What to teach a 3 year old

[phuketsub]

I recently agreed with a locally prominent man to take on his daughter, age 3, as a student.

 

Now as the first day of 'class' approaches I realize I have no clue how to teach someone this young.

 

If anyone could suggest some fun/engaging activities I would be much obliged.

[ajarngreg]

 The attention span of a 3-year-old is not long.

 

They can't concentrate on a 50-minute lesson that someone might create.

 

  You'll have to break one hour up into segments, include plenty of YouTube stuff, for example, the ABC song. Please have a look and you'll be surprised how many good educational videos you can find.

 

     Use a video downloader to make sure that you are prepared, even without the internet.

 

      Please ask the daddy first what he wants you to mainly focus on. Should you teach them only speaking, or also reading and writing? 

 

  Speak very slowly and clear and tell daddy to allow her to watch some funny cartoons every day. They have to get used to the sounds of letters and words first.

 

Youtube videos for kids are easily available on the net and it helps all learners of the English language.

 

  Learning must be fun, so you'll basically have to be a clown, a teacher, a psychologist and a nanny at the same time. 

 

   Then use "Rosetta Stone", a great language learning program. I've got a 32 language version, please page me if you want a copy.

 

 

    Kids this age can only concentrate for about 10 minutes, the rule is their age plus five.

 

  Just an example: http://www.eslgamesplus.com/pirate-games/

 

 http://www.eslgamesplus.com/bedroom-vocabulary-interactive-esl-board-game/

 

    Good luck with your new kid. 

 

     

 

   

 

        

[cooked]

Youtube is useful, Our not yet three year old knows a lot of English songs

"Wheels on the bus" has gone through a lot of variations since I realised I couldn't stand hearing it one more time. We now have Wheels on the bus go Jingle Bells, or Happy birthday, main thing is to keep it playful and to get the concept of a joke across. Old Mac Donald is a good one as he has to listen in order to get the chorus right. Any repetitive task is accompanied by counting, he gets lost around eight unless there are candies being handed out.

So there you are, music, English, maths and the family tries not to speak Lao with him too much, so his Thai is coming on nicely.

Meanwhile I learn the Thai words for every possible transport, haulage or construction vehicle on the road from him, (learnt from his granddad) which helps my efforts to learn Thai, two way street.

All of his family detest water (although they do keep clean) so I am trying to get him into the paddling pool without forcing.

[rijb]

Op, the best way to teach someone that young is to get other kids to help/show them.  Young kids will respond better to older kids, than to you.  Think of it as a top-down teaching approach.  

[youreavinalaff]

47 minutes ago, cooked said:

Youtube is useful, Our not yet three year old knows a lot of English songs

"Wheels on the bus" has gone through a lot of variations since I realised I couldn't stand hearing it one more time. We now have Wheels on the bus go Jingle Bells, or Happy birthday, main thing is to keep it playful and to get the concept of a joke across. Old Mac Donald is a good one as he has to listen in order to get the chorus right. Any repetitive task is accompanied by counting, he gets lost around eight unless there are candies being handed out.

So there you are, music, English, maths and the family tries not to speak Lao with him too much, so his Thai is coming on nicely.

Meanwhile I learn the Thai words for every possible transport, haulage or construction vehicle on the road from him, (learnt from his granddad) which helps my efforts to learn Thai, two way street.

All of his family detest water (although they do keep clean) so I am trying to get him into the paddling pool without forcing.

Let him learn is family dialect too. Kids can easily pick up 3 languages at the same time. Many kids from the Issan area do anyway.

[Scott]

Many years ago, a teacher friend did the same thing and he couldn't deal with it, so he asked me to help.   This was a boy, and boys tend to be delayed in language development to girls.   I used only activity based learning.   I would throw a ball and ask him to 'catch the ball'.   Then 'throw the ball'.   When he didn't catch it, then it was 'get the ball'.    I also did some coloring with him, and would have him learn the colors, by handing the color to him and saying it and asking him to 'color the tree green'.   There was simple and useful vocabulary, like toilet, fridge, water and whatever it was he wanted or needed to do.  

 

The part that was frustrating for my friend was that sometimes the child would not speak at all.   As he started to understand, he would obey, but wouldn't speak.   This would be followed by maybe the next day, he would speak a lot.   He would say 'throw the ball', 'catch the ball' etc.  

 

I also used a very simple book and would read a very short story.   We also had a song on CD (actually tapes back then), that we would play over and over again; using the same song.   

 

There were lots of simple commands, ' come here', 'sit down', 'stand up', etc.

