’). This was a way to offer them a fun activity and also to teach them cultural lessons.”

Establish class routines

Another key technique for teaching children is to maintain predictable and structured classroom routines. It improves student confidence and creates a positive learning environment when children know what to expect every day in class, and you make sure to avoid “downtime,” when students aren’t sure what they should be doing.

Techniques for teaching teenagers

Teach English using context

Adolescents, meanwhile, can absorb lessons on more advanced elements of the language, like grammar and syntax. They will also have more developed conversational skills and be able to carry out more structured activities. Teachers can have a course discussion on issues in the news or have their students write and act out a dialogue – these are great ways to teach English in context.

Cater to a variety of learning styles

Remember that students have different learning styles, so aim for variety in the types of lessons and activities you do, so that you can facilitate all students’ learning.

Involve students in class planning

Another great way to get students engaged in learning is to let them be a part of creating the classroom environment. While you’re ultimately the one in charge, older students will appreciate you involving them in how the classroom should be decorated or voting on which of two games they’d like to play next class. It gives them a sense of involvement and makes them invested in the outcome of the class.

Offer plenty of feedback

In addition to boosting student engagement, ensure that teens receive adequate and frequent feedback to avoid frustration later on. Have them be a part of the evaluation process by reflecting on their own progress through journal entries or comparing how they performed on a past test with a more recent one on the same material. This ensures a clear line of communication between you and the student at all times and prevents complications from a lack of transparency when it comes time to hand out final grades or offer broader feedback.

What are some games for teaching English to kids?

ESL games for young learners

Two of the more common kids’ English teaching games include:

Hangman

One student thinks of a word and draws short lines to signify spaces for each letter of the word on the physical or virtual whiteboard. Classmates have a limited number of chances to guess the letters in the word, and each time they guess incorrectly, an element of the “hanging man” is drawn (such as the head, body, arm, etc.). If they guess a letter correctly, the student writes the letter in the appropriate space. If a student guesses the word, he or she is the winner. If the students guess enough incorrect letters so that all elements of the man are drawn, the man is “hanged” and the students lose.

BINGO

Create BINGO cards and a call sheet (use an online BINGO sheet generator like this one). Either pass out the cards or send them to students electronically if playing online. Cut out the call sheet and put the squares into a box or bag. If teaching in person, allow each student a turn to be the caller, who picks one square at a time from the box and calls out what is on the square. If teaching online, the teacher can be the caller. The other students listen for what is called and mark the corresponding image or word on their cards. The first student to fill a complete line of squares on their card, either horizontally, diagonally, or vertically, calls out “BINGO!” and is the winner.

ESL games for teenagers

There are also a number of useful games that prompt students to use the English language actively and creatively. These activities work well for teenagers, who typically have a higher level of proficiency and more developed skills. Some classic games include:

Would You Rather?

Pair your students up. Have them ask each other to make a difficult decision between two funny or thought-provoking scenarios. For example, a student might ask, “Would you rather find your soulmate or find a million dollars?” Then, they must explain why they chose the one they did.

If you prefer a variation of this activity that incorporates the entire class as opposed to pair work or you are teaching online via a platform that doesn’t allow for virtual breakout groups, have students write their own questions. Then, have them take turns asking their questions to classmates in front of the class.

Two Truths and a Lie

Ask students to come up with three statements about themselves, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. Then, each student presents his or her three statements to the class and the other students must guess which one is the lie. Not only does this prompt students to use the language with each other but it helps them get to know their classmates!

Get more games and activities in the Specialized Certificate in Teaching English to Young Learners course, which includes teaching demos like the one below:

Are you ready to teach English to kids?

When preparing for a new TEFL/TESOL position, it is important to have an idea of how to best lesson plan and prepare for the specific types of students you’ll be teaching. With the right classroom management strategies and engaging activities, you’ll be ready to teach kids and teens abroad or online!

Take your training to the next level and stand out to employers with Specialized Certification in Teaching English to Young Learners.

Post by Kevin Mermel

Kevin is a program advisor at Bridge in Denver. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and has worked as a volunteer English teaching assistant in Portugal. As an advisor, he now helps prospective teachers choose the right TEFL/TESOL courses for their professional goals.

