TEACHING CHILDREN POSTS

Dear friends I have been publishing several articles about teaching children. These articles are not of my own. The name of the original writer is at the beginning of each article. However, they are very interesting to read and reflect on. I hope they will refresh ideas or bring some new ones about. Later on  will post more articles on different topics of your interest.

Enjoy and comment your thoughts.

Learning English through sharing rhymes

By Opal Dunn, author and educational consultant

Using rhymes

Simple rhymes are thought to be innate in most cultures. From the time young children begin to talk, many enjoy playing and experimenting with sounds by themselves – a precursor to later enjoyment of rhymes. Most seem to have skills and a built-in drive that enable them to imitate the sounds and pick up the language and special rhythms of rhymes.
Picking up and repeating the particular language of rhymes is another form of play for young children. They learn rhymes unconsciously and effortlessly; it is not the laborious task it can be for some adults.
By playing with the short texts of rhymes, children explore the mechanics of the English language. They find out how language works and become familiar with the relationship between the 44 sounds of English and the 26 alphabet letters – information which helps them when they begin reading to decode the sounds that make up words. The value of this type of language-play with rhymes in early learning is both underestimated and undervalued.
There is a difference between rhymes and simple poems for young children. Rhymes, in general, are short and depend on the melodic use of the voice to recite the text that includes rhyming words, and the repetition of sounds and words in attractive, easy-to-copy rhythms. The traditional and well-known rhymes are sometimes classified as Mother Goose rhymes or nursery rhymes. Many, like ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ and ‘Humpty Dumpty’, are considered part of British culture. You can find an animated version of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on LearnEnglish Kids.
‘First poems’, on the other hand, generally depend less on the playfulness of the language, and more on the meaning, which evokes feelings, imagination and the discovery of ideas beyond the child’s own environment. First poems may be traditional or modern; they are a natural progression from early rhymes. They are usually less well known and less likely to be handed down from generation to generation like nursery rhymes.
Read the notes below about sharing rhymes with your child at home. You can also download these notes as a booklet at the foot of this page. The notes are available in several languages.

Why rhymes?

Rhymes are portable playthings. Parents and children can say them at any time or in any place to change a mood or fill a bored moment with fun. Rhymes need no toy, equipment or even a book to set a scene; they depend on the sound of the voice reciting the language to stimulate play. Some may be accompanied by physical actions, which help to confirm understanding and act as an aid to memorisation.
A rhyme, for young children, is a complete, short experience, which fits well with their limited attention span. It is like a compact story: it has a beginning and an end, and its own content. Once children have worked out these sequences, they feel confident, as they know that the language content is fixed, even if the speed of reciting might alter to match a mood. The attractive, playful language – often similar to that used in television commercial jingles – and the short text make it easy and quick to memorise.
Young children want to communicate immediately in English and are frustrated that they can’t say what they want. Rhymes give them the opportunity to feel that from the first sessions they can ‘say a lot of English and say it quickly just like adults’. Deep satisfaction that motivates does not come from having fun playing games in English, but from persisting until a defined task, like knowing a rhyme, is successfully completed.
Learning to speak English may seem daunting to some young children; knowing rhymes can provide motivating stepping stones that encourage them, especially in the early stages of learning English, when they feel progress is not fast enough for them.
Young children, who are sometimes shy about speaking English, often begin to speak by sharing rhymes with an encouraging adult. Through sharing a fixed, fun text, their confidence grows until they find they can say most of a short rhyme by themselves.

Selecting rhymes

It is important to build up a collection of rhymes (a rhyme bank). To do this, parents should be prepared to introduce one or two new rhymes each week, depending on their length and children’s interests and readiness to learn. Some days children are more receptive to new material and it is important to adjust to these moods.
Rhymes can be found in:

• story rhyme picture books – one rhyme to a complete picture book such as In the Dark, Dark Wood by Jessica Souhami, published by Frances Lincoln
• rhyme anthologies – books with a selection of rhymes and possibly fewer illustrations to support the text such as Number Rhymes to Say and Play! by Opal Dunn and Adriano Gon, published by Frances Lincoln/Mother Goose Sterling Publishers
• traditional rhymes – There are many books of traditional rhymes and nursery rhymes, such as The Ladybird Book of Nursery Rhymes, published by Ladybird

Family members – it is a good idea to learn rhymes already known to family members as it extends sharing and also motivates children to join in.
When collecting rhymes parents need to select those they themselves enjoy, bearing in mind:

