Teaching Children

Teaching English and traveling around the world is one of the greatest opportunities of a person’s life. The thrills of adventure and excitement gained by learning a new culture and living in a foreign country are dreamed about by millions eager for experiences in life. However, those dreams can quickly turn into frightful nightmares if a new teacher is not properly trained and prepared for the job at hand; doubly so, if the job at hand involves teaching children!

More than 50 % of the English teaching jobs in countries such as Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Korea, Japan, and China involve teaching children. The Freedom TEFL program is designed to train new English teachers for a job in any part of the world. This area of the course comprises twenty hours and is exclusively devoted to thoroughly preparing prospective teachers in the mechanics and the know-how of teaching children.

1. The main focus of the course is to develop the trainees teaching skills while providing them with a realistic insight into teaching children. The knowledge and skills that the students acquire can be utilized in any part of the globe, although from a cultural aspect it must be recognized that attitudes and approaches to learning differ from country to country.

2. There is no course book used for the teaching children part of the course. The reason for this is that teaching English to children course books for TEFL learners are almost in non-existence. Those that do exist are very limited and/or general in the aspects of English teaching to children that they cover and are therefore of little use.

3. For each class the students will be given handout sheets with complete information and instructions for the day’s activities. The subjects to be focused on have been carefully selected and target areas of importance that are crucial to the survival of a prospective English teacher of children.

4. The basis of the course is not for the trainer to lecture the students on how to teach, but for the trainees to actively participate and exchange ideas on how classes or themes can be approached. Therefore, the students will be given many role play activities and, with the guidance of the instructor, they will work together to decide on ideas and approaches to teaching activities. The trainees will then demonstrate these activities to their colleagues, who will in turn act as students with a chosen level (depending on the activity). Relevant questions will be posed by both the teacher and the student colleagues.

5. During the course many topics will be addressed such as the following:

--- The necessary requirements for the effective English teaching of children.

--- What to expect from a first class and what information should be obtained from your student(s).

--- Student types and relevant behavior/problems.

--- Frequently asked grammar questions.

--- Lesson planning and course work/course books.

--- Teaching without course books.

--- How to enhance creativity.

--- Designing practice activities/games/songs.

--- Vocabulary expansion.

--- Suggested methods for approaching various subjects.

--- Various other topics.

The idea is that the students finish the course with a firm basis on how to approach teaching English to children and throughout the course they will study ways in which approaches and styles can be improved or bettered. Consequently, studying a course such as this one and having a certificate makes obtaining work easier, especially through academies that specialize in English classes for children.