15 Ways to Teach English to Kids in 2022 [Updated]

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Some great Ways to Teach English to Kids in 2020

Want to know how?

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Teaching English to kids is a tough job. Kids, children and teens are considered as young learners. Many schools in Europe and Asia put a greater emphasis on English language learning. So, the English teachers are in high demand. There are some exciting ways by which teaching English to kids becomes easier.

What is a Young Learner?

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A Young learner is a student under the age of 18. In this large group, you will find tiny learners like preschool kids or kindergarten, children who are under 12 years, and after that, students around 13-18 years. As all these students come from different age groups, all are different and have distinct characteristics. So, we have to teach according to them. Knowing how to teach English to these students and having a certification in teaching young learners will be a significant boost to your career. Teaching English to Kids is refreshing compared to teens and children.

Where Will I Teach the Kids?

Children and teenagers can be found all around the globe. In some regions, it is common for foreign TEFL teachers to teach or to assist the students. In certain areas, TEFL teachers also work with the students after class. T his way, you can teach English to Kids.

1. Teaching Kids in Europe

Read Also: TEFL Vs TESOL

2. Teaching Kids in Asia

Another place where teaching is prevalent in Asia. Asian countries have put a lot of emphasis on teaching English. In Asia, there is a huge demand for TEFL teachers and a lot of job opportunities are there. There are a lot of programs run by the government within the public school systems, the EPIK teacher recruitment Program in South Korea, and the JET program in Japan are some excellent examples. There are a lot of requirements for the teachers, both online and classroom. Asia is growing as one of the best places to teach English to Kids.

3. Teaching Kids Online

4. Online Companies

There are many online companies based in China. They have companies like VIPKID, Magic Ears, and Qkids, although some online companies teach all around the globe. For ESL teachers who live in America, teaching for a Chinese online company can be beneficial because of the time difference you can teach in the early morning or late at night. You can also work as a second job. This is also one of the best ways to teach English to Kids.

Teaching Online vs. Teaching in a Classroom

There are a lot of differences between teaching in a classroom and teaching online. Online education mainly focuses on one to one tutoring or a small virtual class of 4-5 students. The classroom session includes 15-25 students on average. There are a lot of different activities for both. In online courses, teachers use video clips, online games, and music clips to keep the students engaged. While in classrooms, teachers use a lot of activities done in a group and which requires movements.

Another difference is that in online teaching, either you will be teaching the same students repeatedly, or you will have a difference each time, resulting in a very different student-teacher relationship just as in class.

Qualifying for Online Teaching Jobs

There is a lot of competition for online teaching jobs, but luckily a lot of job opportunities are there. Teaching kids online is an excellent job for you, then you can have a TEFL certificate for teaching online, and you should thoroughly prepare yourself for online jobs. You should also read various articles that are available online.

Certificate Required for Teaching Kids

How Do I Start Teaching English for Beginners?

It’s challenging for beginners to teach English as they don’t know how to speak the language. For TEFL teachers, they are assigned with some work. With the help of this technique, you can teach English to kids.

Some basic techniques for teaching English to kids

Teaching English to kids is not an easy job. It requires a lot of engagement and creativity in the class.

When you are working with young children or kids, a lot of techniques are required. It is best to incorporate games, songs, videos, props, and other fun elements. Keep the kids always moving and engaged. Kids love to be active. Another critical idea or technique for teaching kids is to maintain a structured and predictable class routine.

To maintain the interest of students in the class, both calm and noisy tasks should be introduced so that the students experience both quiet and loud periods.

You should also build interactive lesson plans based on themes.

To know more techniques and work with this age group, you should do a specialized TEFL certificate in teaching Young Learners.

What Are Some Games for Teaching English to Kids?

Kindergarten icons set with playing children symbols flat isolated vector illustration

The three most popular games for kids are

Hangman – In this game, one student thinks of a word and draws lines to signify the spaces for each letter. The classmates have to guess the message correctly.

Bingo – For this game, you should have a Bingo sheet. You have to cut the sheet and put the squares into the box. Allow each student to do the same.

