Welcome Judges

KOUKKIDS: PRESCHOOL LEARNING

Nomination Description

The acquisition of the productive vocabulary is initially achieved through songs, dancing and chanting. The pupils actively take part in the learning process. The lesson starts every time withe song Hello/Hello/How are you?https://youtu.be/tVlcKp3bWH8?si=HnfykoSmPcQd3TzQ , a song that children love and is easy to learn. They begin the lesson with the same song every time; thus, its repetitive melody, structure and character reinforce children’s confidence and create a good mood, because they know it very well. Karaoke and action songs are often used: pupils use physical movement and we actually “narrate”songs , by using visual and gestural support.

In addition to this , drama and role-play are also a key element in our curriculum. Children act out differenrt roles and this learning process is extremely involving ,because it develops the values of assistance, collaboration and participation. For instance,  they recently acted out a dialogue between a greengrocer and a customer in an imaginary shop in class. After cutting construction paper in different shapes to make fruit, the pupils played the roles of shoppers and shop owners and consolidated  both the vocabulary and the turn-taking phrases. Also , Christmas is the ideal period for role-playing. The pupils this year played the roles of elves in the play : Santa’s Rescue, a theatrical play whose script was originally written by Miss Roula Koukouletsou herself, as most plays in our school.

Moreover, it is widely known children love messy hands. Our young sculptors use white-base cement and play dough and create various forms and designs according to the occasion. For example, during Halloween pumpkins and mummies were a must and decorated our school.This activity stimulates the senses and develops fine motor skills; consequently, it increases concentration as well as coordination and balance.

Furthermore, gaming activities are a key feature of our school program. we mostly choose child-initiated games with a dynamic character which increase both perceptive and motor skills, not to mention they intrigue imagination. Chinese whispers is a fun way to revise new vocabulary. Children laugh a lot because some of them do not hear the word the first time correctly and they repeat it totally jumbled. Guess the drawing is another game pupils love.We divide the class in two teams. We have a  drawing of an object and show a tenth of the drawing each time.The teams take a guess and the one whose fastest guess is correct wins. Magic box is useful to practise words and structures.Children repeat and ask , for instance: Have you got an apple? Then the teacher shows the hidden “treasure” out of the box for each pupil. In fact, we also use cartoon images or puppets to encourage discussion and break the ice. Finally, children love another game: Four voices, an interactive game. The teacher changes her voice and repeats the same word either in a sad, happy, or angry voice.Children love the difference in the pitch and tone and start whispering and speaking themselves. Dodgeball tag  is a game we use when pupils come for the first time in class. They get to know each other by throwing the sticky ball to each other’s vest and practise greeting and telling their names.

Lastly, cutting things out with scissors , using glue and kneads are favourite activities.Painting with brushes and water colours ,using realia , drawing symbols and building models or playing with Lego.

Last but not least, technology and various applications introduce pupils to the concept of learning through AI and make them feel a part of the digital innovation community. For instance, our Koukkids learned about Space and saw the route of Starlink in real time and got fascinated by the awesome constellations, via Stellarium Star map.

All in all, KOUKKIDS is our preschool educational approach that makes us see EFL through children’s eyes and that is inspiring and motivates us to keep on trying for the best.