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Download Songs for ESL Children

April 5th, 2008 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Teaching ESL | 4 Comments »

Elementary School Teacher Loves Dolch Words

November 17th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

I got a very nice email today from an elementary school teacher who wrote to thank me for my Dolch Words website:
I love your dolch word website. I use the phrase activities all the time. It has helped with improving fluency and accuracy in a fun way. My students grades 1-5 enjoy the dice game and the rock-paper-scissors. We [...]

Posted in Teaching ESL | 2 Comments »

Children’s Bedtime Stories

September 14th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

Rikuto is still less than two months old, but since he wouldn’t sleep and had joined me at the computer - well, in a basket on the floor next to me - I thought I’d find a bedtime story to read to him. A quick Google search for “Children’s Bedtime Stories” brought up Gordon Dioxide’s [...]

Posted in Family | 4 Comments »

Using computers to teach children

June 17th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

The best move my dad ever made was buying me a computer when I was just nine years old. Back in those days, the idea of having a computer in your own home was just starting to catch on, and I was given this machine I had no idea what to do with.
My dad, on [...]

Posted in Teaching ESL | No Comments »

Add color to your child’s drawings

June 14th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

Apart from a few Action Man and Star Wars figures I had when I was a kid, I’m not really into dolls. However, there’s a website called The Doll Palace which has a new section that should appeal to parents. The new Coloring Pages section has a wonderful choice of ready-made, black and white drawings. [...]

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

Kancho - A Japanese pastime

February 6th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

“Kancho is the ancient art of clasping your hands together, and playfully poking your friend or enemy,…in the rear. It is also called “The Friendly Enema”, and is practiced by children in schoolyards and classrooms around the world. Kancho.org is dedicated to spreading the good news about Kancho.” Source: www.kancho.org
When Japanese kids first started shoving [...]

Posted in Japan | 1 Comment »

Think you can teach Japanese kindy?

January 19th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

I’ve been teaching at Japanese kindergartens for years now, and I always have a lot of fun. The key to success in teaching these classes is to be fun and energetic. While some “proper” teachers complain that they came to Japan to “teach”, and not dance around like clowns, I believe that if your style [...]

Posted in Teaching ESL | No Comments »

Bonding with my ESL Kids

November 24th, 2006 by Nick Ramsay

During the last couple of weeks, I’ve broken the golden rule of teaching English to children by speaking Japanese! Heaven help me! I’ve started each lesson with a few minutes of chit-chat with the kids and I’m really enjoying it!
I just ask them what they’ve been doing lately and they are really forthcoming in [...]

Posted in Teaching ESL | No Comments »

My house is a Daiwa house

September 27th, 2006 by Nick Ramsay

There’s a TV commercial in Japan by a house-building company called ‘Daiwa House’ in which an English teacher is reading sentences for his class of high school students to repeat. I can’t remember exactly but he says something like “My father is a doctor”, and all the students diligently repeat him. Then, following the same [...]

Posted in Teaching ESL | No Comments »

Car ploughs into 33 nursery school children.

September 25th, 2006 by Nick Ramsay

I honestly don’t know what to add to the article you’re about to read. I was shocked to see it on TV today, and teaching regularly at Japanese kindergartens myself, I just felt sick to the stomach.
From the Mainichi News:
At about 9:55 a.m., a white van rammed into a line of 33 children and five [...]

Posted in Japan | No Comments »