Board Race – D ivide the class into two teams, and each student has to go to the board for the activity.

You should always reward them with some prizes for the right answers.

How to Teach English to Kids: Strategies

1. Make it Fun:

The most important thing for teaching kids is making fun activities in class. Some people believe that kids learn best through play.

Here are some ways in which you can make learning more fun.

Games – You can also introduce games in the class, which makes the class more interactive. The games are not only competitive, but they also give some goals to accomplish. There are so many games that can be used for classroom English teaching. E.g., Simon says, Mother may I and Memory.

Be Creative – You should be creative in the class because doing the same things every day can be dull for the kids. You should be creative with your plans. This will help in teaching English to kids. Change things regularly. Rearrange the students every day so they would be happy.

Give your students a test before you give them the materials. Always ask them questions, answers.

You can keep the same basic schedule every day. Rotate the exercises from the textbook every day. You can also have your activities and games. You can also arrange for a quiz in the class.

Art in Class – KIds love art classes. They like to color and draw. Every child is an artist. You can take advantage of that and include this in teaching English language. You can ask your students to do an art-based project. Then talk about their culture and different traditions. You can also ask your kids to make collages on various subjects. Colleges are secure, and the kids will enjoy making it. After completing their work, ask every child about their college work.

2. Take Your Class Outside

You should also take your class outside. You will be amazed to see because children learn very fast outside. They can explore the outer world. Here are few ideas you can start with :

Scavenger Hunt: You can send your students for a scavenger hunt. You can help them in finding the things with the letters and alphabets. You can also have them look for specific shapes too. This will also help in teaching kids English.

Treasure Hun t: You can also send your students out in the ground with some clues.they can start finding the hidden treasure.

Make Sign s: You can copy the pages of the picture book into signs and ask the students about it. This will help a lot in teaching English to kids.

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3. Make it Active:

The kids like moving a lot. They like to be active and engaged. Dr. Maria Montessori also suggested that the kids are not able to learn until they learn to walk. The more learners move, the better, the faster they l earn. The TPR ( Total Physical Response ) is a method that works really well. For example, you associate physical movements with the language instructions. Students will also learn as they follow the instructions.

Using some hands-one materials can also be useful for the kids. You can also introduce flashcards for teaching them, but they should be creative and attractive.

Small World Play: collect some animal figures that are used in the class in stories or books and tell the kids to tell the story by using those figures. These little things make the class enjoyable.

Mystery Bag s: In this teaching method, you can make use of a sense of touch. You can place some food items in a mystery bag, and by smelling and touching, you can tell them to find out the things.

Jenga Discussion: You should write the questions on the paper and ask the students to answer them in the blocks. These small things will help in teaching English to kids.

Don’t put pressure on your kids: You should never put pressure on your Kids, as they are very small. Instead of putting pressure on them, we should introduce such an exciting and fun way of teaching methods.

Their Natural Acquisition Process Will Require Three Simple Things :

You can Avoid Putting Pressure in Kids by :

How to Teach English to Kids

English has become a universal language. From personal to professional scenarios, English has become very popular. It is also the official language in many countries.

1. Make It an Immersive Experience : Children have the habit of grasping things very quickly when their environment supports their learning process. This can be from conversations among phones, social media, or by watching T.V.

2. Teaching English Can be Made Musical: Most of the parents use textbooks to teach kids at home. But that can be boring. Use poems, songs, some nursery rhymes. By listening to the words and the rhythm of the rhymes, the kids can grab the language quickly. This will also help teach kids English.

3. Converse in English At Home : Small kids are not able to frame full sentences and speak. They also cannot structure their thoughts. So, we should communicate with them whatever they know in English. Starting with the easy conversations of daily activities.

4. Make English Fun: Reading books and conversation in English is not enough to learn English; on the other hand, we should make English a fun language. Introducing fun games and activities will make the work easy. This will help in teaching English to kids. Games like pictures from picture books are useful because children have the habit of grasping it faster. Dumb charades focuses on expressions and body language, which is useful for the kids.

