Letterland - Native English Teacher in Hong Kong

There are countless philosophies and teaching techniques available for a Native English Teacher.


Teaching experience and continued training, not to mention an active interest in education, are some of the necessary tools needed to enable a Native English Teacher to adapt their lessons to best suit each student individually.


I recently had the opportunity to train using the Letterland program. This program is a phonics based approach to teaching, reading, writing and spelling for 3 - 8 year olds. Originally developed in the UK, it uses pictograms to transform plain black letters into imaginative characters. Each letter in the alphabet is assigned a character and is linked with a story and songs to help children remember how to pronounce the letter.





The Letterlander's names are alliterative which helps build on the phonemic awareness skills and the stories explain any changes in sound when two characters come together. Children remember these stories as they capture their imagination.


For example: one Letterland story tells about what happens when Clever Cat sits next to the Harry Hat Man... his hairy hat makes her nose tickle and so she sneezes with a 'ch' sound.




What I like about this program is that it uses a variety of techiniques from music, movement, songs, art, games, role play, rhyme and social interaction - all linked directly to letter knowledge. Kids have different learning styles, and this multi-sensory program has a greater chance of working well with all of them.


In the short time I have utilized with this program, I have noticed a big response from the younger kids towards the music. They love singing along, and I often catch them humming them under their breath as they are doing the written work. The older kids take a little bit more coaxing to participate in the songs.


I am interested to hear from anyone regarding their experience with Letterland, both parents and teachers alike. Please feel free to contact me.


I have been doing some freelance co-writing with Mike Catherall, on completely unrelated topics recently. I'm credited at the bottom of the article. If you are interested:

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and

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