• children’s increasing level of English
• children’s developing interests and gender needs – many children enjoy the physical action in:
  Jeremiah, blow the fire,
  Puff, puff, puff.
  First you blow it gently...
  Then you blow it rough.
• the need to transfer useful language to daily conversation
• the need to include, if possible, some rhymes known to the extended family
• the need to include rhymes with names that can be personalised by changing to family names:
  Diddle, diddle dumpling,
  My son John,
  Went to bed
  With his trousers on.
• the need to include some rhymes that can be extended into family activities or routines:
  I scream,
  You scream
  We all scream for ice-cream!
  What would you like?
  Chocolate, lemon, vanilla or ....
  One is for you/And one’s for me.

There is a wide selection of rhymes to meet most needs:

• Hello or goodbye rhymes

Hi Mary!
How are you?
Fine, thanks.
What about you?

• Action rhymes and finger play rhymes

10 fingers,
10 toes,
2 eyes
And a round nose.

• Rhyme games

Acker Backer, Soda Cracker, Acker Backer Boo!
Acker Backer, Soda Cracker
Out goes YOU!
One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four,
Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes, more?
One banana, two bananas, three bananas, four…

• Themed rhymes

Two big apples
Under a tree.
One is for you
And one’s for me.
Rain, rain, go away!
All the children want to play.
Rain, rain, go away!
Come again another day

• Traditional rhymes

Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are.

How to say a rhyme

The way a rhyme comes alive depends on how parents use their voice, eyes, facial expression and body language (for more about this, see the article speaking English with your child).
To engage a child’s attention, the introduction of a new rhyme needs to be a dramatic experience in which the voice shepherds the child through the rhyme. As children, whose hearing is more acute than adults, become more familiar with a rhyme, they learn how to read the adult’s emotions through their voice and no longer need the support of the physical actions. When this happens the child often takes over the physical actions and the parent can stop doing them.
Quite a few traditional rhymes can be both said and sung. Initially it is better to say the rhymes so the child has only one learning task – to pick up the words. If the child has to learn the tune at the same time as the words, they have to learn two things at once, which might be more complicated for some children.
Some children, who learn to sing a rhyme first, find that they have difficulty in transferring the sung language to the spoken form; this results in them ‘singing language’ when they transfer some phrases to a dialogue.

Understanding a new rhyme

Rhymes are made up of fixed phrases or blocks of language which are put together to make a rhyme. Children pick up these fixed phrases often without noticing the smaller function words like ‘the’ or ‘for’, which they hear as part of a block (e.g. ‘one’s for you’) not as individual words.
In many rhyme books there is a supporting picture that helps understanding. If there is no picture, parents can draw a quick sketch or show toys or real objects to support the meaning. Any translation of words should be done in a whisper and only once, repeating the English word afterwards.

Introducing a new rhyme

Parents need to use parentese language (for more about parantese, see the article speaking English with your child) to introduce new rhymes. The language in short rhymes is generally easy to imitate and pick up, so parentese techniques soon become less used as the child picks up more of the rhyme.
If children are to consolidate their learning, they need time to browse in order to work out and compare words, sounds and meanings in their own way and time. Children should not be hurried and made to work at an adult’s speed, especially in the initial stages of learning a new rhyme.
Repetition may seem boring to adults, but it is important to children as it gives them opportunities to subconsciously revise language and sounds. It also gives them an opportunity to confirm what they know, which gives them self-confidence.
Say the rhyme, slowly dramatising it, supporting the meaning with actions, pictures or real objects. If there are no set actions, invent simple actions as physical involvement helps memorisation and the movement creates a ‘feel good’ factor. Stress the important words and rhyming words and, where necessary, whisper a translation.
Once a new rhyme becomes well known, children are ready to take turns, each of you saying a line. Taking turns is an important skill to learn as it entails listening carefully and taking a risk, as well as having empathy for the other speaker and judging when they are going to speak.
Although children may know most of the rhyme by heart, they may not be ready to initiate saying a rhyme alone.

Informal rhyme sessions

The more rhymes are said in families, the quicker their simple everyday language becomes part of children’s life and speech. Building up a personal collection of rhymes is important, as the more rhymes children know, the more rhymes they want to know. Saying rhymes is fun!
Parents and children can recite one or two rhymes in a free moment such as while waiting in a supermarket queue or on a long journey. Parents need to start these sessions off, but children like to add their own suggestions. Children often need to repeat a rhyme; the second recitation gives them a chance to reflect and improve the way they say it.
Children are continually revising their pronunciation, but revision cannot take place if they are hurried and there are not opportunities to practise. New rhymes are better left for formal rhyme times.

