Up to a thousand preschoolers aged three to six will learn two languages. In Ciechanów (Mazowieckie), from September, local government facilities for the youngest will implement the Universal Bilingualism Program using English language learning.
As announced on Monday by the local government of Ciechanów, the Universal Bilingualism Program will be introduced there from September in all eight kindergartens that are subject to the city, with preschoolers receiving exercise books, and English-speaking educators receiving aids to make learning through play more attractive, including puppets, and will also undergo training in preparation for the implementation of the project.
The program is financed from the city budget
“The program will cover over 1,000 preschoolers aged 3 to 6 and will be fully financed by the city budget,” the information emphasized. It was also noted that the Universal Bilingualism Program “uses the most natural method of acquiring English in early childhood alongside the native language.”
The Ciechanów City Hall explained that as part of the project, special learning scenarios adapted to the children's age will be introduced into the daily activities of 44 kindergarten groups in eight local government kindergartens, which will include language-music-movement games, which will enable the youngest to learn a foreign language efficiently and effectively.
The program assumes learning through associating words with a specific situation. In this method, there are no translations into Polish and vice versa.
Investing in the youngest residents
– As a city, we invest not only in infrastructure in the form of roads, buildings and open spaces, but we also invest in people, including the youngest residents of Ciechanów – said the city's mayor, Krzysztof Kosiński, quoted in information about the new educational project.
He also assessed that the Universal Bilingualism Program, in addition to language skills, guarantees numerous benefits for the development of children's intellect, psyche and broad competences. – It will also be a convenience for parents and guardians who care about the education of their children at the highest level from the youngest years – he added.
Based on the concept of a renowned linguist
The City of Ciechanów has indicated that the Universal Bilingualism Program is based on the concept of the well-known and respected linguist Claire Selby, who has been creating materials for teaching English to the youngest for over a dozen years, and is also the author of complete school courses published by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Foreign Language and Research Press (China). In the field of children's language education, she works as an advisor to BBC Worldwide.
As the Ciechanów local government mentioned, Selby's activity “has gained recognition and has been awarded many times”, including a distinction in the competition for the best educational product for children organized by the Committee for the Protection of Children's Rights, the Beijing Olympic Committee Award for the Olympic song, a distinction in Cannes for the series “Tom and Keri” awarded by the children's jury, as well as three distinctions from the British Council for publications related to teaching English to children and an award from The English-Speaking Union for innovation in creating materials for learning English for children.
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