Principles of teaching kindergarten children according to their characteristics

The importance of the English language is widely recognized in Uzbekistan. On one hand, the government encourages it for the internationalization of Uzbekistan. On the other hand, English is important for travel, international business, and an increased knowledge of technology and science. Children of kindergarten age are still at the concrete operational stage. They cannot go beyond imagination if they have not experienced something. Children of this age learn best with concrete experiences. They need to know how to feel about something in order to learn it well. Therefore, the English teachers of kindergarten children cannot rely only on the spoken word. They need to have plenty of objects and pictures to help them in their teaching. In comparison with pictures, real objects are easier for young children to understand. Therefore, it is better that the English teachers bring real objects or models to class when they teach new words. This is different when teaching elementary school children and teaching kindergarten children. For elementary school children, pictures and flash cards are enough in English classes. However, for kindergarten children, concrete objects are better than pictures. If the English teacher cannot bring concrete objects to class and has to use pictures as substitution, it is better to bring pictures that are large.

In the classroom, children need constant changes of activity, and they need to be appreciated by their teacher. Young children are enthusiastic and positive about learning. Children like to be praised by their teacher. This contributes to expressions of enthusiasm and feelings of success. However, if teachers label children as failures, then they believe it. Therefore, English teachers should pay more attention to this need and provide more praise for their young students. Young children have difficulty in sitting still. They always love to wriggle, to move and to touch objects. The best way to accomplish this is to use some activities, such as rhymes, games and songs, providing children the opportunities to move around within the classroom. The teacher can teach rhymes with activities like jumping or dancing and can choose games requiring physical activity. If the activity is right for the children and can let them have fun, even if they are wriggling, they will still be listening and involved. Rhymes and chants are useful in other areas of learning as well. Children love rhymes and chants and like to repeat them repeatedly. They can memorize rhymes and chants well. Chants and rhymes help children in foreign language learning by helping them remember words and sentences.

We usually say that young children have short attention spans. If we put children in front of a TV with a favorite cartoon, they will sit riveted for a long period. This means if the lesson is interesting, the children may maintain their concentration and focus for the whole lesson. If the English teacher can make the lesson interesting, lively and fun, the children may love the English lesson. English teachers should conduct a lesson full of variety and changes of activity. Some varieties in the classroom: “variety of activity, variety of pace, variety of organization, variety of voice”. When children have lost their interest in an activity, they will also lose their concentration, and then little or no learning takes place. Therefore, it is better to change an activity before children lose interest and get bored. The English teachers should change their activities every 5 minutes. If the same activity lasts 10 or 15 minutes, young children will lose their concentration. Teachers of young learners should change activities often to make the classroom atmosphere more fun.

One foreign English teacher wrote in my questionnaire regarding the characteristics of children and how to teach them according to their characteristics:

“First, the children have to get to know you and not to be afraid of looking at you. Then you speak with your body making funny gestures about the material you are teaching: children love to laugh.” These characteristics of kindergarten children are well described. For elementary school students, if teachers behave like that, they will not laugh, but kindergarten children love laughing. Kindergarten English teachers should often think about what young children like and what they think about, in order to enhance young children’s enjoyment of English class. As mentioned above, young children are full of energy; therefore, the activity in English class must be changed often. If English teachers do not plan their work, they will not have time to think during the class. Young children have enthusiasm for learning. If the English teacher can keep children’s enthusiasm by presenting well planned lessons, the children will be interested in English, make progress, and find they are good at speaking English Through good preparation, the children can get maximum enjoyment and learning out of the lesson. English teachers should plan their lessons to offer children an interesting lesson with good content. A strong foundation in English language learning may foster a life-long interest in the English language for the children.