Rhyme times

Planned rhyme times should include:

• old favourites
• recently learned rhymes
• the latest new rhyme.

It is a good idea to start with one or two favourites, as this helps children switch from thinking in their home language and get used to listening to and using English. The number of times a favourite rhyme is repeated depends on the mood of the child. The second repetition should include more sharing and the third, if the mood is right, should give children an opportunity to say the rhyme, or part of it, alone.
The length of a planned rhyme time depends on whether it is a single session or is the introductory warm-up to an English session (for more about this, see the article speaking English with your child). It is fun to write out a programme in advance, using first lines, so that children already reading in their home language can work out the programme. Later, when children know quite a few rhymes, they can be asked to plan their own programme.

Rhyme shows

For special occasions like an adult’s birthday, for example, you could plan a rhyme show in which children recite two or three rhymes. Children like opportunities to show their skills and the praise received does much to motivate them. The preparation for the show is important as it gives children a valid reason to keep practising and revising their pronunciation and performance.
Choral speaking can be fun too, when parent and children take turns to speak alone or together. Shy children can be members of the chorus until they have the courage to perform alone.

Recording

MP3 players with space to record rhymes provide excellent opportunities to:

• listen to a recording
• make a recording
• play back a recording and see where language can be improved
• make a second, improved recording.

Children are critical of their ‘mistakes’ and most want to rerecord each time, persisting until they are satisfied with their pronunciation.

Making rhyme books

Children who already know the Roman alphabet and the sounds of the 26 letters are often keen to know how to read and even handwrite rhymes. Make a copy of a well-known, simple rhyme, read it together and then let children try saying it aloud while pointing to each word in turn.
Children soon discover that they can read something simple in English. Let them decorate the rhyme sheet, which gives them time to browse over the text. When they have completed a few sheets, make them into a rhyme book. Depending how advanced they are at writing in English, let them make their own contents page and front cover.
Next time you make a book, some children might like to handwrite the rhymes themselves. They might also like to make birthday or celebration cards. These self-made books may inspire children to write their own rhymes. Some children begin creating their own rhymes by personalising those they know or making up their own rhymes by recycling blocks of language from other rhymes. Encourage them, as this is a form of creative writing.
Looking at rhyme picture books also provides opportunities for browsing. Begin with story rhyme books, as children will find they can self-dictate and ‘read’ the stories, as the language is supported by the many illustrations. Anthologies can demotivate beginners as they usually include a lot of rhymes children do not yet know orally.

Reading rhymes

Research has shown that ‘reading’ simple rhymes children already know by heart is an important step in the process of learning to read fluently. Dictating a known rhyme while pointing to the written words in the text is exciting for children, as they find they can read something in English.
Go to bed late,
Stay very small.
Go to bed early,
Grow very tall.
At this stage, children can read only language they already know orally in the fixed phrases of rhymes. This ‘reading’ leads them on to recognise the shapes of recurring words and later to build up their own banks of words they can recognise and ‘read’.
At about the same time they begin to analyse the sounds of words they recognise. A favourite game to encourage is collecting rhyming words, like ‘four’, ‘door’, ‘more’, ‘floor’, ‘saw’.
Parents – and teachers – are not always aware of this important step in learning to read that occurs naturally with children, who are familiar with, and enjoy, many simple rhymes.
Children who can read rhymes naturally progress to reading simple poems. Children’s ability to pick up rhymes and poems by heart, if nurtured beyond the age of about eight, seems, like acquiring languages, to become a lifelong skill.

‘Two big apples’ is taken from Number rhymes to say and play by Opal Dunn and illustrated by Adriano Gon, published by Frances Lincoln Ltd, copyright ©2003.

How young children learn English as another language

 Here I publish another interesting article about teaching children.

 

By Opal Dunn, educational consultant and author

Introduction

Young children are natural language acquirers; they are self-motivated to pick up language without conscious learning, unlike adolescents and adults. They have the ability to imitate pronunciation and work out the rules for themselves. Any idea that learning to talk in English is difficult does not occur to them unless it’s suggested by adults, who themselves probably learned English academically at a later age through grammar-based text books.
Read the notes below about young children learning English as another language. You can also download these notes as a booklet. Right-click on the link below to download the booklet to your computer. You may print this booklet.