5 . Learning is fun When it is Told Through Story : Kids are extremely fond of stories. They have a vivid and visual imagination. We can use this advantage in teaching language. We all know that kids understand well when they are told stories. Always use illustrated storybooks to help them understand how words help them to understand characters and settings. This can also be a great help in teaching kids English.

6. Grammar Can be Made Easy by Repetition: Teaching grammar to kids is a difficult job. It usually starts once the kids enter a specific Grade. To introduce them to the grammar world, you should include it in daily conversations. When they speak the wrong grammar, you should correct it immediately. With enough repetition in everyday use, kids can learn grammar fast. This will also help in T eaching English to kids.

7. Use of Mix Games: You should always introduce some games which are attractive because kids love games. If they enjoy puzzles and riddles, you should use English phrases and poems.

8. Use of Creative Expression : This is one of the best ways to teach the English language. When you have little time, you can give your child a task. Ask your kid to come up with a story or a poem. This will give you an idea of where your kids stand. Help them write it down even with grammatical mistakes. Let them express it in steps and correct them. This is one of the best ways to teach English to kids.

9. Learning a Language can be a Physical Exercise: Everyone knows the game, Simon says. It is not only a test of language, but also you can see how quickly your child responds to the instructions. Arrange a small quiz during weekends and call your kid’s friends. Keep a small prize for them, which will make the game exciting.

10. Watching a wonderful Film Together : Learning is fun. Kids always like fun-filled activities. Kids have the habit of quickly falling into boredom and finding something else to keep their attention. Show them some good kids in English movies with dialogues. After that, ask them the stories or tell them to story play. Slowly the kids will start learning the language.

11. Encourage active Learning by group Songs and Dances : Kids love singing and dancing. Getting them moving around and having fun is a must. For example, sing a song that covers days of a week. Sing some funny songs and keep them entertained.

12. Use Craft and Activity Sheets: For younger kids, the English lessons should be built around fun-filled activities. For example, spell out words with Craft sticks or by drawing in sand to make it a tactile experience.

13. Read stories: Kids love stories. In a classroom or at home, pick up some books of great story rhyme makers such as Sandra Boynton. Make sure you hold up the book, read it, and show the pictures.

14. Join in the Activities Instead of Just Observing Them: Don’t just teach the kids fun games but also get involved in it. Playing the games with them teaches the new games as well. This will help in teaching English to kids.

15. Connect new Teaching Material to What They Have Already Earned : When you are teaching something new in the class, then circle back and connect it to words and concepts you have already introduced. For example, if you teach kids about colors, you can join it with seven rainbow colors. This is going to help to teach English to kids.

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15 Ways to Teach English to Kids FAQs.

1. How Can I Teach Kids Online?

2. What Certificate do I Need to Teach Kids?

Most of the teaching jobs around the world should have at least 100 hours of general TEFL certification. Who wants to advance at their teaching jobs should do the next level certification course in teaching English to young learners.

3. How do I Start Teaching English for Beginners?

Teaching English to beginners is quite a difficult job. You may be surprised to know that in many countries when you know the local language then only they will appoint you as a language teacher.because to teach them English it is necessary to know the local language as well.

4. What are the basic Techniques for Teaching English to young Learners?

When working with young learners, it is great if you introduce games, songs, rhymes, props, and videos to keep the kids engaged and moving.

5. What are Some Games for Teaching English to Kids?

Games are crucial for kids. Kids love games.some famous games are:
Hangman
Bingo
Board Race
Simon says.
You can introduce these games and make your class more interactive.

Summary

English is a common language. It is widely used for conversations. From personal to a professional scenario. It is also used as an official language in most of the countries. Parents wonder how to teach them at home. Here are some tips.

1. Make it an experience: Children have the habit of grasping everything very fast. Always make such an atmosphere that they start grasping it very fast.

2. Teaching English can be made Musical: Most of the parents use textbooks to teach English to kids, but it can often get boring for them. So, you can start using rhymes, poems, songs.

3. Converse in English At Home: Always try to converse with them at home in English. Talk to them about daily activities. This will encourage them to learn the language well.

