There are several ways to learn English. But for children, it is important that the learning process is both fun and enhances their cognitive, creative and social-emotional development.
According to the Preschool Education Association Thailand, learning English language music and movement is more effective than using word cards or memorising from texts because with music students learn naturally.
Kindermusik International, a community for educators, has also promoted such a teaching method under its new programme "Kindermusik", offered at the Learning Ability Promotion Centre (LAPC), a sister company of Plan for Kids which produces learning materials for children and families.
According to Kindermusik International's international director Angelica Manca, the benefits of music education are truly transformational. At Kindermusik classes, children develop active listening which is the first step to subsequent learning. Active listening allows children to hear the phonemes and words and be able to separate those phonemes in their heads. The class starts with the very foundation of active listening and then builds on that where the children get to do vocal plays; through playing with words, they learn naturally.
"We adopt a natural approach to English learning. The same natural approach we adopted for language learning is also used for music learning through the methodologies of Orff, Kodaly, Suzuki, Vygotsky, Piaget and Montessori," explained Manca at the recent seminar "Kindermusik: The New Paradigm of Teaching English through Music and Movement" held at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.
The four levels of the curriculum start with "English and Me", covering foundational English, focusing on developing listening skills. The second level reinforces acquired vocabulary, increasing fluency with 200 new words per unit. There are also additional total physical response activities, and the children can follow instructions in English.
Use of a literacy rich curriculum introduces 500 new words per unit at the third level. The fourth level introduces music as a platform for expression.
"We have movement activities -- each one of these activities is linked to the next, so the children will not notice that they are doing many different activities, but it will develop the whole brain and cover all learning domains," Manca added.
Independent research suggested early learners using Kindermusik for as little as 30 minutes per week saw a 32% greater gain in early language and literacy skills.