The advantages of beginning early

• Young children are still using their individual, innate language-learning strategies to acquire their home language and soon find they can also use these strategies to pick up English.
• Young children have time to learn through play-like activities. They pick up language by taking part in an activity shared with an adult. They firstly make sense of the activity and then get meaning from the adult’s shared language.
• Young children have more time to fit English into the daily programme. School programmes tend to be informal and children’s minds are not yet cluttered with facts to be stored and tested. They may have little or no homework and are less stressed by having to achieve set standards.
• Children who have the opportunity to pick up a second language while they are still young appear to use the same innate language-learning strategies throughout life when learning other languages. Picking up third, fourth, or even more languages is easier than picking up a second.
• Young children who acquire language rather than consciously learn it, as older children and adults have to, are more likely to have better pronunciation and feel for the language and culture. When monolingual children reach puberty and become more self-conscious, their ability to pick up language diminishes and they feel they have to consciously study English through grammar-based programmes. The age at which this change occurs depends greatly on the individual child’s developmental levels as well as the expectations of their society.

Stages in picking up English

Spoken language comes naturally before reading and writing.
Silent period
When babies learn their home language, there is a ‘silent period’, when they look and listen and communicate through facial expression or gestures before they begin to speak. When young children learn English, there may be a similar ‘silent period’ when communication and understanding may take place before they actually speak any English words.
During this time parents should not force children to take part in spoken dialogue by making them repeat words. Spoken dialogues should be one-sided, the adult’s talk providing useful opportunities for the child to pick up language. Where the adult uses parentese (an adjusted form of speech) to facilitate learning, the child may use many of the same strategies they used in learning their home language.

Beginning to talk
After some time, depending on the frequency of English sessions, each child (girls often more quickly than boys) begins to say single words (‘cat’, ‘house’) or ready-made short phrases (‘What’s that?’, ‘It’s my book’, ‘I can’t’, ‘That’s a car’, ‘Time to go home’) in dialogues or as unexpected statements. The child has memorised them, imitating the pronunciation exactly without realising that some may consist of more than one word. This stage continues for some time as they child picks up more language using it as a short cut to dialogue before they are ready to create their own phrases.
Building up English language
Gradually children build up phrases consisting of a single memorised word to which they add words from their vocabulary (‘a dog’, ‘a brown dog’, ‘a brown and black dog’) or a single memorised language to which they add their own input (‘That’s my chair’, ‘Time to play’). Depending on the frequency of exposure to English and the quality of experience, children gradually begin to create whole sentences.

Understanding

Understanding is always greater than speaking and young children’s ability to comprehend should not be underestimated, as they are used to understanding their home language from a variety of context clues. Though they may not understand everything they hear in their home language, children grasp the gist – that is they understand a few important words and decipher the rest using different clues to interpret the meaning. With encouragement they soon transfer their ‘gist’ understanding skills to interpret meaning in English.

Frustration

After the initial novelty of English sessions, some young children become frustrated by their inability to express their thoughts in English. Others want to speak quickly in English as they can in their home language. Frustration can often be overcome by providing children with ‘performance’ pieces like ‘I can count to 12 in English’ or very simple rhymes, which consist of ready-made phrases.

Mistakes

Children should not be told they have made a mistake because any correction immediately demotivates. Mistakes may be part of the process of working out grammar rules of English or they may be a fault in pronunciation. ‘I goed’ soon becomes ‘went’ if the child hears the adult repeat back ‘yes, you went’; or if the adult hears ‘zee bus’ and repeats ‘the bus’. As in learning their home language, if children have an opportunity to hear the adult repeat the same piece of language correctly, they will self-correct in their own time.

Gender differences

Boys’ brains develop differently from girls’ and this affects how boys pick up language and use it. Sometimes mixed classes make little provision for boys, who may be overshadowed by girls’ natural ability to use language. If young boys are to reach their potential, they need some different language experiences with girls and their achievements should not be compared with those of girls.

Language-learning environments

Young children find it more difficult to pick up English if they are not provided with the right type of experiences, accompanied by adult support using ‘parentese’ techniques.