4. Use Games while teaching: Always use fun-filled activities or games for kids. Kids love games. They love to be engaged. So, use some games like Simon says, Board race, Bingo, etc.

5. Learning is fun when it is told through a story: Kids love stories. It is seen that they grasp everything very fast when something is illustrated.

6. Grammar can be easy by repetition: teaching grammar to the kids is an arduous task. The best way to introduce them to the world of grammar is to keep using the right syntax in general conversations.

7. Use creative expression: Pick a day and time and ask your kids to come up with their own stories and poems. Help them to write it down.

8. Learning a language can be a physical exercise too: Introduce some fun-filled activities to your learning sessions. This will help in learning the language well.

9. Watch a beautiful Movie together: Movies also help in learning. Learning should always be entertaining. You can watch some good kids’ movies together.

10. Use some creative Activities: Kids love drawing and coloring. You can use this in teaching as well.

Also Check this Video

How to Teach English to Kindergarteners: Tips and Activities You Can Rely On

It takes a special kind of person to teach kindergarteners.

I learned this lesson on my first day of teaching at an English academy for kindergarteners. I thought I was already prepared for the job because of my experience with elementary students…

Could I have been more wrong?

I quickly learned that teaching kindergarten requires you to find a special balance between patience and strictness. If you’re too laid back, you’ll never be able to control a class of 10 to 20 overexcited five-year-olds. But if you’re too strict, they’re going to be afraid of you and won’t want to participate in classroom activities.

Fortunately, since that day I’ve come up with some methods to maintain an orderly classroom and ensure that students are comfortable, happy and engaged while successfully learning and practicing English.

In this post you’ll find my top tips and activities for a high-energy but productive English kindergarten classroom.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

How to Teach English to Kindergarteners: Tips and Activities You Can Rely On

As a rule, kindergarten students don’t respond well to teachers who run their classrooms like drill sergeants. Kindergarten students have needs that are completely different from learners just a few years older. Issues that seem minor to elementary students feel like an existential crisis to a kindergarten learner.

For this reason, it’s important to always listen to kindergarten students when they’re upset in order to earn their trust. You also to need plan your lessons a little differently to keep them following along and having fun.

Here’s how you can do that.

1. Develop an ESL Routine (and Stick to It)

The best way to control your kindergarten English class isn’t to constantly reprimand them, it’s to create a routine and stick to it. Structure and routines tend to work well with young learners. Many find routines comforting because they always know what to expect, as well as what they should and shouldn’t be doing throughout the day.

Try to base your routine on manageable blocks of time and make sure to prioritize application of English concepts throughout the day.

Here’s part of the routine that I came up with when I taught kindergarten ESL students:

Beginning of class — Teach the vocabulary word/sentence of the day and have students practice it

9:00 to 9:40 — Reading practice

9:40 to 9:50 — Questions and answers about the reading passage

9:50 to 10:00 — Break

10:00 to 10:20 — Conversational English practice

10:20 to 10:50 — Students complete one page in the conversational English workbook, then the class checks answers together

10:50 to 11:00 — Break

11:00 to 11:30 — Students practice the key grammar point of the day, usually something simple like the use of articles or verb tenses

11:40 to 11:50 — Song time (the students learn a new English song every Monday and continue to sing it for the rest of the week)

11:50 to 12:00 — Prepare for lunch (students line up, and in groups of three they wash their hands and grab their eating utensils)

Getting your students on a routine like this isn’t hard, but you do need to be consistent and stick to it as much as possible, especially when implementing it for the first time. Once your students get used to it, they’ll know what to do and will participate more in class.

Also, if you need a blank timetable template to help you structure your kindergarten classes, take a look at this one from BusyTeacher.

2. Gamify Classroom Management

One of the biggest challenges that kindergarten teachers face is maintaining order in the classroom without coming across too harsh. Obviously, you don’t want to be overly strict and make yourself look like the headmaster from “Matilda,” but you also need to have your students listen to you.

The best way to find the balance between being the fun teacher and the teacher kindergarten students listen to is to come up with fun little games that grab your students’ attention (while also getting them to participate in English).

Here’s how you can do that.

