Interview with ELF English about teaching children AND my introductory video / written introduction :

Bernadette Is a TEFL Bernadette certified teacher from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. 
Bernadette has a wealth of experience, due to working for various online companies where she won the award for Private lessons three years in a row. She is certainly a most passionate and unique teacher, having worked in the field of education since 2010, where she started off with teaching child art. After earning her TEFL qualification in 2011 - she decided to move into the field of Teaching English as a Foreign language, full-time.
Bernadette has a special flair for communication, utilizing an eclectic methodology - her approach to pedagogy is related to student’s needs - whether it be task based activities with a communicative approach, Grammar orientated sessions, General conversational strategies or Pronunciation and elocution lessons.


Motivation and bolstering confidence, is a key aspect in her classroom, as is encouraging a positive self-evaluation. Bernadette has had tremendous success in preparing students ahead of the TOEIC, TOEFL and IELTS exams. She has worked with Business students, preparing them ahead of presentations, meetings and related Business topics- Telephoning, Negotiations and Business Correspondence. Her aim is to provide lessons in a comfortable and caring environment - she has a love for people, the creative arts - especially painting in oils, music as a medium for learning and helping students attain realistic goals.


What resources do you use while teaching children via skype? 

I enjoy using a variety of tools and resources, much like what is used with my adult students - we all need motivation and a nurtured interest when it comes to language learning - colours and pictures are necessary, even for adult students! I generally stick to using power point, to keep lessons structured, whilst utilizing the eclectic methodology alongside of the PPP method - Presentation, Production, Practice. Is to observe To learn.
The key is to make sure that your presentation is interactive and eye - catching! This will help younger students stay focused

How do you keep children motivated and interested?

Be passionate as a teacher! Make lessons interesting - I base lessons on everything from expressing feelings through to describing food and activities / learning songs. One has to discover what the interests of the child really are and how you are going to feed those. I do believe that reviewing past materials, is essential to a child's progress. It's not necessarily about what has been covered in class nor the amount, however it is what the child is able to do after instruction and the prior mentioned repetition.


"If they can not learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn" 
- O. Ivar Lovaas

I must say that always including hand actions and suitable body language aided by pictures and melody, maximize the chances of remembering vocabulary and more. The key is to keep children entertained - the best way in which to do so, is to think like a child. Children are easy to motivate once they become accustomed to you - building trust and keeping up with a playful attitude goes a long way when motivating children.

What are some of the difficulties for children learning via Skype?

I find that concentration is a challenge for children of all ages - so keeping instructions relatively short and simple is essential to productivity. We have to bear in mind that students at this age do find it difficult to maintain attention for too long or to recall lengthy instructions. Computer literacy at a very young age is ever - improving, all the same - a teacher needs to be prepared to take control of the session through screen sharing and use of a multitude of tools to make sessions interactive and easily accessible. Videos, colours, flash cards and voice modulation all play a role in teaching children effectively.