Tricks to make online English learning fun for kids
Online spoken English classes for kids are beneficial as great language skills are directly related to cognitive development. More parents are including new language learning as part of their kid’s study work other than school assignments. With the pandemic shifting traditional businesses towards online platforms, online English speaking courses for kids are now gaining traction.
When earlier parents monitored their children’s screen time, more emphasis was given to offline activities. But now we see increasing enrolments towards online English speaking classes for kids. However, even the best courses find teaching online English to kids a daunting tasks given the fact that kids have drifting attention spans.
Before enrolling your kid to such courses, it is imperative to find the right course that suits their learning requirements. This will include the curriculum for the online English course, the rapport with the online tutor, fee structure, method of lesson delivery, teaching technique employed by the English teacher and so on
In today’s article, we will be sharing simple tips for parents to make online English speaking classes fun for their kids.
1) Lead by example: Kids imbibe skills and habits from those around them, especially parents and other care-takers. Speaking to them in English as often as possible, practicing simple English phrases like “Good morning”, “Hello” etc will be a good starting point. Helping them enunciate simpler words and encouraging them to keep trying despite their mistakes will keep them engaged longer.
2) Online English speaking tutor: Kids are full of energy and directing this zest towards learning helps plentiful in their overall development. To make spoken English classes fun, having a great online English teacher helps. Identify who your kid is most comfortable around and allow them to interact with the online English tutor. A great rapport fosters care-free and fun filled learning for the kid.
3) Mix it up with fun activities: All parents know that kids thrive on “fun” activities versus boring set-ups. Nowadays we see more parents leaning towards sensory play for their kids across age-groups. For teaching your kid fluent English- Singing them rhymes, teaching them fun tongue twisters, engaging them with jokes and riddles can help with their cognitive development.
4) Inculcate reading habits: We all know that to speak fluent English one must build on their vocabulary. Reading helps immensely with English vocabulary building as well as improving their concentration. Reading helps them unleash their creative side, helps them with their imagination and thus their language skills. Introducing books to your kids also helps them learn about the world, an exposure completely lacking for them otherwise. If you are confused where to start, read more here: https://time.com/100-best-childrens-books/
5) Introduce word games: We already know how cognitive development is crucial for kids. Word games like scrabble, Pictionary are not only fun activities but a great way to learn English words, their spellings, word pronunciations, their meaning etc. Another fun word game can be assigning them “one” word a day form the English dictionary and engaging them to search for those in a book or a song or the newspaper etc.
6) Reward them: An effective reward system is crucial for developing your kid’s personality in the long run. Kids thrive on appreciation and thus rewarding their small wins will motivate them to repeat good actions more. This sets a strong foundations for inculcating good habits that will help your kids’ overall progress in the long run.
7) Mind their moods: The pandemic has been tough on our mental health’s and even more for kids where their outdoor activities have come to a drastic stop. More so kids are unable to process these stress factors and are bound to get moody, throw tantrums etc. In such cases its best to allow them some slack and make room for relaxed sessions. Indulge them in playful activities and allow them to take a "break" if the need be.
We hope these simple tips will be helpful to engage your kid in their learning journey. What other ways are you helping your child to enrich their language development? We would love to hear from you!
Related article: https://www.speechify.in/en/blog/english-learning-for-kids-7-easy-tips-for-parents