Young children are often eager, almost too eager. The problem arises when they are eager to do things other
than what you’re trying to teach them. Here are five tips to keep them interested in class and motivated to do what
you want them to do:
Tip #1: Keep Yourself Motivated.
Think back to when you were a child. If your teacher
was
not enthusiastic about what he or she had scheduled for
class that day, how did you feel about it? It’s the
same
with young children today. If you, the teacher and
often a
role model for younger children, think this is a neat
activity, then they will too!
Tip #2: Encourage.
Young kids thrive on praise and positive attention from
the
adults in their lives. If you want them to like you and
be
motivated in your class, you often just need to give
them a
lot of positive attention.
Tip #3: Play Games
Children learn through play. Oftentimes they don’t even
realize they are learning if they are enjoying the game.
Just think, children could sit there and fill out
worksheet
after worksheet or they could play an English game and
learn
the same concepts. Which would you rather do?
When I say English games I’m talking about games that
are
specifically designed to teach language and vocabulary.
For example, you could turn using vehicle vocabulary
into a
relay game where children need to pick a card with a
word
and then run to a box of vehicles (or a stack of
pictures
of vehicles) and bring the correct one his or her
classmates.
Here is another example: If you might normally give
them a
worksheet to write the correct verb next to the picture
illustrating the action, have them instead practice
their
verbs by doing the action for the word you say or the
word
on a card that you hold up. Likewise, you could do the
action and have them write down the word. You may
access
free samples of fun classroom games in the resource box
below.
When you play games, you can use points and competition
as
a motivator, but not for kids under six who may find the
competition too stressful. For them, just playing the
game
is motivating enough. You can also sometimes award
extra
credit, but use it sparingly so that it remains
"extra" and a special reward. Also if you use it
too much, children can have so much extra credit that it
sways the actual grades too much.
Tip #4: Get Their Hands Dirty
Literally and figuratively. Children like to work with
their hands and whatever you can do to get the items
