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Games, activities and teaching ideas > Need ideas for a VERY spoilt 9-year-old child :o(
Need ideas for a VERY spoilt 9-year-old child :o(
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rakelica
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Need ideas for a VERY spoilt 9-year-old child :o(
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Hi everybody,
I need your help... the thing is I�m giving private tuitions to this spoilt 9-year-old child. He�s bilingual (French and Spanish) and now his parents want him to speak English too. They don�t want me to teach him writing, spelling or reading. They want him to learn English as he learnt Spanish (his dad is Spanish), that is to say, in a natural way,......
I don�t think they understand that this is not possible �cos he�s not 2 any more (if you know what I mean) and he�s not in an English environment all the time (only 2 hours a week!).
I cannot give him any tales to read or anything to write or any spelling games! It�s horrible!!!!!! They ONLY want me to speak with him but since he doesn�t understand a word of English it�s really hard. And, obviously, it�s just me and him so no such things as group games, it is really frustrating 
And on top of that, he�s very spoilt, he only wants to play games on the computer and he gets bored very easily (he even has the nerve to tell me!!!!!). We�ve played some but they are all about spelling words or similar things.
My dear colleagues, could you suggest something? funny games not involving spelling-writing-reading? any good websites with English games? speaking activities?
Thanks so much, any idea will be very much appreciated.
Have a great day
Raquel
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28 Sep 2009
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scampi
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Hello
I was in the same boat as you with a little boy and I sympathise as it is really horrible. With my pupil I brought some play food from a kiddie shop and some pretend money and then him touch all the food and money whilst telling him in English what it was. Then I gave him and myself 10 objects each and played bingo with little cards I made earlier. This had great success and took up quite a lot of time. I am got some lego and asked him to "Build a house" "build me a yellow, red and blue wall" etc. Flashcards are also very good with the pictures as he then had to repeat all the words after me and we played games like bingo and I would select 10 cards and tell him to close his eyes and then take a card away and he had to guess which one was missing. I then gave him english activites from a CD rom (which obviously he loved!) and that was basically our routine. The food I varied with dressing up clothes, games from toy shops (all of the sets you get like garden sets, tools, medical etc). I then went to the parents and explained the situation, that I would obtain more success if I was allowed to teach in the way I wanted and they agreed to reading books but no written work.
Hope some of this helps - it is very difficult when parents think they are teachers aswell!! |
28 Sep 2009
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puddyd
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Oh dear, I feel for you. Why don �t you do some age appropriate crafts or cook with him, or is that too juvenile?
Good luck!!! If only people would realise that all 4 skills go together and you cannot separate them, but I guess they �re your customer and that �s what they �re paying for. |
28 Sep 2009
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Bekx
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Hi!
I �m a private tutor of 3 siblings all under the age of ten and I sympathize with you completely. My 3 do NOT want to have a two hours English class everyday after being in school!
Have you heard of the computer games �Pipo �? There �s one called �Aprende Ingl�s con Pipo � and my �kids � love it. There �s also another on called �Primeras palabras de Ingl�s �. They might help you give your pupil a kick start into English as he seems to love computer games.
Either that or you can try using songs or playing normal kids games like hide and seek, tag, snakes and ladders, bingo, twister or using Where �s Wally books etc all in English.
Check out www.pipoclub.com
I hope I �ve helped!
x |
28 Sep 2009
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Zora
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I think that you need to have a tiny talk with these parents and explain that after a certain age, kids do not learn as they did when they were babies.
Everything to a little child is new - so therefore they are learning by simply being awake and hearing and seeing all around them. But after they reach a certain age the brain works in a very different way...
They need other types of stimulus - and learning how to read and write (or form words) in English can be just as important for learning as speaking... The child needs to know some structures to advance properly in his learning and if a child can �t see how a word is written then that �s not good either. Some children NEED to see to learn. I am one of those types, if I see a word, I know how to say it and I pronounce it properly... if I can �t see the word, I don �t remember it at all and I am lost...
Kids at certain ages, need certain things and learning only conversation but not being able to supplement that with reading or writing can be detrimental to say the least. A good learning environment involves many things - not just saying the words and repeating them back.
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28 Sep 2009
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reeta1
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Try using gestures. Also, play scrabble or boggle. |
28 Sep 2009
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reeta1
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I tutored a four year old for about 40 minutes once. I was told to practice the sounds with him but I was NOT to tell him what the letters were. I still don �t get it how this was supposed to help him. |
28 Sep 2009
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rakelica
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Thanks to all, great ideas guys (gracias scampi)! and I think I�ll have a chat with his parents, if they think they can teach him better, they should do it!
now, seriously, thanks, any more ideas are very welcome
puddyd I�ve got a question, what do you consider would be crafts for his age? could you give an example? (thanks!)
much love
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28 Sep 2009
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miss_yanis
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I �d suggest you try making activities sound like "competition" maybe sometimes against you, some others against the clock, or even against the computer... You can give him some prizes if he wins...
that usually works with spoiled children who get bored with everything, the adrenalin of a challenge is always good for them. (I know what I �m talking about... I �m working with a group of 14 teens who are 13-14 years old, and what works best are the competitions!)
Good Luck!
Miss Yanis |
28 Sep 2009
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JudyHalevi
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I had a horribly spoilt 7 year old, who I just refused to teach after one month. Told her mother that I wasn �t going to change the way I teach for her kid.
"Lovely child, very sweet, but I am sorry, I will not be able to accomplish what they want."
 from Israel
Judy |
28 Sep 2009
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