[jensingle]

Hi Clive,
I have been teaching English to 4-6 year olds in Italy for two years now and am about to start the third year this week. Where abouts in Italy do you teach? I have loads of advice I could give you, and lots of printed sheets etc. you may find useful so if interested please get in touch and I would be happy to help. My advice is similar to that you have already had, it totally imperative you vary activities, I teach over 80 kids divided into 6 groups and each child does two hours of english a week which can be daunting for them given that they cannot yet read or write. Some of the children are already learning another language at home and are therefore uninterested in a third, but others are enthusisastic and a pleasure to teach. I divide my lessons into about 5 short activities, including games, music, colouring etc. The most important thing in my lessons is routine, when I first started in the schools I had no experience at all of teaching kids and my first lesson, although well-planned was a nightmare (never get a ball out until they know how to behave!) but as I managed to establish a routine, starting with the register and finishing with a story it improved. I use lots of flashcards, with pictures of how they should and shouldn't behave (like 'in a line' and 'quiet please') and they seem to work. Hope its going well for you, if you need any help please get in touch. Jen