English Language Education in Mali Odkrywcy/Little Discoverers Kindergarten

A child's mind is a fascinating tool that is used to get acquainted with and process the information about the surrounding world. Since the very moment of birth a human mind can easily absorb unlimited information that it comes across in the daily process of discovering the world. There is nothing difficult or strange for a child's mind. It is ready to absorb new information and learn new skills at every hour of the day or night. These skills and information are necessary for a child to communicate with others and to perform everyday activities.

Language acquisition is one of the most amazing processes that happen in a child's mind before the age of puberty. A child is exposed to a constant language stimulation that is finite in its variety and complexity, and basing on this language input, an infinite language system is created in a child's mind. This language system enables a child to communicate their needs and to react to the needs of others. Unconsciously, a child learns an appropriate and faultless use of the semantic (meaning) and syntactic systems of their native language.

Language acquisition is inherently connected with the process of learning about the surrounding world, naming its elements and categorizing. It doesn't require any effort, memorizing, or doing grammar exercises; it definitely does not involve translation because a child has nothing to translate their first language to. It does require though a lot of attention given to a child by other people, positive stimuli and associations, and on a child's part, a will to communicate their needs is vital.

A child does not have any emotional barriers that may impede the process of language acquisition, as a child is not afraid to experiment and can easily function on the thin border of uncertainty and deduction. This is why a child's brain is able to acquire more than one language system at the same time, and accept more than one language system as its own system of communication. The process of second language acquisition must happen though exactly in the same way as the process of first language acquisition: in the process of meaningful interactions in daily life, when a child has to use it to describe the surrounding reality and communicate their needs.

‘Multilingual Kindergarten World/Wielojęzyczny Świat Przedszkolaka', Kindergarten Program of Teaching in English is prepared in such a way as to enable a child to learn about the surrounding world in English. Children are immersed in English, they hear it during everyday activities such as eating, using the bathroom, cleaning. They play and then rest in English, listen to stories in English, read books, do art projects, and sing. They talk in English about nature, their surroundings and the rhythm of their day.

Our children start speaking English very quickly because it is only this language that is used and understood by their English teacher. It is necessary for a child to describe their feelings, needs and wants in English, especially if they want to fully participate in games and various activities. Such a method of English interaction makes children accept English very quickly as the tool that is necessary for them to communicate effectively. This is in this way that in ‘Mali Odkrywcy/Little Discoverers' Kindergarten we are trying to create a situation similar to those in bilingual families, where one parent uses one language, and the other one another language. In such a family, a child effortlessly acquires both the language systems used by their parents and uses them both in daily communication.

In our older groups children are prepared to begin education in an English speaking environment, should such need arise. They learn to read and write in English, and also in this language they learn to categorize, speak about spatial relationships, count and solve simple mathematical problems. Children learn these skills through fun and games, and they use worksheets that constitute an important part of the ‘Multilingual Kindergaten World/Wielojęzyczny Świat Przedszkolaka' Teaching Program.

‘Multilingual Kindergarten World/Wielojęzyczny Świat Przedszkolaka', Kindergarten Program of Teaching in English was written especially for our kindergarten by a bilingual education specialist and consists of teaching aids, books for children (for each age group), observation charts, skills evaluation charts and teacher's books. It also contains a complex system of teacher training and teaching quality control. The implementation of the program is monitored by its author, who also evaluates its effects.

Teaching English in ‘Mali Odkrywcy/Little Discoverers' Bilingual Kindergarten happens through immersion, when the whole interaction during a teaching session happens in the target language. The second rule that is promoted by the ‘Multilingual Kindergarten World/Wielojęzyczny Świat Przedszkolaka' Teaching Program is that the presentation of language happens through learning about the surrounding world and is well-suited to the level of cognitive development of children of different ages. In our kindergarten children learn mainly through fun and games and they learn about the processes happening in their immediate environment, and the world of nature.

This is why, also in English, our children learn about the animal and plant world, about their immediate environment, about the rhythm of their day, about time, space, pastimes, their own kindergarten and their family. They also learn how to communicate their basic needs, but mainly they play and during games they learn to cooperate with others and to identify their strong and weak points. They learn how to use their skills efficiently, work on their manual skills, movement coordination and spatial relationships.

Our children play, act out scenes in English, but what we are most happy about is that during English sessions they laugh out loud, spontaneously sing English songs and recite poems, and often ask ‘May we play now?'