How to Cooperate With Students' Parents in TEFL Teaching
People learn for life, but the most significant fundamental knowledge for successful learning is set in the early years. It's In the early years that children have curiosity. They are curious about the world they are surrounded by. For this reason and a scientific one, children learn more quickly than adults, especially languages. Of course, this can be made possible if they receive the right stimulation and support from their parents.
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Charlotte R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Parents Role in Education
Parents have a significant role and responsibility in children's education. In many countries, the law envisions specific forms of parent's engagement by which fathers and mothers participate on all levels of school life. The socio-economic origin and background naturally influence the educational attainment; therefore, the significant relevance of family in development possibilities focusing on education is an undisputed fact.
Parents' presence and involvement in school and children's education is part of a vibrant democracy in a constitutional state. This one in partnership with parents has the responsibility to increase the educational opportunities, which is very important because it means to empower the children and to unfold their potentials and talents and to let freely acquired competencies be applied so that children one day will be able to act and learn in an independent and self-determined way.
Parents shape the learning environments of their children. How children grow up is a decisive factor for educational opportunities. Parents have a role, as important as teachers', to play in children's intellectual, emotional, and social development. They are the first learning-promoters of children.
Especially in the early years of a child is the cognitive growth fundamental; Kids have to be stimulated by their parents through linguistic communicative plays. In this life phase, the linguistic inputs are significant. Communicative development has a very positive impact on the socio-emotional and practical skills of children. A good thing to do is read many books, do crafts projects, group plays, and activities. When children start to be attended not only at home but also at school, the importance of parents becomes even more evident in the way family makes decisions relating to school matters and the learners'. For example, parents can help children structuring homework, helping them with extracurricular activities, taking part in parent-teacher conferences, and generally speaking in showing interest in what kids do in school.
Parents are the first role models for their kids.
Uncertainty when dealing with the new role often makes it difficult always to show the right behavior. The lifestyle, the way to tackle problems, overcome difficulties, reduce aggression and stress, actively shape or passively endure life, are primarily determined by education. Children orient themselves - whether they like it or not - mostly at their parents and their immediate environment and learn by observing. The parent-child relationship is also crucial for successful language development. Parents can promote the desire to speak and the joy of speaking.
So language learning is a complex process that is influenced by many individual and contextual factors.
In particular, growing up and living with more than one language is one of the exact conditions for the language acquisition process's course and outcome. Multilingualism is the more frequent "normal situation" in regions and states worldwide. In the European countries, however, the idea of monolingualism has traditionally prevailed as a "normal case". The learning of a second language in an early stage of life is a great activity.
The appreciation of a child's linguistic origin and history, including his first or family language (s), is of enormous importance for successful second language acquisition.
Parents are essential partners in the language education and language support of their children. In general, parents should speak with their children in the language they can speak fluently, competently, and with a variation. Those who learn a second or third language broaden their horizons.
Numerous studies indicate that bilingual children can also process information faster and direct their attention more effectively. Children have better opportunities in education, study, and the professional world if they can express themselves in different languages. You will get to know other cultures, ways of thinking, and traditions.
Foreign languages, such as English or French, can and could be learned with playful methods even at kindergarten. Children are usually also very open to and interested in other languages, which should be taken up.
How Can Parents Facilitate Childrens' EFL Development?
Therefore, parents should take the interest of children in other languages and promote them as well as possible. Raising a child bilingually, if both parents have the same mother tongue, is associated with several hurdles. However, this challenge can also be met with appropriate measures.
It would help if you also offered your children different ways to intensify the language at home.
There are many possibilities:
- An app to learn English, English books for children, Audio Cds or Dvds, Kids games to learn English, English courses for kindergartners
- Another option is to attend special English courses. The advantage lies in the fact that lessons take place in small groups.
- If a child speaks two languages and later can express himself well, then there is a treasure that will continue to help him in life and work. Nobody can take away this treasure.
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