• Young children need to feel secure and know that there is some obvious reason for using English.
• Activities need to be linked to some interesting everyday activities about which they already know, eg sharing an English picture book, saying a rhyme in English, having an ‘English’ snack.
• Activities are accompanied by adult language giving a running commentary about what is going on and dialogues using adjusted parentese language.
• English sessions are fun and interesting, concentrating on concepts children have already understood in their home language. In this way children are not learning two things, a new concept as well as new language, but merely learning the English to talk about something they already know.
• Activities are backed up by specific objects, where possible, as this helps understanding and increases general interest.

Reading

Children who can already read in their home language generally want to find out how to read in English. They already know how to decode words in their home language to get meaning from text and, if not helped to decode in English, may transfer their home language-decoding techniques and end up reading English with the home language accent.
Before they can decode English, young children need to know the 26 alphabet letter names and sounds. As English has 26 letters but on average 44 sounds (in standard English), introducing the remaining sounds is better left until children have more experience in using language and reading,
Beginning reading in English goes easily if young children already know the language they are trying to read. Many children work out by themselves how to read in English if they have shared picture books with adults or learned rhymes, as they are likely to have memorised the language. Reading what they know by heart is an important step in learning to read as it gives children opportunities to work out how to decode simple words by themselves. Once children have built up a bank of words they can read, they feel confident and are then ready for a more structured approach.

Parental support

Children need to feel that they are making progress. They need continual encouragement as well as praise for good performance, as any success motivates. Parents are in an ideal position to motivate and so help their children learn, even if they have only basic English themselves and are learning alongside their young children.
By sharing, parents can not only bring their child’s language and activities into family life, but can also influence their young children’s attitudes to language learning and other cultures. It is now generally accepted that most lifelong attitudes are formed by the age of eight or nine.

Further reading:

If you are interested in finding out more about how children learn languages we suggest the following websites:

• Carol Read, author and teacher trainer writes a blog about children learning English
  www.carolread.wordpress.com

• Booklets

Learning English through picture books

By Opal Dunn, author and eductional consultant (Source: BBC Website)

Picture books

Every year thousands of children’s picture books are published in the UK. Children’s corners in bookshops offer a bewildering choice of new and old favourites, illustrated by some of the best artists working in Britain today. Native-speaker children have many opportunities to enjoy these picture books; there is no reason why young children learning English as an additional language should not enjoy them, too.

The advantages of beginning early

From the very first introduction to listening to English, children can enjoy carefully selected picture books. Young learners soon pick up the short text of a picture book, if initially it is shared with an adult who brings the pages alive.
Children are already familiar with stories. From a very young age they talk in narrative style. It is through their stories of everyday experiences that they define themselves: expressing their ideas, hopes and emotions in language as well as in drawing and imaginative play.
Many children are already used to decoding stories and information from television or film in their home language, while others may have already enjoyed the interaction of sharing a picture book. Most children, if guided by a parent, soon work out how to transfer their individual decoding skills to get meaning from picture books in English.
Sharing picture books is not only about picking up another language, it is also about giving children a wider window on the world, guided by their parents. The one-to-one interaction of sharing picture books gives children added opportunities to develop holistically at their own speed and level, knowing that their parents are encouraging them. As children share more and more books their self-confidence develops. This can often be seen in the way they approach unfamiliar English and new experiences.
Picture books provide parents and children with an obvious reason for switching from their home language to speaking English. Parents who lack confidence in English find that the fixed text of a picture book is a useful prop. Apart from providing text to read and share, a picture book can be the basis for interaction, which parents can adjust to their child’s developing needs, interests and attainments.
Some parents may be concerned that introducing picture books will not fit in with their child’s school syllabus or text book. Sharing a picture book is an additional English learning experience that bonds families and helps children realise that speaking English at home is fun. Many families enjoy slipping English phrases picked up from picture books into everyday home language conversations. ‘Not now, Bernard’ is quite a favourite!

