Picture this: It’s 6 pm, approaching the end of a long and tiring day at work. You’re hungry, stressed out and ready to get into your comfortable clothes, ready to chill out.
As you’re straining to concentrate on that last hour of work you suddenly remember the English class you booked for your child this evening.
The thought of rushing back, being stuck in a traffic jam and arriving late for their class (again) fills you with dread. Not to mention the cries of protests as your child refuses to get ready and repeatedly tells you that they don’t want to go to the class.
You snap out of the daydream and begin to think about the very real amount of money you are paying for your child’s English classes. And for what? Rushing around with an unhappy child quite obviously not in the right mindset to learn?
Surely there must be an easier way for your children to learn English?
Here’s the good news – there is a solution to your problem!
Online English classes for kids are becoming increasingly popular for many reasons.
One of the reasons so many parents are choosing online English classes for their kids is because of the convenience. By signing up your children to an online academy you immediately eliminate any wasted time travelling to and from a physical academy – avoiding all those rush hour traffic jams in the process!
Instead of wasting valuable time and (petrol) money, children learn English via webcam in the comfort and security of their own home.
Another pro of English classes online for children is that by participating in classes at home, children feel more comfortable and relaxed. This can help them to feel more confident and as a result, converse more with their online teacher – gaining a more enriching experience from their classes. Another advantage of learning English by Skype with a webcam is that there is a greater focus on listening and speaking. These are probably the most important, yet ordinarily, the most difficult skills to acquire. If these skills are not practiced during childhood they are very difficult to pick up in adulthood.
Written and reading exercises can also be sent and checked easily via chat boxes within the webcam function. The teacher can send articles in real time – no waiting for printing and wasting paper in the process. Exercises can be corrected on the spot – mistakes corrected immediately instead of being on-going. There is also the added pro of the one to one student teacher ratio – students are given all of the teacher’s attention – there are no distractions from other children. This means that classes can be completely tailored to specific childrens’ needs.
As previously mentioned, parents save money on travel expenses but they also continue to save as online classes are typically much less expensive than classes in a physical academy as there are no overheads such as teachers’ salaries and expensive rent.
Children also see online English classes as something fun – many children love using technology, feel comfortable using computers and find the experience more interesting than sitting in a classroom.
As seen, online English classes for kids make parents’ lives easier in a number of ways but probably the main pro of these classes is the flexibility it gives to parents.
Children can complete their English classes whenever and wherever! They can have their classes before school (something which wouldn’t usually be possible in a physical academy), after school, during the weekends – even during the holidays when many physical academies close. Parents are also able to listen in on lessons in order to check their child’s progress and pick up ideas to practice together for ongoing learning. Teachers are also more readily available to speak to parents – there is only one parent to speak to as oppose to many during pick up time at a physical academy.
In a world where free time is an ever dwindling commodity, technology, used in a sensible way, can actually make our lives easier.