Category Archives: pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners

My new favourite picture books for EFL young learners

Posted on 30/07/2025 by alexcase

A list and descriptions of some books I’ve recently found have really worked with two to twelve year olds, mostly titles I didn’t know when I made my original list of The Best Picture Books for EFL Young Learners and … Continue reading →

Posted in Materials, pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Teaching young learners | Leave a comment

23 mix and match activities for learning English (TEFLtastic classics Part 45)

Posted on 13/09/2020 by alexcase

This has been by far the most popular activity in my young learner classes recently. I’ve often used the classic picture book (Do You Like) Ketchup on Your Cornflakes?, in which the top and bottom halves of the page are … Continue reading →

Posted in pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Teaching young learners, Using storybooks | Tagged | Leave a comment

Should my English teaching school be a pre-school school?

Posted on 06/05/2011 by alexcase

As I promised/ warned, here is the first of a series of blog posts which will just be newly-edited articles of mine from elsewhere. This one is responsible for the closest I’ve ever got to a claim to fame – … Continue reading →

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The best LearnEnglishKids songs for very little kids

Posted on 09/09/2010 by alexcase

As chosen by Ms Y Case, aged 12 1/2 months (not too young to Rock’n’Roll!) My own, rather different, views on the British Council’s song selection will follow in the next post. As always with the LEKids site, all songs … Continue reading →

Posted in LearnEnglishKids, links, pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Teaching young learners, TEFL, Using songs with kids | 3 Comments

L1 in the very young learner classroom

Posted on 14/07/2010 by alexcase

L1 in the classroom is always a controversial topic, but with very young learners I think it is much clearer than with other age ranges and levels. Basically, my policy is always that I will only speak the students’ language … Continue reading →

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On the CELTA, Japan, and very small learners

Posted on 22/11/2009 by alexcase

An interview with Charlie Richards of Learning Tree English, a private language school for 16 and unders (sometimes far unders!) in Osaka. “I first came across your school through your excellent examples of young learner lessons on YouTube. Typical lessons … Continue reading →

Posted in CELTA, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Discipline in the classroom, EFL CD ROMs, English through craftwork, Lesson planning, Phonics, pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching Japanese primary school children, Teaching young learners, Technology, TEFL career planning, TEFL games, textbooks, Using songs with kids, Using storybooks | Tagged | 2 Comments

Controlling under fives

Posted on 03/03/2009 by alexcase

Of course, there are some people who would object even to the use of the word “control” in the title of such a post. Those people are called “modern parents“, or in layman’s terms, “hippies”. Only jkg!* Anyway, there is … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom management, Discipline in the classroom, links, pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Problem students, Teaching young learners, TEFL | 1 Comment

My top 10 books for/ about EFL for young learners

Posted on 09/01/2009 by alexcase

Wrote this list for a (teacher training) student and thought it might be worth a blog post and maybe a bit of friendly debate. Here are my all time favourites- off the top of my head, but if they’re that … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Young Learner Exams, Delta Publishing, EFL exams, ELT publishing, Macmillan, Materials, Oxford University Press (OUP), Photocopiable worksheets, pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Teaching young learners, TEFL, TEFL reviews, textbooks, Using songs with kids | 4 Comments

An alternative way of boosting your teaching confidence

Posted on 27/10/2008 by alexcase

“She… reported that her self-esteem was raised when her [MA in TESOL] assignments were returned with comments that revealed, in her view, a degree of closed-mindedness on the part of the tutors who had marked them.” From pg 72 of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge University Press, CPD, ELT management, ELT publishing, Lesson planning, Materials, pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Staging, Teaching young learners, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL games, TEFL reviews | Tagged | Leave a comment

Teaching English in Japan- Sources Part One

Posted on 13/08/2008 by alexcase

The books all teachers in Japan should read Part One- The best books about Japanese language and education I’m sitting here mourning over the 100 or so books about Japan that I will be leaving on the school bookshelves rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural differences/ cultural training, Delta Publishing, ELT publishing, English Teachers in Japan, False friends, links, Pearson Longman, pre-school/ kindergarten/ very young learners, Teacher training, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching young learners, TEFL, TEFL workshops | Leave a comment