Learning from picture books

It takes time to build up a child’s readiness to talk about picture books in English. Children’s silence, however, does not mean that they are not listening and learning. Children usually understand more than they can say in words and, if the book experience is focused and fun, they usually want to pick up the new English at their own speed. Children are busy exploring their world and most are keen to find out something new, particularly if it is presented in an encouraging and attractive way.
Parents can underestimate their children’s ability to pick up more text each time a picture book is shared. Many are surprised to see how keen their children are to join in ‘reading’ if they are encouraged to finish off a sentence or say a stressed word like ‘No’ each time it occurs. Once children work out how to join in, they gradually extend their skills to pick up whole short sentences until, eventually, they can recite most of a text as they turn the pages to match it to the illustrations. Many a busy parent purposely skipping a little text has had their ‘mistake’ pointed out by their child!
Young children’s boredom threshold differs from adults’. Many may ask for the same book to be read and re-read. Parents need to respond positively to these requests as re-readings provide the natural repetition children may need for making meaning or picking up new language as well as confirming and refining language they have already acquired.
Picture books, sometimes referred to as ‘real books’, to distinguish them from graded text books, expose children to a range of language structures and vocabulary familiar to native-speaker children.
Illustrations in real picture books are not merely supporting understanding of language, as might be the case in many text books. The different styles of artwork naturally broaden children’s visual experiences. One of the delights of sharing picture books with children is that, on first viewing, children tend to look at an illustration as a whole but with repeated reading of the book, details and subtleties usually emerge.
The illustrations may be by well-known artists, pictures may be photographs or the books may contain 3D novelty paper sculptures. How exciting it is for children to hold art in their hands. There is no doubt that exposure to picture books increases visual decoding skills and over time influences creativity and the ability to appreciate design and illustration.
Picture books also help children find meaning within their own life. Children can pore over emotional situations contained within picture books that may help to relieve personal frustrations, or they can encounter exciting and imaginative experiences way beyond their own environment or even their dreams. Imagine the power a child feels as he or she firmly shuts a book and says, ‘GOODBYE Giant!’

Selecting picture books

Picture books may be:

• story books – short simple story text including conversation and rhyme
• information books, with short explanatory text
• rhyme books, which might introduce one story rhyme or an anthology of poems
• novelty books, with short text and 3D paper sculpture
• character series books, with an accompanying character doll or puppet.

Parents need to select books that they enjoy and feel they can read confidently – enthusiasm is infectious! Before they introduce a book, they need to plan how they are going to read the text and, each time they re-read, follow the same plan. Children find it more difficult to pick up language if the reading differs each time.
In the early stages it is vital to select books with short texts, if children are to pick up language successfully and in a way that self-motivates. Children can measure their own success and this, together with merited adult praise, contributes to a positive feeling about sharing English picture books.
Where a simple text is slightly longer, it is generally advisable to limit the first reading to the essential story language. Once this is understood, the descriptions can be gradually added using parentese language.
Most books should be selected to include some language a little beyond a child’s level in English, so the child can start from familiar language and move on to some new language.
Once children have shared several books successfully, the habit of ‘reading’ together regularly in the family in English is likely to be established.
Ideally a book should include some words or phrases that can be transferred to children’s everyday English, so giving them opportunities to use their innate skills to transfer language to different situations.
In selecting books parents need to think about gender and include some books that appeal to both boys and girls, so children have some common story experiences to exchange. Some boys find it easier to relate to information books rather than story books.

CD-ROMs and DVDs

Some story books are sold with an attached CD-ROM or DVD. These offer children a different, less intimate and more passive experience than sharing picture books. For profound learning, it is best to share the book until children know most of the text by heart before exposing them to either the CD-ROM or DVD.
Apart from the wealth of all-round experiences that come from sharing, children may not be ready, before they are familiar with the text, to cope with a voice and even accent that is different from their parents’.
By this time children are likely to have found out how to enjoy the picture book, and may even want to read by themselves.

Book time

For successful sharing it is important to set the scene for regular book times. Children need to know that this is when they can snuggle up to parents and feel confident that their parents will focus only on them and sharing the book.
Book time may be a single session or part of a larger English session which includes other activities in English. Ideally there needs to be an ‘English book time’ every day or at least every weekday at about the same time, as frequent short exposure is more effective than fewer, longer sessions. Length can vary from ten minutes to longer periods to match children’s readiness to learn and mood on the actual day. Regularity gives a feeling of security and something to which children can look forward.
It is a good idea to share the choice of books to be read, as children’s requests may hide emotional or language needs. A new book is best introduced once children are beginning to ‘read’ the other books successfully. Presentation of a new book should be saved for a day when both parents and children ‘feel good’.

Parents’ role in introducing new books

In the initial stages children are dependent on the parent’s reading and interaction for input and picking up language. The role gradually changes as children begin to share a little of the reading. As children’s reading ability increases, the role of the parent gradually diminishes.
By the time children know the text by heart and are capable of ‘reading’ the book aloud to themselves or to others, the parent’s role is reduced to re-phrasing mistakes and praising successes.
Throughout this time the parent is managing the experiences and tuning into their child to find out what stage they have reached and where they need added support. This cycle repeats each time a new book is introduced, but as children learn more English the cycle takes less time.

