Teaching Students Age 3-5

English language classes are usually held in groups. This is true for children aged 3 to 5 years, that is, pre-school children. But it’s equally so for schoolchildren, both for those attending lower grades as well as those in higher grades. It is imperative that the teachers adapt the curriculum so that it matches the students’ age and abilities. For example, the youngest students will most likely master English through various games and singing, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given that young children best acquire a foreign language when it’s presented to them in a familiar way. Older students can use much more sophisticated learning methods.

Teaching Students Age 3-5

The youngest students, who are between three and five years old, should be introduced to the basic concepts they know in their mother tongue while learning English, and they will learn them better through playing, drawing and singing. Activities should, therefore, be organized in a way that they revolve around activities the child would usually do for fun at that age because such activities will not bore the child as easily and will hold their attention for a longer time, as opposed to tedious exercises.

Furthermore, at such an early age, it is important not to force the children to learn through rules and definitions because an approach like that will most likely not yield the positive results the teachers should strive to achieve with their pupils.

Moreover, teachers should try to motivate their pupils to work and learn by, for example, giving them interesting stamps that vary in shape and size, like star or heart shaped stamps, that is, give them praise when it is deserved, and other rewards, with the aim of developing creativity and team spirit, which will have an extremely positive effect on the acquisition of knowledge of English language.

Taking into account that this is a specific group of children, who are younger and cannot be tested in writing, as in the case of older children. Testing here should be carried out mainly orally.

To maintain interest with younger students, it’s also good to have A Fair Reward System in a Class of Young Learners

Classes with Students Age 5-7

When working with young children, teachers should fully adjust the curriculum to the age of the students, which means that they will help them in the best possible way to adopt knowledge that suits their age. Since in this age group there could still be pupils that haven’t mastered the writing skill, teachers should try to adapt the curriculum and classes, first and foremost, to the abilities and knowledge of such young learners. This means that in this case, similarly to working with students 3-5 years of age, most of the learning will take place through games that are already familiar to them because this is also the best way to master English language skills that are suitable for children from 5-7 years of age.

Also, sounds of English language should be introduced to children at this point so that they will, through fun and interesting activities and play, get to know the sounds of a new language, learn their first words in English and, at the same time, develop curiosity and listening skills.

And it’s always good to know How to Motivate Young Learners.

Working with Students Age 7-10

For students in first to fourth grade, that is, for those whose age is from 7 to 10 years, different ways of acquiring language skills should be envisaged. The curriculum should contain mostly topics and areas that are close to students, that is, those that will stimulate interest so that they will be relatively easy to master.

Apart from the fact that the students at this age should learn how to communicate properly in the foreign language, and at their level of knowledge, team spirit will develop, since it is best that the teaching be as interactive as possible. This approach to teaching should very positively reflect on the acquisition of knowledge that the teachers seek to convey to their students.

It is expected that all students who attend a course of English language at this age should learn to communicate in the spoken language, at the level appropriate to their age.

Since the lessons should be designed primarily as interactive, so that all students participate equally in them, it means that it will, among other things, have positive effects on their further learning at school.

Teaching Students Age 11-14
Students attending higher grades of elementary school, that is, children aged 11 to 14, should already have a certain level of knowledge of the English language, and the teacher should determine what these skills are, but also perfect them in a way that they follow the school’s curriculum as closely as possible.

The curriculum should also be adjusted to the students’ interests in order to hold the students’ attention during lessons, and through the practice of all language skills (writing, reading, listening and conversation) students will get the necessary security in the knowledge they have acquired.

Furthermore, versatility in class activities will not only help with mastering all language skills, but it will awaken the interest in students to learn more and they will be less likely to get bored during the classes because they will be more interesting.

Testing learners should happen at this level, and in accordance with the students’ age, be done in a way that will put each language skill to the test – writing, speaking, reading and listening comprehension.

If you are just starting to teach English or want to develop your skills in working with children and improve your career opportunities, these are just some of the guidelines that you can follow in order to achieve your goal. After all, have in mind that not every child is the same nor do they possess equal learning abilities and knowledge.

This is also a good age for adding some modern tech to class: 11 Tips for Using Technology Effectively in Your ESL Classroom

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Pedagogic principles

Prepared environment
Children grow up in a society and become part of it. Every developmental step that they take makes them more independent and, simultaneously, more a member of their culture and society.

They acquire the languages spoken around them; they move the way they see adults and other children in their environment move; they even learn to think and feel the way it is customary to think and feel in their own culture. The environment shapes the children in all aspects of their development. Dr Maria Montessori observed children over decades and recognized the immense influence of the environment on the healthy development of children. Her long-lasting research and development work provided the scientific basis for an ideal environment for children of different age groups. She called this concept the „prepared environment".

