My name is Scott Waring and I am an American teacher in Taiwan with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in educational counseling. I’ve learned a lot about teaching, but it wasn’t until I met my Taiwanese wife at Idaho State University and we moved to Taiwan, where we opened a school, that I learned that teaching three to six year olds was not only possible, but beyond. whatever you have hoped for. I have also published two novels for children, “George’s Pond” and “West’s Time Machine” which are sold in all online stores. My wife and I currently own a school that has 150 students, fifty of whom are between the ages of 3 and 6. Psychology and Education journals often point out that in each person’s life, there is a time when the brain is most susceptible to learning, which makes learning easier and faster. The time they speak of is between three and six years of age. A human being will never learn so easily or so quickly again after that age. This applies to everyone, and while I have not benefited from such an early education, in six months my son will, when he starts in our three-year-old class that teaches four straight hours of instruction a day, five days a week. .

In our school we have a motto; “Work now, play later.” But they really play between classes. In this way, we teach students so much at age seven that when they start elementary school, they find everything easy, while other students who have never benefited from learning before elementary school end up struggling during class, working much harder and not getting as far as the students who benefited from early learning. Now let me show you some simple steps that we use in our classes when they are between three and six years old.

1. Don’t listen to other adults when they say that students can only learn for ten or fifteen minutes! That is wrong in many ways, and yet it is right in one way. You need to teach them a full 45-60 minutes non-stop, but every 15 minutes you need to change the style of your teaching and change the words, math games or items you want your child to learn. For example: 15 minutes teaching English vocabulary, 15 minutes teaching numbers, 15 minutes teaching letters, 15 minutes teaching writing letters (more difficult and requires patience at 3 years).

2. Be creative in your teaching! This means that if you are teaching at home, sit next to the toy box and start teaching the child the name of each toy, but remember to repeat it so the child hears you say it twice. This is especially great for teaching words like (Bulldozer, Ambulance, Police Car, Fire Truck, Race Car, Motorcycle, Animals, Colors (so much fun) and much more. There is a world of learning inside the toy box and those are things the child sees every day and relates to many things, so the words you teach them will be very useful and will be used constantly.keep this repetition every day until the child knows it in a few weeks, then move on to something more challenging, but don’t forget to go over a little each day of the old lessons!

3. Teach with enthusiasm. Start with using your voice and then work up to cute gestures (acting). If you sound excited to teach it, then the child will be excited to learn. The child is the reflection of the teacher, he reflects what he sees in front of him, so be careful what you say, he could be teaching things that he never intended or wanted. It was Dr. Norman Peale who said, “Enthusiasm sharpens students’ minds and improves their problem-solving skills.”

4. Make sure the child follows: Teaching reading without teaching how to pronounce the words is possible, and I’ve been teaching students that way for over ten years. Ages three to four will need to start learning written words on flash cards, handmade is fine. Find an easy storybook you like and take 50-100 words to start. You don’t need a picture on the back, it wastes your time and doesn’t make them learn faster, but as before, you have to pick up the card and repeat the word twice, but whatever you repeat, the child must always repeat twice (you say “Them”, the student says “Them”. You say “Them” again, the students say “Them” again). Use this repetition for all teaching beginning in the first year or later. New words you can teach can be (this, that, those, to, a, an, apple, banana, run, Jack, Jane, grass, house, tree, kite, toys, etc.). When teaching vocabulary, find a good picture dictionary for young children, use it and use repetition as you teach it, also have the child follow the picture with one finger at all times. Don’t teach phonics for the first 6-12 months, this way they feel less scared and it’s much easier.

5. Get Them Talking: If you’re teaching flashcard vocabulary words, hold up one (the word “Flowers”) and ask, “Okay, what color are the flowers?” or “Where are the flowers?” and seeing where the child goes with him, reinforces the memory of the word flowers in their thoughts, but keep them focused on the task at hand, without wandering.

6. Teach numbers, addition and subtraction: This is the easiest to teach. Go to the pencil box and take it to use for this lesson. Sit on the floor; (all my students learn better there) look at the student and take ten crayons of any color. Then hold them in his hand, placing three on the floor. Say: “Let’s count them! Ready? One…two…three!” sound excited and do it slowly! Then see if the student wants to try it, if not, do a different number. Keep doing math this way using crayons, toys, balls, candy (yum-yum), or other items, until it gets too easy and they want more. You can teach them up to 100, it really is true! But only if you believe in them as a teacher and believe in yourself. Move to put down five pencils and count them, then remove two and count them again. Let the student try. Also, if your child likes to draw, instead of items, use paper and draw the number 4, then make four circles (or apples, etc.). Do this for all the numbers and let the child use one finger to point to them one by one as the student counts them. Ideal for teaching addition and subtraction.

7. Make teaching a routine: Children get into a routine much more easily than adults, so you should use the same amount of time each day to teach them. Here is our class schedule for teaching children ages three to six.

9-10:00 am: English speaking

10-10:30: Rest and play

10:30-11:30: Mathematics

11:30-12:30: Lunch and game

2:00-3:00: Writing/letters for 3-year-olds, words for 4, but one-page journals for 6-year-olds

3:30-4:30: Reading/Vocabulary

Doing a routine is detrimental to learning! Without this key element, you will not be able to teach the student for very long. If you are at home, you must discipline yourself to teach at certain times every day. This allows you and your child to get into a comfortable routine, without chaos.

What have my students learned? Well, when they reach the age of 6-7, they have been taking classes at my school for about 3 years. That means they’ve acquired a vocabulary of over 3,000 English words (remember, they’re Taiwanese, so they start out knowing no English at all), using a series of 1,000-word picture dictionaries. They can also add and subtract without using their fingers, instead looking at the board and responding quickly. They also begin at age six to learn Chinese writing and vocabulary. By age six, students are required to write a one-page journal every day, in beautiful handwriting (about 50-70 words). They are also able to read at a second grade level and use phonics to pronounce unfamiliar words.

By taking the time to teach your child early on, you will create a positive study habit for the student and facilitate future learning by having experienced learning in a structured environment. We teach and learn along the way, both student and teacher. It is a wonderful process of personal growth for everyone involved!