Reading in kindergarten

From polish children and english fairy tales - or how to teach English in kindergarten

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while, but I wish everyone a belated Happy New Year!

As some of you may already know from the instagram page of the library,I've been going to the kindergarten to read English fairy tales to the children there for a few months now. 

At first I was surprised by the request. In Austria, I learned my first English words at the age of nine in fourth grade of primary school. That's why I was amazed that children here in Poland are getting in touch with other languages at an early age, especially since it's much easier for younger children to learn foreign languages than when they are older. 

So I asked myself - how can I teach English in kindergarten? The answer was not that complicated.

For the reading I always tried to choose famous fairy tales, which the kids already knew, so it’s going to be easier for them to understand. Beforehand I always prepared some vocabulary that was in the story and that I wanted to teach the children. 

After each page I read, I paused, showed them the pictures and asked them for the words I had prepared. They usually answered first with the Polish term before I told them the English one, and then we repeated it together. This way I could always learn a bit of Polish while teaching the children English. At the end of the book, I would ask the children about the vocabulary I had tried to teach them through the story, and when they remembered the English words, I was sometimes happier than they were. It amazed me how much they already knew or managed to learn through the reading! At one point the children just started telling me the colours of the things in the pictures, without me even asking. 

I really enjoyed the time with the children, even though it was frustrating that I couldn't understand them when they asked or told me something in Polish or when I understood them I couldn't answer because my Polish wasn’t good enough. There was always someone there who could translate between Polish and English, but it was inconvenient to still need a third party. This is another reason why I want to learn Polish better Because if these children are able and open to learn another language I can manage that too! 

So this week was the last of my visits to the kindergarten, and this time I was accompanied by Leonor, the new volunteer from the cultural centre. As a further surprise, I brought the children some sweets and self-made colouring pictures as a farewell gift. I was always looking forward to going to the kindergarten, even though I had a few difficulties at the beginning because I hadn't worked much with children before. But all beginnings are tough and I was able to overcome the hurdles. In the end, I was able to learn a lot from my time with the children and they have grown close to my heart. 

The Goodbuy was met with many high fives and hugs - and who knows, maybe I will see some of them again in the library!

So stay tuned for more and hopefully we'll read each other again!

PS: As always, I have a few pictures for you!