The prepared environment, as it relates to the classroom, encompasses not only the room and its furnishings, but also the teachers and the children present.

The rooms are bright and friendly, the furnishings are suitable for children regarding their size, stability and weight. The children may move about freely, they may even move the tables and chairs according to their needs. The science-based Montessori materials are arranged on open shelves according to clear rules. Each material has its proper place, is complete and in working order and is accessible to the children. This helps them to orient themselves in the room, to become active of their own accord and to build an inner order through the structure provided around them.

The teachers are the connection between the Montessori material and the child. They show the children work that they can do independently after the presentation anytime they wish. In addition to their pedagogical qualification, Montessori teachers are further specialized in didactics and methodology. Thus, they can give very clear step-by-step presentations to the children, which results in their success and a joy of learning.

Apart from the room, the furnishings and the teachers, the children present also belong to the prepared environment. Children learn a great deal from other children; especially mixed age groups offer a wide variety of learning and teaching opportunities. Older children know the rules of a Montessori class; they can do a large number of activities independently and are familiar with the prepared environment. They help younger children to find their way, to put the material back in its proper place correctly and much more. In addition to that, the mixed age group allows for each child to experience the role of the youngest, the middle and the oldest child for a whole year.

Being together in class and moving through the different roles does not only help the children to develop a strong community spirit, but also to grow as an individual personality.

The prepared environment encompasses much more than the classroom, for not all aspects of nature, science and art can and should be brought into the classroom. In kindergarten, excursions to the park or the zoo as well as going to the theatre, concerts and museums are part of the curriculum. The children in elementary plan small group excursions known as “going-out” independently. Thus they gather information on topics they are currently working on. They visit museums and exhibitions, meet experts at university or ETH and they do on-site fieldwork. An escort accompanies the children on their “going-out”, observes the children, remains in the background and intervenes only if necessary.

Montessori material
The Montessori material is so-called “developmental material” and an integral part of the prepared environment.

The Montessori developmental material was created, tested and refined on the basis of scientific insights until it optimally corresponded with the children’s needs. Even today, certified manufacturers produce all Montessori materials in highest quality and with utmost care.

As soon as children become active, they learn with great enthusiasm and perseverance. The Montessori developmental apparatus is designed to meet these requirements. It attracts the children’s attention and invites them to take it into their own hands. It facilitates activities that focalize the children’s attention and the material enables the children to recognize and correct their mistakes.

The inviting character of the material induces the children to act independently. Ideally, the material evokes joy and enthusiasm and makes the children want to work with the material themselves. This joy leads the children to immerse themselves in the activity completely.

As soon as adults or children are completely focused on an activity and forget everything around them, we call this “flow”. This deep concentration leads to lasting success in learning and great inner happiness. One of the aims of the prepared environment is to allow the children to experience flow repeatedly.

Part of each Montessori material is the inbuilt control of error. After completing their work, the children notice themselves whether they have made a mistake or not. This is fundamental for the children’s self-esteem and their independence. The children are not dependent on an adult’s judgement. They can recognize and correct their mistakes on their own. The children often experience flow when realizing that they have made a mistake. The reason behind this phenomenon is that the children want to find out at all costs where the mistake occurred and how to correct it and they become fully absorbed in their task.

The children do not only develop their skills in a variety of subjects through purposeful activity, they also grow as personalities through the challenges, mistakes and achievements encountered.

Freedom of choice

The prepared environment offers the children a wide range of purposeful activities.

DThe teachers observe the children attentively and show them activities matching their abilities and interests. As soon as a certain activity has been presented to a child, the child may take it from the shelf anytime and carry it out independently. Within no time, the children, be it in kindergarten or elementary, may choose from a large variety of activities.

The children decide independently when, with whom and for how long they want to work on a certain activity. By deciding on their own, the children form and strengthen their will, their self-esteem and their independence. However, there is a limit to freedom of choice in a community. It happens that the material of choice is not available at a specific point in time because another child is working with it. There is only one of each Montessori material in a prepared environment. There are two reasons for this: firstly, the children realize that the material is precious and there is only one of each and secondly, the children learn to wait and to show consideration towards others.

The interplay of free choice and limits imposed by the community strengthens not only the personalities of the children, but also the community spirit..

SSocial learning
Humans are social beings. Scientific studies show this in correlation with the development of a child into an adult and the track record of humanity with all its achievements.

Ingenious inventions of humanity like the alphabet or mathematics, huge buildings like the pyramids or technical feats such as the construction and running of an international space station only became possible through cooperation of many people, division of labour and thus specialisation according to talent.

