As a parent it can be very difficult to know exactly how well your child is doing at school. If there’s a real problem with their progress then the teachers will let you know. Often, though, you are just told they are doing “fine” – but what does that really mean?
Teachers at top ESL centers nowadays are reluctant to disclose an individual child’s position in the class, so you’re unlikely to hear ‘Your child is top of speaking’ or ‘His reading level is one of the lowest in the class’. Instead teachers will tend to compare your child’s performance over the year, so they might tell you ‘Your child has improved in literacy this course’.
Whilst you might be curious to know how they rank against their peers, what you really want to know is if they are on track. If they aren’t you’ll want to help them get back on track, and if they are, you might want to know if they could be pushed further and really excel at school. This is exactly what IBI Flipped Learning – online English for children and teenagers – will very quickly help you do!
Learning English is like building a house
Learning English as a second language is like building a house. Grammatical contents should be the girders, the pillars of the house. It should be also necessary some good foundations. Unless there is a strong and solid foundation, cracks will soon appear in the walls, and they will eventually collapse.
Saying so, “Speaking” should be the front door: if you do not speak, you will never get into your house. “Writing” should be the cement that sticks both foundations and structure together. “Reading” could be one of the windows of your house, because when you open it, you can have a look to the language. Through one of any window of your new house you will see the culture of the countries where the language you learn is spoken, for language is the key to open all different windows. Finally, “Pronunciation” should be the floor, as it supports the manner of speaking. The teacher is the work superintendent, a person who guides, advises and helps students on the building process. The teacher should also help students to communicate effectively in the language they are studying, since every language reflects the way of thinking of the country where it is spoken.
Ultimately, as it happens in the tale of the “Three Little Pigs”, the quality of the house you built depends on your personal and individual effort. It is very important to create an environment based on confidence between the teacher and the students in that building process. The teacher should be close and approachable to the students and do everything he/she could to make language studying pleasant and appealing.
Parents also play important role in helping children continue their works at home and keep their language practice in the right way.
IBI Online Learning System connects students with parents and with IBI School to maximize the learning effectiveness to our learners.
