EWAS programs target children ages 3 to 12. The younger the child begins to learn a foreign language, the better. Between ages 3 to 6, children are highly motivated to learn and can acquire oral-aural language skills (including a native accent and an intuitive understanding of syntax) that are virtually identical to those of a native speaker.
The EWAS method simulates the parents’ natural way of teaching and the young child’s natural acquisition of the mother tongue. Most important in this system of teaching and learning are repetition and the positive reinforcement the children get when they say a word or sentence correctly.
Language. The language goal of the EWAS pre-reading programs is for the young learner to acquire the fundamentals of English: listening comprehension and speaking skills, including the ability to recognize and to reproduce the sounds and rhythms of the language.
Skills. The essence of EWAS reading programs is the natural integration of the four basic skills. Listening comprehension reinforces reading, speaking and writing. Reading prepares the pupils to write, to speak, and to listen with greater confidence. Speaking and writing review and reproduce what the pupils have learned through listening and reading.
A basic tenet of EWAS is that listening is an active experience or activity. When the pupils are active listeners, their understanding is enhanced.
Pupils practice these language skills throughout the programs in the context of the storybooks central to each program.
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