Muna Kids English Circle
We held our sixth Muna Kids English Circle of Spring 2018. Today’s game constantly kept kids in suspense and excited!
War
This time we played the card game “War”. It is a common game in Japan, too. Kumiko and some parents used to play the game when they were children as well. The excitement every time a “war” happened was great and sometimes the parents were more excited than the kids! War is a great game for kids because of its simplicity, randomness, and instant win/loss feeling, very similar to rock-scissors-paper. It’s also a great tool for teaching language!
We introduced a grammar point in the English key sentence which kids in Japan typically learn in the 2nd year of junior high school. You might be surprised to hear that the kids learned junior high school level English, but the Elementary kids totally understood the concept and meaning and could say the sentence when they played the game. The Kindergarteners struggled a bit to say the complete sentence, however they showed that they understood the meaning of the question when their parents asked them.
Kids are amazing. Instead of trying to understand a sentence’s structure by breaking down each word, kids just accept the concept and meaning without question. Adults don’t have this amazing skill as they try to interpret and translate the meaning of each and every word in a sentence, often causing confusion and stoppers in communication. This is why kids are said to be geniuses at learning language. We are trying to break the old idea of teaching structured grammar English education by teaching useful daily English which kids can use while they’re enjoying games.
“Make a Circle” Dance [Kindergarten Class]
In the Kindergarten class, everybody sang and danced together in one big circle. We chose this song because this relates to what they learn in card game. We believe kids understand and learn in different ways, so hopefully this music time can be useful for some of them to get the idea of the focus sentence’s meaning and concept.
Parent Discussion Time
We talked about how the kids were when they were playing the game. Especially in the Kindergarten class, the kids struggled to say the numbers on their cards instantly even though they are able to say numbers well in sequence. It is great that kids know numbers in English, however the next step is to teach them to be able to use numbers in daily situations. We believe card games are a great way to practice random numbers because they’re fun and can be used to relate to children’s real daily lives. Parents must be busy every day but hopefully they continue playing the game at home to practice numbers.
Elementary Kids Playing “War”
The next Muna Kids English Circle will be held on Sunday, June 17th at Tsukiminosato.
9:30 – 10:30 – Elementary School Kids Lesson
10:45 – 11:45 – Kindergarten Kids Lesson
Please come out and try Muna style English conversation lessons. We’re looking forward to seeing more new members!
Apply now! ↓↓↓
