English for children

Innovative project training – English for children at LuckyKids International Summer Children’s Language Camp

International Summer Children’s Language Camp LuckyKids applies an original teaching methodology that follows global trends in English language teaching for children.

The theoretical part, the study topics and the grammar exercises are united in a program, which is specially developed by the camp team, and its implementation supervised by the English coordinator.

Interactive learning

LuckyKids Summer Language Camp has two fully equipped interactive English language rooms, which enjoy the two highest levels in each shift.

All other classrooms are equipped with a screen and a computer, and the difference is that they work not on a tablet, but on paper. It is preferred method at lower levels, where children are usually younger and do not know how to use electronic tools.

One of the goals of the teachers in the camp is to show the children what else a tablet can be used for, apart from games and entertainment on social networks.

Educational blocks

English lessons are divided into 2 educational blocks of 80 minutes each with a 20-minute break in between.

The two blocks are complementary, and the main goal is for children to learn teamwork on projects.

Each change of the LuckyKids children’s language camp has a main theme, and each level of English language has a main sub-theme.

FIRST EDUCATIONAL BLOCK

The first educational block includes a theoretical part, grammar, introduction to new material and grammar exercises that children do either on paper or on tablets (in interactive rooms).

An obligatory part of the first educational block is the attractive presentation of the teacher, which the parents receive electronically together with a report and complete information about the work of the children.

The children get acquainted with the main applications of the Google educational platform. This is knowledge they can use in preparing and presenting their presentations at the end of the camp shift.

Presentation skills

One of the most important skills that children acquire and improve in the LuckyKids children’s language camp is the ability to present.

All teachers take the time to show different ways of preparing and presenting a good presentation, paying attention to important aspects such as:

• Way of speaking – appropriate intonation and strength of voice, maintaining eye contact with the audience, using rhetorical techniques in order to retain attention and achieve a certain impact (logical pauses, repetitions, rhetorical questions, etc.);
• Body language (non-verbal communication) – appropriate gestures and facial expressions, body position and overall behaviour;
• Presentation skills – ability to construct the text part, correct selection and presentation of appropriate audio-visual material, etc.

Children use the Google online application Slides, which allows several people to work simultaneously on the same presentation from different tablets, regardless of where they are.

SECOND EDUCATIONAL BLOCK

In the second educational block the children work in groups of two or three on a presentation on a topic set for the specific level.

The purpose of grouping children is to learn to work in a team, to cooperate and help, which is a core value for our camp.

The work on the presentations significantly expands the areas in which children gain knowledge, in particular learning:

• Recognize which sources of information are reliable;
• To sift out the important from the unimportant in the sea of information on the Internet;
• To quote correctly, indicating the source of the citation, and at the end of the presentation put a link that leads to the place where it was copied – thus learning to respect copyright;
• To work with audio-visual materials (music, photos, animation, video) – new areas in which children gain knowledge by working with other applications, in English.

Innovative way of teaching

Classical music is obligatory during the two educational blocks (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Brahms are among the favorite composers of our teachers).

As a quiet background, classical music has a proven positive effect on the perception of new information and easier assimilation of new material in both children and adults.

Teachers at LuckyKids Children’s Language Camp follow the basic principles of teaching and adhere strictly to the topics assigned to them by the English coordinator.

At the same time, they have the freedom to use different tools and pedagogical methods depending on the dynamics of the particular group.

Our teachers are united in their efforts to achieve several important goals:

• To arouse children’s interest in acquiring new knowledge of English;
• To reveal the vast possibilities of technology beyond their well-known entertainment function;
• To help children develop presentation skills that will be useful both at school age and later in life;
• To show in practice that English lessons for children can be interesting and fun;
• To stimulate each child to develop their individual qualities and abilities.

Lessons in the nature

Once a week, the camp allows itself to “escape” from technology and “hide” high in the mountains, where children spend all day in activities such as:

• Outdoor lessons
• Horse riding
• Free games.

Teachers prepare specially for this day by developing mini-projects with the children , different from their main presentations.

The lessons are held in an informal environment – on a wooden table with benches or on a blanket on the lawn.

This day is a day of negotiation and all exercises are aimed at consolidating new knowledge.

The second block is extremely fun and different from all the others, as the children make projects from natural, recycled and / or waste materials (of course, completely safe for their health!).

Lessons in nature and touching animals such as horses enhance the overall effect of the program and have a beneficial effect on the psyche of children, who associate the experience with positive emotions and mood.

VIRTUES program

Love, respect, patience, friendship, tolerance, courtesy, helpfulness, diligence, perseverance – these are just some of the virtues that children learn during their stay at the International Summer Children’s Language Camp LuckyKids.

Every morning the teachers have the task to present to the children a virtue that they should try to follow throughout the day.

Often adults work in a team with children to prepare the presentation of the specific virtue – this can be in the form of reading a fairy tale, singing a song, short dramatization and more.

Over the years, the camp children have shown great enthusiasm in presenting and following the virtues.

Every night, the most diligent of them receive an incentive prize – a sticker that they can stick in their sticker cards.

At the end of the camp shift, the camp team honors each child with a certificate of specific virtue that he or she has shown the most.

Each camp shift is marked by various virtues, but the main one that everyone follows is RESPECT: respect between children, respect of children for teachers and teachers for children, respect for everyone else.

The English language teaching program for children gives good results because it is based on one basic maxim: TRAINING THROUGH CARE AND LOVE FOR CHILDREN.