Book browsing

Book browsing is a form of play where children enjoy books by themselves, in their own time, turning the pages when they want. Like all self-initiated play, it is an important part of learning, as it gives children time to revisit what they want and consolidate their learning at their own level and speed and not that of the parent.
Young children also need opportunities to ‘read’ to the extended family, as it is natural for them to want to demonstrate their achievements; it is also a form of play. Successes motivate and help to confirm in children’s minds that reading a book in English is what the family expects and finds fun. Young children want to please their parents and also share fun times with them.

Building up a home library

Books that children already know well need to be stored in an available place so that, when they feel like it, they can take a book and ‘read’ it aloud to themselves. At this stage most children are not capable of silent reading.
Ideally books should be stored with the front cover facing outwards – looking at a book’s spine is less likely to motivate browsing at this age.
Books should not be added to the home library before children know quite a lot of the text language. If children find they cannot read a text of a book in the home library, they are most likely to be demotivated. Keeping the feeling ‘I can’ is important in the initial stages. Any ‘I can’t’ feelings take time and encouragement to change.

Sharing reading

The amount of parentese language parents need to use depends on children’s language level in both their home language and English.
In the first few sharings of a new book, parents need to remember the following:

• Make sure that children are close enough to see how the parent’s lips move to make sounds and how the eyes and face, as well as body language, convey the excitement and emotions which facilitate understanding.
• Read at the children’s pace, letting them look at the picture for as long as they need. Young children are used to getting visual information to facilitate understanding. They often indicate that they have finished looking by turning their faces to look at the parent.
• Dramatise the story reading and if possible include some physical gesture, as physical involvement helps in memorising language.
• Use different fun voices for animal noises and characters like ‘a cross Grandma’, as you read the story. Children love to imitate characterisation and transfer it to their own ‘reading’ aloud.
• Point to each word as you read so that children develop better left-to-right eye movement, and become conscious of the shape of words.
• Encourage joining in by letting children finish off sentences or make the noises of animals or transport.
• Once the reading is finished, close the book and stay silent for a few seconds. Children may be in their own imaginative world and need time before they are ready to leave it.
• Asking too many questions about the book can spoil the magic. Families who enjoy books together often find that children, when they are ready, talk to them about the shared English books in their home language.
• If children use a home language word or phrase while talking English, it is generally because they have not yet acquired the word in English or have forgotten it. Make no mention about the mixture of language and repeat back to them the whole phrase in English. They will notice and generally pick up the English, ready to use it at some later stage.

How does the child understand?

Young children are busy decoding their own surroundings and making sense of their home language, which often includes a lot of new language, if they are not talking about daily routines. Children are very good at understanding the gist of what is said to them and responding to it. Unlike many adults learning another language, children do not wait to understand every word. They pick out words they understand and fill in the rest of the meaning from context clues and the speaker’s body language, eyes or facial expressions. In sharing picture books, the child can get additional clues from the picture.
Initially, in order to facilitate quicker understanding, parents may feel happier translating a word or phrase. However, it is better to translate once only, using a whisper that indicates it is a translation and not part of the text. Children easily understand from a quick translation. If they know that parents are going to continue giving translations each book time, they do not make the effort to acquire the English.

Cultural content

Picture books illustrated by British-trained artists tend to reflect environments and cultural habits typical of British society. Where these are very different from the child’s world, parents need to be prepared to give added explanation in the home language.

Learning to read

Parents may be concerned when children who can already read in their home language want to decode words in picture books. Parents think any reading might interfere with the school’s structured programme of learning to read in English. Formal teaching of reading should not be confused with the experience of reading picture books for pleasure. If children show interest in teaching themselves to read, parents should encourage their enthusiasm and help them informally.
They can begin by introducing the small letters of the alphabet using their sounds, not their letter names. The consonant letters (for example b, d, m, t) are the simplest. Once children know some of the letter sounds, point out these letters at the beginning of words, stressing the initial letter sounds (dog).
As children become more familiar with the small letter sounds (consonants and simple vowels), introduce the capital letters by the side of the small letters, repeating their sounds.
Children soon begin to recognise the shape of simple words as they already know the text by heart, and therefore know where to look for them. Ask them to look for the same word in other parts of the text and expand this game.
Many children who are already reading in their home language soon understand how simple decoding works and continue by themselves to recognise other short words in the text. To help their decoding, however, parents need to tell them how to read short, but difficult words to decode, like ‘the’.
If parents sing an alphabet song, explain that letters have a name that is different from the sound it makes and in most alphabet songs we sing the names of the letters.
Some children teach themselves to read a text they already know orally, especially if it is rhyme. They use a number of strategies to decode the text and a little guessing to fill in until they know the text by heart. Many children have been using these strategies from an early age to ‘read’ logos of well-known products. Praise their efforts to read the text, but realise that this is restricted reading based on a text they know orally.
However, being able to read a text motivates and is an important step on the journey to becoming a fluent reader. Any reading done in an enjoyable, non-pressured way at this young age, when lifelong attitudes are being formed, is likely to contribute to a later love of language and books.

