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5 Challenges in Teaching Young Learners & Suggested Tips to Overcome Them

This article tackles some problems that teachers who teach young learners may face and suggest some solutions to these challenges.

Challenge #1: Young learners concentrate only for a short time

Suggested Solutions:

  • Use various interesting activities.
  • Exploit their curiosity and always ask them questions.
  • Be lively, humorous, and interested.
  • Praise them a lot verbally and non-verbally.

Challenge #2: Not all students learn the same way.

Suggested Solutions:

  • Appeal to all senses. 
  • Use games.
  • Use various teaching aids: Pictures, videos, songs … etc.   
  • Use pair-work and small groups.

Challenge #3: Some students are shy or don’t want to participate in class.

Suggested Solutions:

  • Call your students with their names.
  • Be patient and supportive.
  • Do pair and group-work, and whole-class discussions.
  • Provide constructive feedback.

Constructive feedback:

  • Emphasizes that it is okay to make mistakes.
  • Praises students’ failed attempts.
  • Avoids embarrassing the students.

Challenge #4: Some students don’t like the set book & feel bored.

Suggested Solutions:

  • Teach in context.
  • Move from mechanical to meaningful, then to communicative activities.
  • Integrate the four skills.
  • Add interesting materials such as songs, pictures, and videos to the set book.

Challenge #5: It’s hard to control some students.

Suggested Solutions:

  • Establish rules and routines from the first day.
  • Have leaders in the class.  
  • Organize study groups.
  • Ask students to help each other.
  • Use a suitable seating arrangement: Circles are the best.
  • Address everyone in the class.
  • Move around.
  • Maintain eye contact with students.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

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