Our Song & Play kids wrap up their first year.
These kids amaze me. Most had a very limited understanding of English and over the course of the school year, through repeating nursery rhymes, singing songs, playing games and learning to cook and dance following simple instruction- these fabulous kids learn English.
Many times, they did not want to leave after the 1- 1 1/2 hour lesson. They enjoyed the memory game most. I would read them a story and then write the vocabulary words from the book on little pieces of paper and place them into a basket. The children would take turns reaching in and then draw the word using pictures on the chalkboard. The children had to shout out the words. The first person to know the picture would go next.
They learned: the electric slide, how to bake a cake, how to plant a seed and how to draw pictures- all in English. They learned the words to many popular songs too, like ‘Lemon Tree’ and ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’. We would translate the lyrics together using an online translation program, giving them a greater understanding of the meaning of songs.
YouTube was a great tool to help the children learn English. They could go onto my account and play the songs and rhymes at will. It did not feel like homework to them and they would memorize the lessons by the following week. I could not give them music and rhymes fast enough.
Lastly, Angelina helped me explain lessons to the class in French when we were stuck. The children were patient with my limited language. However, my lack of French forced them to try to understand what I was saying in English. They were not allowed to speak French during our song and play hour.
I enjoyed these kids and looked forward to Wednesdays. After a year of leading them, they all made huge amounts of progress. I am proud and they make my heart big!
