Teaching (VERY) Young Learners

Are young learners difficult to teach or is this a myth begging to be busted? A part of me wants to say it’s an exaggeration, but having taught young learners for a while, I’m inclined to say it’s not terribly difficult, but you “must know” what keeps them excited. The young learners I’m referring to here are children, toddlers even. There are at least three methods in the toolbox that work with (almost) any young learners: realia, TPR and flashcards. Each method can be branched out to various activities and be used over and over again for very subtle drilling. You could even mix the methods up and see what happens 🙂

First, there are different contexts in which you might be given the task of teaching (very) young learners: is it one-on-one or in a group? Is it online, in a classroom, or at home? Are the parents present…