Beaumont English Playgroup

Traditional parents like to judge a playgroup by the formal curriculum, the size of the vocabulary, the number of flash cards, and the discipline in the classroom. These parents like to judge the quality of the program and the teacher in a trial class.

The whole concept of trial class baffles me. Would we ask for a trial class at the the Oxford U? Who has done the 10,000 hours of research? Who are developing the expertise in child development? Are you really able to discern the subtle differences in the new approach?

Many parents feel more comfortable with the traditional classroom environment. They prefer programs that are content based, with elaborate curriculum, loads of flash cards, and strict discipline in the classroom. Simply put, traditional parents favour programs they have been brought up with. But did the traditional approach deliver results?

The Beaumont English program is dynamic, process oriented and context based. Themes have been worked out for each month of the year. Teachers prepare huge amount of teaching material for the class. But we allow a lot of improviso, according to the mood of children and what attract their attention when they run around during the playgroup session.

Beaumont teachers do not teach. They engage children in daily conversation, on subjects familiar to children and of great interest to the learners. Children run around when they are in very high mood, searching for objects that interest them. But children are busybodies. Their ears, like radar, are still beaming at the teacher. They listen and they learn, better than sitting passively in their chairs listening to a lecture they are not interested in.

But why is the Le Beaumont approach so informal, so playful and so different from the formal system in a classroom setting?

Le Beaumont has rediscovered the secrets in language acquisition. It is modeled on the natural state in learning a language, i.e. the family setting. It is learner centred, highly interactive, and very dynamic. A family does not have a formal curriculum, does not use flash cards, do not count the number of words the child has learned each day. The family creates the setting, provides resource persons, children just use the language.

Which way is more fun? Which way is more effective? Children attending the English playgroup in Le Beaumont always outperform children learning English in the traditional way.

But if your child is moving from a traditional program to the dynamic program in Le Beaumont, better boost up the number of English sessions in a week. English is the working language for school admission. Investing in English early on will make learning so much easier in the years to come.

Parenting seminar this week, on Sat 16 Jan 2010
10-11:30 a.m. 5/F Tower One, Admiralty Tower. Tel: 2866 2028