Further reading:

If you are interested in using picture books with your children we suggest the following web sites:

• The official website for Emily Gravett, children's author and illustrator.
  www.emilygravett.com

• The Penguin Books website for children. Discover some best sellers for children.
  www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/children

How children learn

Introduction

Your child is an individual and different from all others. The way your child learns best depends on many factors: age; learning style, personality. Read the notes below, and think about your child. This will help you to choose activities and methods that will suit your child best.

Children pass through different stages of learning

• A baby or infant learns about the world through reacting to input through the senses.
• From about two until seven years old the child starts to develop the ability to reason and think, but is still self-centred.
• After the age of about seven a child usually becomes less self-centred and can look outside themselves. By the age of 12 most children can reason and test out their ideas about the world.
• This means that with younger children we need to personalise and give examples which relate to themselves, whereas older children need help to make sense of the world around them. This also means that children must be at the right stage ready to learn. For example younger children are ready to acquire the concepts of number, colour and shape but are not ready for abstract grammatical rules.

What kind of learner is your child?

• It is important to understand how your child likes to learn best. Which are the child's dominant senses? Do they like pictures and reading? If so you can encourage your child to use drawings, pictures, maps or diagrams as part of their learning.
• Some children like listening to explanations and reading aloud. You could use reading stories to encourage this kind of child. And most children enjoy learning through songs, chants and rhymes.
• Does your child like to touch things and physically move about? Some children have tons of energy to burn off! You could play games to get them moving or running around, acting out rhymes or stories or even dancing!
• Other quieter children may have a good vocabulary and be a good reader. Word games, crosswords, wordsearches, anagrams and tongue twisters would be good to encourage these children.
• Yet other children require logical, clear explanations of rules and patterns, or like to work out the rules for themselves. They may be good at maths too. For these children activities such as word puzzles, reading and writing puzzles, problem-solving, putting things in order or categories and computer games provide ideal opportunities for learning.

What kind of interaction does your child prefer?

• Some children are outgoing and sociable and can learn a language quickly because they want to communicate. They are not worried about making mistakes.
• Other children are quieter and more reflective. They learn by listening and observing what is happening. They don't like to make mistakes and will hang back until they are sure.
• If your child is outgoing they may do best learning in groups with other children, whereas a quieter child may need more private, quiet time to feel more secure about learning a language. You can provide this in many ways – even through the bedtime story in English.

Motivating your child

• For a child to be motivated learning needs to be fun and stress-free. Encourage them to follow their own interests and personal likes. For example if your child likes football he or she will probably like to read a story about football even if the level is a little difficult. Interest and motivation often allows children to cope with more difficult language.
• Try to provide as many fun activities as you can for learning English. Songs and music, videos and DVDs, any kind of game especially computer games are motivating for all children.

For how long can your child concentrate?

Children can usually only concentrate for short periods of time – when you are doing an activity with your child, using flashcards for example, or doing a worksheet, make sure that you stop or change activity when your child is bored or restless. This might be after only a few minutes.

Correcting your child's mistakes

Children respond well to praise and encouragement – let your child know when they have done something well. Don't criticise them too much when they make a mistake. It's natural to make mistakes when learning a language. Don't pick up on every grammatical mistake – encourage your child to use English to communicate.

Repetition and routines

Children need to repeat language items many times to get them to ‘stick’ so don't be afraid to repeat games or do several different activities with the same language topic or set of words. Children often love to repeat the same song or story as it gives them a sense of confidence and familiarity.
Establishing a regular routine for homework is also important. You can check what they have to do for homework and set up a regular time for doing it.

Article by Sue Clarke, teacher and trainer, British Council, Portugal (Source: BBC Website)

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