The healthy development of a child reflects this well-balanced interaction of social development of the child’s own personality and talents. The prepared environment with all its aspects (Montessori material, teachers, other children) offers an ideal setting for this development to take place.

The children of today are the adults of tomorrow. The main goal of the Montessori Method is to support children so that they may grow into socially responsible adults who deploy and live their own potential.

Mixed age groups
Human beings live together in larger or smaller groups. These groups originally were extended families or village communities.

Today, people still live in social organizations. Then and now these communities consist of people of different ages. Several generations live in the same household, in the same apartment building or in the same neighbourhood.

Hence, the Montessori principle of mixed age groups as it is customary at Montessori schools complies with a natural form of social life and learning. The age gap between the children in a group should not be too wide however, as older children need a different prepared environment than younger children.

Maria Montessori observed that the ideal age range within a prepared environment is 3 years. Entering a prepared environment, every child is among the youngest and experiences help and support from the older children for a whole year. Then, for another year, the child is in the middle: he or she can still count on the assistance of the older children, while being able to support younger children exploring the new environment. In the third year, the child is finally one of the oldest children. They strengthen their self-esteem and their independence before moving up to the next prepared environment where they find themselves in the position of the youngest children again.

The children at a Montessori school are in contact not only with children within their prepared environment, but also with children of other age groups. Upper elementary children (9 – 12 years) for example help kindergarten children (3 – 6 years) to put on their winter clothes, lower elementary children (6 – 9 years) read aloud to kindergarten children and kindergarten children visit upper elementary children and explain to them the rules of conduct for the common rooms.

Freedom of movement

The development of gross and fine motor skills is an important part of the healthy development of a child.

The prepared environment is organized in such a way that the children may move about freely at any time. So that all the children feel comfortable and are able to carry out their activities without being disturbed, the children learn how to move in the classroom with care and deliberation so as to respect the other children’s work laid out on floor mats and on tables.

The children may get up from their work any time and walk around in the prepared environment, move their work from a table to a floor mat, or put the activity away and begin another.

Moreover, the children are guided to learn to control their own body. For instance, in kindergarten they learn to walk exactly on a line and to carry a full glass of water at the same time. In the silence game, they practise sitting motionless, waiting for their name to be whispered so that they may leave the room quietly.

In lower and upper elementary (6 – 9 years and 9 – 12 years), the children continue to develop their gross motor skills in physical education classes and to refine their motor skills during arts and crafts lessons.

The children are meant to follow their desire for movement in order to fully develop their gross and fine motor skills..

Sensitive periods
As with physical growth, the intellectual development of children does not proceed linearly but in phases.

Maria Montessori observed that children develop very special interests and are particularly susceptible to certain aspects of learning at a specific point in time. After a while, the interest subsides and something new attracts the child’s full attention.

Observing children all over the world and over decades, Maria Montessori realized that these phases of learning receptivity occur and disappear in all children at the same age and relate to the same topics. She called these windows of opportunity “sensitive periods”. She observed that children acquired complex matters effortlessly during these sensitive periods. For instance, during the sensitive period for language, children learn one or even several languages perfectly and without accent. In addition to the sensitive period for language, there are also sensitive periods for movement, order, abstraction, imagination, justice and ethics and many more. The sensitive periods enable the children to become part of their culture and their society.

The prepared environment is designed in such a way that it nurtures the natural needs of children and fosters the enormous potential for development of the temporary sensitive periods. Once the sensitive period is over, great effort is required to learn what could have been acquired with ease earlier on.

Freedom and discipline
Children in Montessori classes choose their activity themselves and they decide with whom and for how long they work on it. Moreover, they may get up and walk around in the classroom at any time.

How could that work?

In a Montessori classroom, a clear set of rules determines the interactions within the community. Two of these rules as examples:
- Behave in a way so that you do not disturb other children while working
- Put the complete and tidied-up material back in its place immediately after use

On the one hand, these clear rules foster a sense of community in children; on the other hand, they strengthen the individual’s personality. Freedom and discipline are the two sides of the same coin. The more self-discipline a child acquires, the more freedom the child is granted.

That children just do whatever they want has nothing to do with the Montessori Method. On the contrary, children work on purposeful activities that have already been presented to them. The Montessori teachers observe the children carefully and decide deliberately when and how to approach a child, which activity they will present, and how they will support each child’s developmental needs. All this enables children to master the basics of the syllabus independently and to create appropriate solutions to challenging situations.

The impact of the Montessori Method can be seen as children learn to take responsibility for themselves and others, to develop self-discipline and to perceive themselves as a part of a community. They are not only able to be considerate of others, but can also stand up for their own needs.