How can Kids Learn English at Home?
Kids can easily learn English at home with a little bit of help from their parents. To get ahead in a globalized world, good communication skills in English are vital. If you opt the most appropriate way of learning based on the type of learner you are, English becomes a fairly easy language to learn.
It is a scientifically proven fact that younger kids grasp new concepts easily and learn faster than adults. This is why it is crucial that kids are made to learn English at home as early as possible.
7 Ways Kids can Learn English at Home
Let’s look at 7 ways your kids can learn English at Home or how you can teach them.
Learn English Yourself
The best way to get your kids to learn a language it to learn it yourself. Kids have the tendency to imitate anything that their parents do. Since parents spend the most time with their kids apart from their teachers, it’s best that parents try and inculcate all the good habits that they can within their kids. Read more about English Learning Tips for Parents here.
Communicate only in English
If your native language is not English and you are trying to teach your kid English, it is important that English becomes the primary language used at home.
Use English for simple tasks –
Let’s say you want your kid to pass the water bottle to you. Instead of asking them in their mother tongue, ask in English — “Could you please pass the bottle of water to me?”
“Do the dishes.”
“Can you help me fold the clothes?”
“Let’s go grocery shopping.”
“I’m waiting by the car for you. Hurry up!”
These are basic sentences that are used in everyday conversations by parents and their kids. If you start communicating these messages in English, it will help your child excel in everyday use of the language and not just bookish knowledge of the same.
Make Technology your friend
In today’s world no child is a stranger to technology. Each one of them is exposed to the internet and digital entertainment. Kids these days watch YouTube videos at dinner instead of the TV. However annoying this may be, look at the positives of it and use them to your advantage to help your kid learn English at home.
Set the primary language of all devices and apps to English. Introduce your kid to English learning channels or simply content that is in English. When they are around, make sure that you watch English shows only.
Experiment with sound
Being able to pronounce words correctly is a necessary requirement for anyone to effectively communicate their message. Mispronunciation can cause misunderstandings. Therefore, associating alphabets with the right sounds is an important skill that should be developed in a person from an early age.
Sound out new words for children so they can hear the individual sounds: b-a-t, bat. Go on a treasure hunt and look for things beginning with ‘b’. Sound out simple three-letter words with fridge magnets and then change initial or ending letters, so bat becomes cat, sat or mat. Play hopscotch with letters instead of numbers in the boxes. Practise tongue twisters with children who already understand some English.