KidsWow EnglishPro is made especially for families who want to learn at home. However, it has also been designed and tested to work in the classroom with the teacher in mind. Either way, or a combination, will work great. The goal is that all kids learn basic English (the first thirty sentence patterns and 600-1000 words), fluently.
Every child needs a Cheerleader. A Cheerleader is someone who supports and encourages the kids and stays with them until they know that they know that they can learn English for themselves. This person is not a teacher (though a teacher can be a Cheerleader). A Cheerleader does not need to correct or point out mistakes. The natural process will do that by itself. Nature’s way of learning is amazing, when we get out of the way and celebrate the small steps forward.
Every Cheerleader needs a Coach. This role can also be performed by an English teacher, though a Coach's role is not teaching either. A Coach keeps the end in focus. A coach needs to know how to get from the beginning to the end, and what is normal, when things seem slow. The Coach encourages the Cheerleader and the kids that they will win!!! They will make it! The Coach knows how to help both the kids and the Cheerleaders ‘to learn’ together and to become successful both in English and in the the natural learning process. This is a gift for life!
Every Coach should receive help and support from a Team Captain. Team Captains are in a support role to help oversee that all needs are met. They answer questions, find information to keep everything moving. Team Captains can do everything from baby-sitting to seminars if necessary to keep as many people in the game as possible. They want Cheerleader and Coaches to be successful and stay on course.
So, where are the teachers? How do the kids learn? Kids learn best by continuous repetition, with encouragement and the opportunity to practice. No pressure is necessary when you have the right tools and the right method.
I tried going to language school to learn Spanish and Japanese. When I failed to learn quickly, I started believing that I was the problem. Then a brilliant language professor showed me the secret of learning any language the natural way, with or without going to school. I discovered that how I was learning was the problem, not me. Now that I know how to learn, I feel confident that I can make progress in whatever language I seek to learn.
The natural way of learning language is to hear it repeatedly at different times in different ways until the basic words and sentences stick. A teacher can be helpful, but is not necessary at this foundational level. Hearing the same sentence repeatedly is the key.
There are over 40,000 words and hundreds of thousands of sentence combinations in any modern language. There is plenty to study later on, once a foundation has been established. Natural learners start simple, with lots of repetition. They are not in a hurry. Their goal is not to learn 40,000 words. They want to understand and communicate a few sounds, a few words, and a few sentences every day, wherever they are. And they do it over and over. The start may seem slow, but within two years the multiplication of progress begins to prove that this is the best and fastest way to learn a language.
I discovered, while learning Japanese and working with our seven kids at home, that there are words and sentence pattern that kids like to learn first. These are power words and power sentences that allow kids to say what they want and learn more. These first sentences are foundational to the English language . Even if they take 2-5 years to master them completely, in the end it will be well worth the time. Until the foundational sentences are mastered, moving ahead to more difficult material will only be overwhelming and bring discouragement. Every child can learn as long as we don’t teach them to expect failure.
Teachers love to teach what they know. Kids cannot learn as fast as teachers like to teach. In the upper levels, teachers will be very important. But not at the beginning levels. After a firm foundation is built, which can take several years of listening and practice in a fun environment, kids go on to study and read and write, and there are no end of possibilities. When teachers switch roles to Coaches and Cheerleaders during the beginning stages of language learning, everyone wins.
Are you ready to learn together? All language has one purpose -- to communicate within relationship. Without personal relationships, language has no meaning and no value. Let’s put the relationship back into learning English and, together, build for the future.
