English by games
 

Next week I'll start helping a 9 years old french child learning English. Her parents expressed their wish that the child learned English in a different way that she was used to in school...preferably using games.

I was wondering if I could get some ideas regarding the approaching way of my lessons: books, web sources, etc. And also, do you think I should plan/organise my lessons following a curriculum, or something? :(

Re: English by games
 

I'd try and get hold of the curriculum she's using at school and find out what she's done so far. Then at each lesson focus on one area, starting with the simplest, and work a lesson of games and activities round that. Don't assume knowledge howver unti you're clear how well she's learnt what they've covered. Start with receptive practice activities - activities where she only has to recognise the language (for example, matching words or sentences to pictures, wordsquares focusing on a specific lexical area, games where she has to follow commands etc). Then when you're sure she understands the language involvesed move on to games where she has to use it, songs etc etc. Plan the lesson so that the language is always introduced receptively before it is practised productively and the less demanding activities always come before the more difficult ones. That way you'll never lose her, you can check her understanding at the beginning and provide help if necessary, and you'll see when activities are getting too difficult and can stop before it gets demotivating.

Re: English by games
 

I have a site full of game ideas www.mes-english.com but if you know what you're going to teach, you can always ask in the games forum here at eslHQ or search.

As for content, you should certainly follow a curriculum. Like Sue said, you can follow what she's doing at school or start with something that's more speaking oriented. There are a lot of great series out there for children. The most important thing is to supplement and add in what the child needs. Don't expect to just do a page a day and move on. That's probably what they are doing at school and what the parents don't want.

I would assume they want you to start with more basic skills and help their daughter to speak and enjoy speaking. The best way to do that is to keep it simple and doable in the beginning. Build the child's confidence, encourage her, reward her, and show her that you're there to help. Then in time, you'll see her trying on her own and trying to impress you with what she can do.

Happy teaching!