Call-and-response

When students are being noisy, English call-and-response prompts are a fun way to grab their attention and get everyone back on the same page. Some example prompts are below.

The more you practice them with the class, the more likely your students will stop talking and pay attention. For a truly gamified experience, you can keep classroom points on the board for every successful call-and-response interaction.

The Token Economy

One of the best ways to motivate kindergarten students to participate and behave is by giving them rewards. Every time your students participate well in class, reward them with a token. At the end of the week or month, let them exchange their tokens for small prizes.

With the token economy, you’ll want to come up with criteria students have to meet before receiving a token, so that everyone has the same opportunity. For this reason, I made the following requirements before I gave my students tokens at the end of a lesson:

And believe me, kindergarteners are the first to know when you’re not being consistent or fair with your rewards!

3. Keep Kid-friendly English Activities in Your Back Pocket

A good kindergarten teacher is one who’s energetic and comes prepared with a lot of activities. Kindergarteners aren’t able to sit quietly at their desks for extended periods of time, so they really need to move around and have fun in order to get the most out of their English learning experience.

Even if you’re teaching from a kindergarten textbook, it’s a good idea to have supplemental ESL activities waiting on the back burner just in case they move through your lesson quicker than you expected.

Below are some ideas for activities that you can add in your lessons.

Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes are great because they’re already geared towards kindergarten-aged kids. They’re also fun because they help the students practice simple English phrases, including routines, animals and days of the week, in a way that gets students excited and allows them to move around.

If you’re looking for various nursery rhymes to include in your lesson, YouTube is loaded with resources. Two channels that are particularly useful for kindergarten lessons are Fun Kids English and Little Treehouse Nursery Rhymes and Kids Songs.

With the rhymes and other songs on those channels, students can learn about shapes, the alphabet, numbers and a variety of other topics associated with kindergarten-level English.

Telephone

With your students standing in a single-file line, whisper a phrase into the ear of the very last student. That student will then whisper that phrase into the next student’s ear, and they whisper to the next student and so on.

Once the sentence has reached the last person, they’ll say the sentence aloud, then the class will check to see if the sentence stayed correct the entire time.

This is a great activity to practice pronunciation and is especially useful if you have a daily expression that your students learn.

FluentU

Incorporating fun but educational technology is one of the most effective ways to engage a classroom full of young learners. FluentU is an English teaching tool that you can rely on for entertaining videos that get language results. Its vast library contains plenty of videos aimed directly at children, and each video comes with interactive transcripts and quizzes to reinforce your lesson!

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language lessons.

Flashcard Slap

The game is one of my favorites to use with young learners. Kindergarten students especially love it because it gives them the opportunity to move around and have fun while learning English.

To play this game, make flashcards that use the key vocabulary words and expressions you’ve been going over with your kindergarten students. You want to go with flashcards that use pictures, as most kindergarten students have difficulty reading—especially if their first language uses a different writing system.

Place three or four flashcards on the board, with all but one being the correct card to choose from. In pairs of two, have students come up to the board with fly swatters (or something similar they can slap with) and say the vocabulary word or expression. The two students then slap the cards on the board and the first student to choose the correct card wins.

If you’re looking for flashcards to download, or you’d just like some inspiration when creating your own, check out ESL-Kids’ flashcard section.

Hot Potato

Hot potato is another energetic activity that works really well with kindergarten students. Simply designate an object like an eraser, ball or anything that’s lightweight and easy to handle as your hot potato.

While you play music, students pass the potato to the next person, and the student holding the potato when the music stops is expected to speak.

The good thing about this activity is that you can modify it to cover a number of kindergarten-related English topics. For example, the student holding the hot potato can…

Just make sure that the object is hardy and won’t break when dropped, because kindergarteners tend to get really excited when playing this game!

As you can see, teaching kindergarteners English isn’t hard. You just need to be patient and willing to have fun with your students. If you want to teach a kindergarten lesson like a pro, you just need to be fair and consistent, energetic and plan activities that get them moving and participating in English.

By doing this, you’ll be the teacher that kindergarten students listen to, as well as the fun teacher that they all love.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)