 

I also played "What is it?" with him.   As he learned vocabulary, I would point to something and he would say what it was, these were simple things, like chair, TV, ball, etc.

 

He would sometimes speak in Thai and I would answer in English (and try to encourage him to say it in English).   He would say 'nam' and I would ask 'do you want water?'   When I gave him water, I'd try to get him to say 'water'.  

 

Very young kids learn by doing, so basically, a lot of it is going to be playing and learning through that.   Again, it's a little easier with girls.

 

[phuketsub]

Thanks to everyone for your input. I did raise my daughter (now 11) to be trilingual here (If southern Thai counts as a separate language, which I think it should).

 

I might have to recruit her to help me out.

 

Anyway, I have already downloaded lots of  YouTube videos and have all the suggested playstuff at the ready. I will let you all know how it goes. Thanks again.

[sanmyn]

Most important: teach them to have RESPECT.......

[houlicha]

Peppa Pig videos, they'll pay rapt attention and learn just as much. There's time for differential and integral calculus later on.

[dotpoom]

Gather up all your most important documents and place them in a pen with the 3 yr.old. to study.

[little mary sunshine]

Colors, simple greetings, numbers names of

body parts, sing-a-longs....google!!!!!

[ghworker2010]

Some of the responses are amusing on this thread. Its not a matter of playing youtube videos!

 

You should be focussing on phonics style 'letters and sounds'. The attached doc might even be

too advanced for a 3 yr old. Its more for 5 yr olds to be honest. 

 

At 3 yrs old you can read picture books, sing songs, play games. 

 

But there are some good ideas in the doc. If you need any help you can PM me. 

Phase One_letters and sounds.pdf

[realenglish1]

Just turn on Sesame Street and let it run They will teach a 3 year old 

[Gonefortea]

Three year old teaching them how to play games simple point and speak ie Television get them to repeat. No more than half an hour followed by play like singing games. Read ton them often but slowly and point to the words as you speak let them follow your fingers along. That's about all anything more and they will lose interest. 

[phuketsub]

I really appreciate all the additional input; I am sad to report that it did not go well, however.

 

Five of us (including both her parents) tried to engage her in a variety of activities, but she paid virtually no attention and just did whatever she wanted, all the time.

 

The main problem is that she is a spoiled little Daddy's Girl and with both her parents in the room she seemed to view us with a combination of suspicion and contempt.

 

So next week we are going to have to separate her from her parents, even if it results in crying and/or a temper tantrum. I feel like I am getting too old for this!

 

 

[elgordo38]

On 2/25/2017 at 5:09 PM, ajarngreg said:

 The attention span of a 3-year-old is not long.

 

They can't concentrate on a 50-minute lesson that someone might create.

 

  You'll have to break one hour up into segments, include plenty of YouTube stuff, for example, the ABC song. Please have a look and you'll be surprised how many good educational videos you can find.

 

     Use a video downloader to make sure that you are prepared, even without the internet.

 

      Please ask the daddy first what he wants you to mainly focus on. Should you teach them only speaking, or also reading and writing? 

 

  Speak very slowly and clear and tell daddy to allow her to watch some funny cartoons every day. They have to get used to the sounds of letters and words first.

 

Youtube videos for kids are easily available on the net and it helps all learners of the English language.

 

  Learning must be fun, so you'll basically have to be a clown, a teacher, a psychologist and a nanny at the same time. 

 

   Then use "Rosetta Stone", a great language learning program. I've got a 32 language version, please page me if you want a copy.

 

 

    Kids this age can only concentrate for about 10 minutes, the rule is their age plus five.

 

  Just an example: http://www.eslgamesplus.com/pirate-games/

 

 http://www.eslgamesplus.com/bedroom-vocabulary-interactive-esl-board-game/

 

    Good luck with your new kid. 

 

     

 

   

 

        

Great answer. At 3 years of age keep it light. Don't start an early dependence in IT products. Balance it with a bit of mother nature growing things explain nature . I had the opportunity to watch a couple pre schoolers yesterday for a couple hours. They had IT products glued to their fingertips and you could not even get through to them with a question. 

[phuketsub]

2 hours ago, elgordo38 said:

Great answer. At 3 years of age keep it light. Don't start an early dependence in IT products. Balance it with a bit of mother nature growing things explain nature . I had the opportunity to watch a couple pre schoolers yesterday for a couple hours. They had IT products glued to their fingertips and you could not even get through to them with a question. 

Great advice! I really feel sorry for the kids who fall into that pit of IT product addiction. I do a lot of activities that involve simple motions like throwing and catching, and it is amazing how poorly developed  their motor skills are.

