Teacher classes in Englishcontinued today. Again, very interesting watching adults react to children´s literature. Just the fact that you can read something in another language is a good feeling.
In the course of using the children´s literature with adults, we are discovering that children´s TV programming is very limited. While in the US there is concern about small children spending too much time in front of the TV even for educational programming, here it doesn´t happen but on a VERY limited basis. Reading is just beginning to be taught in second grade. There are no reading books as we would have in US schools at this age or at any other age for that matter. All school books are in workbook form. I saw my first student all year reading a book on the bus the other morning.
The fact that we tend to work on vocabulary building at the lower grades while delaying the grammar instruction until later just blows there mind here. Grammar IS the most important thing that can be taught. The concept that everyone has limited thinking ability based, in part, on the amount of vocabulary one has, just doesn´t register. No one challenges the thinking that being grammar rich and vocabulary poor may be a problem.
We have just mentioned some educational differences that we can not address to any degree this school year.
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2 comments:
When you say teaching grammer before vocabulary I assume that also happens in their native language. How can grammer be taught if there is no knowledge of the content of the sentence? Stick by your guns and teach vocabulary. Don
So good to catch up again on your blog. Thanks for the great stories and the experinces you share. It is always good to see it through your eyes.
Eldon and Phyllis
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