I'm starting to take on more and more 5- to 7-year-olds for pre-reading lessons, and while teaching them phonics and single letters is no problem, I'm getting absolutely wiped out anytime I step up to teach them any grammar or phrases.
I'm sticking to the principles that work in other contexts—show, don't tell; establish context; cover vocabulary and closed questions first; vary your voice; use gestures; etc—but I am getting killed here mainly because the kids will just wander off or, just after a small bout of repeating me, revert to single-word answers again as soon as I call on them.
Powering through it is no good with small kids because it takes the fun out of the lesson.
I basically introduce the word the grammar is based around with a visual gesture. Then to make sure they really understand I'll translate the word into Japanese for them. Then I'll make an example sentence pointing to a flashcard and elicit repetition. Then I'll run through just 3 or 4 flashcards doing the same thing, varying my voice.
This is just entirely too long? How do I command their attention?
by jamestheobscure