[elgordo38]

Just now, phuketsub said:

Great advice! I really feel sorry for the kids who fall into that pit of IT product addiction. I do a lot of activities that involve simple motions like throwing and catching, and it is amazing how poorly developed  their motor skills are.

I truly believe you. Sports is dying except for video game wars. The APPS people are constantly working on new ideas. I wish that they would come up with a frig that would listen to verbal commands and trot/roll over here with my cold beer. I just hate getting up from the keyboard. My bum complains to. 

[janejira]

songs- especially songs with hand motions (where is thumbkin?; head shoulders knees and toes; wheels on the bus; twinkle twinkle little star), play doh, coloring, crafts, read her a story, ABCs, animals, colors, shapes, numbers

 

For an hour, hou probably have 4-5 activities

 

I would let mom or dad (only one) be in the room at first, but they have to sing the songs and do the motions too. Then gradually phase them out over time. (Mom tells the child that after X activity today, mom goes to the other room). Then keep reducing the time mom is in the room each lesson until she does not join the lesson at all.

 

 

[ajarngreg]

4 hours ago, phuketsub said:

Great advice! I really feel sorry for the kids who fall into that pit of IT product addiction. I do a lot of activities that involve simple motions like throwing and catching, and it is amazing how poorly developed  their motor skills are.

 

 

 

 

It's not about getting kids addicted to video games at all. It;'s only one of the countless tools you can use to get the kid interested in learning.

 

    I'm teaching the little ones and I'm aware how difficult it can be.

Sorry, is. 

 

         In my opinion, the most difficult age group to teach is from 3 to 5. 

 

        Some coloring, once they know numbers, following numbers and they all in a sudden see something they like, etc... 

 

   The most important part is to get her trust. If she "can't smell you", there's no way to teach her anything. 

 

  Don't forget your clown mask and nose. 

 

        

[phuketsub]

Yes, her parents have reasonable English and we actually had some awkward fun doing the activities together, but they will obviously have to be gradually phased out as Janejira suggested.

 

The latest development that they are going to bring in another 3-year-old, her friend, next week. ..

[JGV]

Play with the child - this is called educational parenting - educational toys

Do not buy the child a phone or computer and get it to play games on the device all day

[lungnorm]

MANNERS

[rickudon]

One other thing - Plastacene (modeling clay). In Thailand Playdough is expensive and dries out quickly, so unless you are going to tidy it away immediately, it is a better option. I bought some for about 60 baht for about 8 blocks. Horrid colours, but it kept my daughter busy for hours and hours every week (and, more importantly, off the computer, which she plays non-stop ALL day given the chance). About 3 years is the right age as shouldn't try and eat it. Lasted nearly a year before too hard.

[phuketsub]

13 hours ago, rickudon said:

One other thing - Plastacene (modeling clay). In Thailand Playdough is expensive and dries out quickly, so unless you are going to tidy it away immediately, it is a better option. I bought some for about 60 baht for about 8 blocks. Horrid colours, but it kept my daughter busy for hours and hours every week (and, more importantly, off the computer, which she plays non-stop ALL day given the chance). About 3 years is the right age as shouldn't try and eat it. Lasted nearly a year before too hard.

Clay is a good idea in general, but too messy for our classroom, which has those interlocking rubber mats of the floor.

 

I just found out that this class has morphed into four 'students', ranging in age from 2y8m to 5.

 

I have to admit I haven't been this nervous in a long time.

 

I expect to impart a lot of common expressions like: "Don't touch that!" "Get down!" and "Leave him/her alone."

[phuketsub]

On 2/27/2017 at 8:42 AM, houlicha said:

Peppa Pig videos, they'll pay rapt attention and learn just as much. There's time for differential and integral calculus later on.

I had never heard of that series before and it is definitely a good one. They loved it. Thanks for the tip.

[janejira]

All I can say is good luck! The difference between teaching a 3 year old and 5 year old is huge. I think having them in the same class would be less than ideal.

[ajarngreg]

Just wondering why nobody has mentioned Dr. Seuss books and videos.

 

                      A real classic one. There are also some great movies. 

 

Dr.Seuss Fishy.pdf

[lannarebirth]

Khan Academy now has videos and learning games for pre-schoolers.

[ajarngreg]

38 minutes ago, janejira said:

All I can say is good luck! The difference between teaching a 3 year old and 5 year old is huge. I think having them in the same class would be less than ideal.

 

 

 Not for a good teacher. You can see seven-year-olds studying with 12-year-olds at language schools.

 

      Nothing is impossible if the lesson(s) are funny.