What part of English grammar do children study by sections and why? Where do they experience difficulties and how do they overcome them?
English grammar for children in Lucky Kids and teaching methods
At LuckyKids, we as professionals understand the importance of grammar as a very important part of our program. We, the teachers, choose various methods for teaching the grammatical material in an interesting and easily accessible way.
We adhere to several principles in our teaching:
- gradualness
- spirality when upgrading the material
- exercise to full absorption
- correction only in the actual application of forms and structures.
In the next part, we offer a description of the taught part of grammar during our training course.
Beginner level – What is being studied?
- There is, There are
- The verb “to be” – conjugation, communicative sentence, interrogative sentence, negative sentence, interrogative-negative sentence
- Personal pronouns
- Possessive pronouns
- Numeric and ordinal numbers
- Can’t, Can
- Plural
- Use of some, any
- Comparative and superior degree of adjectives
- Present simple tense
- Family members
Why do children learn this part of grammar?
With the introduction of the first rules of English grammar, children need to be able to navigate and handle basic grammar rules, to be able to construct an elementary communicative sentence, to use the verb “I am” correctly. as well as most pronouns. At this stage, they use the present tense with communicative and interrogative sentences.
Children need to know and use numbers – countable and ordinal, to be able to form a plural.
Intermediate level – What do we study?
- Present simple tense
- Present continuous tense
- Present perfect time
- Past simple time
- Future simple time with will, won’t
- Future time with going to
- Modal verbs
- Irregular verbs
- Countable and innumerable nouns
- Comparative and superior degree of adjectives and adverbs
- Suggestions for place and time
- Pronouns – consolidation
- Composing words with the same root – nouns, adjectives, verbs
- Move words to a new line
- Punctuation
Why do children learn this part of grammar?
In the second stage of children’s literacy begins the acquaintance with new times, different from the present simple time. This is the period in which speeches become richer and more diverse. The child enriches his speech with adjectives and uses their gradation, composes and uses words with the same root, gets acquainted and uses modal and irregular verbs.
Children go into greater detail than written speech, namely – punctuation, word transfer, use of correct spelling.
Advanced level – what is being studied?
Times – consolidation and exercise
Comparison of times in English:
- present simply with present continuous tense
- present perfect with past simple tense
- future simply with future time with going to
Verb forms
- Modal verbs
- Irregular verbs
- Phraseological verbs
- An active and suffering bet
Structures in the English language
- Countable and innumerable nouns
- Suggestions for movement
- Types of dialects – classification
- Questions with and without auxiliary verb
- Definite and indefinite article
- Relative pronouns
- Reported speech
- Formation of adverbs from adjectives
- Conditional inclinations
- Indefinite pronouns – one / one’s and others.
Why do children learn this part of grammar?
At this stage of their English language training, the children have achieved a good level of mastery of basic grammar rules and therefore they learn at a higher level of complexity.
This refers to the assimilation of most verb tenses, personal and possessive pronouns, correct and incorrect verbs, a large number of phraseological verbs, gradation of adjective tenses, formation of communicative, interrogative, negative sentences.
The new concepts and categories that are being mastered now are:
- reported speech
- phraseological verbs
- conditional inclinations
- indefinite pronouns
- formation of questions with and without an auxiliary question, etc.
Difficulties and how do children overcome them?
Beginner level
During their first steps in English grammar, children may find it difficult to form the verb “I am” in a communicative, interrogative or negative sentence. They are learned in the process of conversation, in the form of a game or as flashcards, which support the process of automation.
Another challenge for them can be the use of correct possessive pronouns. Children need more support for the use of possessive pronouns, they often confuse pronouns for masculine and feminine and there is more practice needed.
One of the serious challenges is the numerical and ordinal numbers, which are different in pronunciation and writing. That’s why children usually practice them in the form of dates, working with a calendar or tasks.
Plural exceptions can also be a challenge. They need to be memorized through practice.
Last but not least, the use of some and any is interesting and sometimes confusing. It is required to learn the rule for their use and exercises with sentences and answers with some, any.
Intermediate level
Difficulties may arise at this stage if the grammar material from the basic level is not well mastered. Therefore, a well-chosen revision of the grammatical material is completely appropriate.
Future time with going to can be a challenge because it expresses the near future, a time that does not exist in the Bulgarian language. In the same way, the variants of simple and long time require special attention, because they do not exist as a variant in our language.
Modal verbs are an important category in English grammar. They express the possibility and degree of obligation of the action, which children need to distinguish in order to be able to properly learn their use.
Exercises for modal verbs occupy an entire section and are practiced almost continuously until complete mastery. Their specificity begins to be mastered at this level in order to improve at the advanced level.
Children learn incorrect verbs and use them in writing or spoken.
Begins composing words with the same root – nouns, adjectives and verbs. We practice the rules of punctuation, as well as the transfer of words to a new line.
Advanced level
The more advanced the students are in their language learning, the more detailed they go into the grammatical material.
Now is the time to perfect the verb tenses. The use of active and suffering bet begins.
The pledge is a verb form, which is used very often in speech. That is why children practice it constantly in their speeches, as well as in written exercise.
The number of phraseological verbs is expanding.
Mastering structures in English such as countable and innumerable nouns is a necessity – students make distinctions and practice types.
Prepositions are also included here – especially those for movement are diverse and are often part of phraseological verbs. We study the types of adverbs with their classification.
Doubts may arise as to when the definite or indefinite article is used. Children learn rules for their use.
We introduce relative pronouns and uses, indirect speech, formation of adverbs from adjectives. Difficulty here may arise in coordinating verb tenses in transforming direct speech into indirect speech.
Last but not least are the conditional inclinations. They are studied with their structures, and for students the challenge can be making a distinction and using them.
