How to Learn English for Kids

There are a lot of articles on the web that tell you how to learn English if you are an adult, but not so many on how to learn English for kids. If you are a parent and you have a kid learning English you probably want to know how to help them.

Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses

Here are a few suggestions.

How to learn English for kids –
the top ten tips for parents (and teachers!)

1. Encourage your child.

Don't criticize every mistake but focus on the achievements. This is really important and too often I hear teachers and parents criticizing young kids who are trying really hard. It's enough to make the kids want to stop completely.

2.  The best thing you can do to help your kid learn English is to help make it fun.

If your child thinks it is just extra lessons then they may not want to do it. So it's a great idea to treat it the same as any out of school activity such as sports or dance. That way they are less likely to think it's work.

3.  Bring English into your home.

Have English books in your home, watch English TV with your kids, and listen to English songs. The more your child hears English, the easier it will be for them to learn.

4.  Keep English fun.

If you can, play games with your kids in English. Any alphabet games, or lotto style games are great for beginners, and games like Scrabble are good for older kids.

5. Monitor your child's work.

Make sure you know what your child is studying in his or her English classes and show an interest in their work and what they are doing.

6. Don't put too much pressure on your child.

If your child is learning and feels a lot of pressure to do as well as you want them to, then they will become stressed and this will have a negative effect on the rest of their activities.

7. Take a class yourself.

If your English needs to improve, you could take a class to show that learning English is important to you. Older children especially may think that if you aren't doing something then it's not fair that they have to. You have an opportunity to lead by your example.

8. Talk with your kids.

If your English is good then try speaking to your kids. Even short phrases such as "I love you", or instructions like "come here" or "sit down" are great to start with. Your children will then be used to hearing people talk to them in English.

9. Kids get bored easily.

If you are trying to help your son or daughter with their English homework and they are losing interest, don't force them to continue. Take a break and then go back to the activity.

10.  Help with vocabulary.

There are several ways you can do this. Encourage your child to stick labels on items around the house, with English words on them. Test your kid (in a relaxed way) on new words each week. Or ask your child to tell you all the new words he or she learned each day.

Obviously there are other things you can do if you want to help your child learn English – for kids the most important thing is encouragement so if you do that then you will be helping in the best way possible.

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