According to Cafetalk statistics, my most popular lesson is my Tailor-Made lesson for children.

Why is it the most booked lesson in my lesson repertoire? Let’s see what it’s all about.

First of all, the Cambridge Dictionary defines tailor-made as “specially made for a particular purpose”. Indeed, this lesson is specially designed to fit the specific needs of children who are learning English. Very often, parents are not sure what their child should focus on in order to improve their English. In Tailor Made, through fun and interesting activities I gauge the child’s skills and customize the lesson according to their current abilities. Then we build upon what they have learned in each lesson and the child is able to sharpen their vocabulary,  listening skills, and build up their confidence.

But isn’t that what all teachers do? Of course, but what I think keeps students coming back to take this lesson are the fun and engaging activities. Over the years, I’ve developed a range of activities (you can call them games, if you like!) that involve concepts children naturally love. For example, in the first lesson I’ll often bring out 6 characters (let’s say, Doraemon, Anya Forger, Iron Man, Elsa, Mario, and Tanjiro) and use dice to “” which of the characters gets a particular item (this can be food, animals, or any other useful vocabulary item). It becomes a competition involving characters the children know and love.

Also, for this lesson, I never use my laptop or desktop computer; it’s necessary to be mobile! This way I can switch between showing the student the rolling dice, the items the characters are winning and then I can switch the camera to my face so they can see my mouth move when I help them with pronunciation. Also, they can see my relaxed and encouraging expression, which also makes them feel at ease. 

It’s this variety, action and familiarity that I believe appeals to young learners and that’s why Tailor-Made remains my top lesson.

Why not let your child try it, too?

Vocabulary which appears in this article:

repertoire      　レパートリー

indeed           　 確かに

specific　　　　特定

gauge　　　　　計測する

sharpen　　　　研ぐ

concepts　　　コンセプト