Once a week, I throw my Pooh bag over my shoulder and haul my collection of flash cards and toys to my local kindergarten. With a fresh bunch of children starting their English lessons in a couple of weeks, I’ve taken to revamping the curriculum I’ve been using, and injecting some energy into it with some very genki songs.
The problem with classic children songs
For years, I’ve made do with classic children’s ditties such as Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, the Wheels On the Bus, a bit of Hokey Pokey and some If You’re Happy and You Know It. While these are all well and good, they’re not suited particularly well to ESL classes. The lyrics are hard enough for teachers to remember, let alone 4 and 5 year old Japanese kids.
Over 75 fun songs for children learning ESL
For this school year, I’ve splashed out on the Genki English Teacher’s Download Pack, a whopping collection of over 75 songs and other goodies to brighten up my classes and most importantly, give the children something they can actually sing to! Here’s a great example of Genki English in action:
Ha! I bet you’ve got that song stuck in your head now! I know I have! 😛
Energize your ESL lessons!
I’m looking forward to using these songs to teach some energetic lessons this year. If you teach kids, and are in need of a curriculum or supplementary materials, check out the teacher pack page for a complete list of its contents.
If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!
I’ve taught all kinds of classes in Japan and I think small children would definitely enjoy these kinds of songs! In fact it’s probably the best way to teach them because half the battle with teaching young kids is getting them to pay attention and sit still. Well obviously with this, you wouldn’t need to do this which is great!
Great stuff Nick! If I ever find myself teaching in the Nagoya public school system I will definitely give these a go.
I do agree with Nick that some the old songs can be a touch boring and the “Genki English Teacher’s down load Pack” does seem to help quite a bit. For teachers who are finding that the old traditional songs are a little hard to take, this pack does genki it up some what!!
Added to that, they are easier for the kids to learn and way more fun to teach!!
Keith
I feel sorry for teachers who have to do this. “English Themed Babysitting”.
However if you like this style “Genki English” materials would be the way to go. (so my friends tell me).