Our Bilingual approach

 

 

A pioneering nursery based on a “home bilingual model” in a Montessori setting. We offer individualised bilingual education in English-French, English-Spanish, English-Greek. Very shortly we will offer English-German and English-Italian.

 

A Natural Method:

 

• Languages are taught with an extremely gentle approach, in a natural way with all the attention, care, encouragement and motivation children need.

 

• We use a “one teacher, one language” approach. 

 

• Each teacher teaches in one language so a child associates a language with a teacher to avoid confusion. This is done in a group of friends or on an individual basis.

 

• The process of learning English or any other language is the same: the child learns through listening and perfects the language through imitating and repeating.

 

• Teachers use a wide range of strategies that include one-to-one attention, visual aids, props, costumes, pictures, story sacks, memory games and routines to give a context in which children can understand the gist of what is happening, without being dependant on languages.

 

• We allow children to progress at their own pace. Teachers provide an individualised curriculum centred around each child. 

 

• A teacher looks after only 3 children at a time to ensure that each individualised curriculum is respected. This allows time to listen patiently to attempts the child makes to express himself or herself verbally and to encourage them in a very sensitive way.

 

• Please note that languages (except English) are taught only orally; and reading and writing are not introduced, generally to avoid confusing children learning English. However, if you are going to reallocate shortly to a foreign country or if you are accepted at Europa we would prepare the child accordingly...

 

 

The time factor:

 

• Introducing children to foreign languages should begin as soon as possible to give the best opportunity to develop true proficiency and to sound like a native speaker. 

 

• Research shows that language acquisition is best before 7 years old. The key factor in the acquisition of bilingualism is the age of exposure to the two languages and the type or extent of exposure to each language. This is why we take children for a minimum of 2 days a week.