Teaching Foreign Languages Made Simple 2017 Teaching a Second Language to Preschoolers in a Montessori Setting 3 to 6 year-old-students Romain Grouazel-Krauss French and English Studies – Teach and Learn French and English as a Second Language - 2017 rgrouazel@hotmail.com Introduction The younger we are the faster we learn new vocabulary and it is a known fact that our brain keeps expanding at a great speed until it reaches its almost fully formed shape at about 8 years old. Learning a second language as early as preschool age is a plus, should it be taught properly with the right amount of fun, interest and knowledge. Question Why should languages be taught academically when one can learn naturally? Do not we all learn our own mother tongue in a non-academic manner? Pedagogy & Plan An efficient teacher should do everything in his power to not literally teach a child or a class. He should instead focus as much on the process as just the result –the tip of this iceberg that we call knowledge or education. To do so then, it is important to, not teach, but rather make the student learn from us. Age group: 2 to 6 Focus: Acquiring of Vocabulary Time: 60 min Vocabulary: 50 new words per week, reused in different songs, games, drawings, hands-on activities, stories, questions and answers (repetitions of the vocabulary). Routines: Daily projects, greeting, tracing/writing names, songs Weekly theme connected to the previous Flexibility of order depending on many factors such as: 5 to 10 students at the time depending on the difficulties, skills, attention and energy required to perform the task. 5 senses involved for the 7 types of intelligence – learning types. Teaching Foreign Languages Made Simple 2017 Day Content Outcomes Senses Strengthen fine motor skills (muscles of fingers) to help writing Sight 1 Vocabulary and introduction to the weekly theme. Flashcards and questions about the new vocabulary. Drawing and coloring activities. Ask children to make as many items as possible out of Play dough. Make a song with the voc in it. sport, outside, nature walk looking for objects, people, animal, fauna and flora related to the new vocabulary One-to-one correspondence . Understand the link between the different elements. Gross motor skills and AMPLE movement 2 3 4 Group Painting/Mural –guided by the teacher (the teacher places the student on such or such part of the canvas to get the different shading and give one color per student –if not, everything would become brown). Hands-On Cooking/V=Biology, Science and chemistry . construction, building class (can touch, smell, taste and eat) Multiple Intelligence Visual Musical Hearing Verbal Touch Interpersonal Sight Hearing kinesthetic Touch Naturalistic smell Existential Taste kinesthetic Touch Existential Sight Intrapersonal Sight Hearing Naturalistic Touch Logical smell kinesthetic Taste 5 Library, book, story time. Implement the vocabulary by telling stories and for them top hoose a d ead their own stories. Intrapersonal Sight Verbal Hearing Visual Symbol Teaching Foreign Languages Made Simple 2017 Short Discussion There are at least five senses which we learn best from a d ased o Ho a d Ga d e ’s Multiple I tellige e theory as well Malaguzzi’s Reggio E ilia app oa h: The 100 Languages of Children e can be confident that indeed we do all learn differently and that these learning abilities will determine how learning will occur. My vision as an educator upon this matter is that a hild’s ai is eithe totally empty nor totally full but rather alike DNA or INTERNET has everything and more in it—that is even thoughts, ideas, qualities and skills that do not exist yet. Should the different useful genes be activated properly and/or add-ons uploaded the right way at the right moment good expected results will occur. On the contrary, should they be activated the wrong ay o should the o g ge es/add-o s e a ti ated, a athe egati e esult ill depend on them. And the efo e the ight uestio ill ofte e: Did I p o ide lea i g ate ial the ight way using my knowledge on the se ses a d diffe e t lea i g styles? , as it Developmentally App op iate? , Was it p edi ta le? , Was Joy a pa t of the lesso , Could the Child e so e hat A ti e a d E po e ed a d ot just Passi e a d po e less? ; and only last should we ask the question as of whether the fa ily had positive or negative i flue e a d whether the hild had a out-of-spe t u ay of lea i g a d o u i ati g or finaly whether it is a temperament thi g? . The medium for learning to occur is therefore a range of different factors such as:  Interest  Joy  Developmentally Appropriate Practices  The Five Senses  Multiple Learning Styles  Social Environment (culture, family, community, religion etc.)  Genetics and Temperaments  Predictability  The Child’s A ility to Make Choi es a d Be A ti e a d ot just Passi e during a lesson  A Lesson that is Challenging Enough without being too challenging PS: Always have a plan B in case Plan A does not work for some reasons (setting, materials, mood, whether etc…) Daily Routines Daily Days of the Week so g to learn about time and days in a week Sunday o♩ Monday o♩ Tuesday ♫ Wednesday ♫ Thursday o♩ Friday o♩ Saturday ♩♩♩ And here we start again (x2) ♩♩♩♩♩♩ Day… U f! A d hild e guess the a e of today’s day I usually show a random sheet and show the correct day corresponding to the day as we sing along. Teaching Foreign Languages Made Simple 2017 Daily Sign-In Sheet Helps write o e’s ow a e, recog ize a few letters, o e’s a e, the differe t days of the week, and understand the concept of time: days, week