MEET THE CHILDREN

Name: Hiroki
Age: 5
Learning Style: Kinesthetic. Being a kinesthetic learner, Hiroki learns best through physical movement. Total Physical Response (TPR) activities, in which the children respond physically to the teacher's commands, are most appropriate for children like Hiroki. Examples of TPR include forming ABC shapes with the body, actions like running, jumping, or touching things the teacher calls out. Songs with movement such as 'Hokey Pokey' and 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' can also be considered TPR.
Personality: Overly energetic, Hiroki is the kind of student who just won't sit still. He's always happy, smiling, laughing, playing with the other children, climbing under the table, and making funny noises!

Name: Naoko
Age: 5
Learning Style: Visual. Naoko learns best from illustrations and text. She's at her best chorusing vocabulary from flashcards and playing games such as Quick Flash and Slow Peek with the picture cards. She also loves the textbook and has started to recognize written words.
Personality: The smart kid. Naoko learns quicker than the other children in her class. She's always the first to answer questions, and usually wins all the games - to the frustration of the other kids! However, Naoko gets annoyed easily, particulary with Hiroki, and she often complains about him, hoping the teacher will punish him. She also likes to point out everyone's mistakes, making them feel stupid.

Name: Sayaka
Age: 4
Learning Style: Auditory. Sayaka learns through songs, chants and story-telling. Although she doesn't always dance to the songs, she sings along and even sings when there's no music playing! She picks up on repetitive English quickly - particularly if it's chanted. For example, "Do you like apples? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Yummy, Yummy, Yummy. No, I don't, No, I don't. Yuck!"
Personality: Quiet and shy. Every class has a quiet kid and Sayaka fits the bill. She does answer questions with some pressing, but her voice is so quiet you can barely hear her over the other children. She's sometimes reluctant to join in TPR activities and takes forever to complete any writing or drawing exercise. She's a lovely girl though - no trouble whatsoever... except when she cries, she just sits their with tears streaming down her face, usually caused by the other children picking on her or being too physical around her.

Name: Taichi
Age: 4
Learning Style: Tactile. Taichi learns best by touching things, preferably objects as opposed to flashcards. Give him some plastic food, blocks, or even crayons and he's away!
Personality: Generally happy but easily upset. While he'll laugh and copy Hiroki (usually a bad thing!), he is often picked on by Naoko. Taichi is a bit slow, and his English is the lowest level in the class. He quickly forgets vocabulary taught through flashcards, and struggles with using crayons. Taichi also gets upset easily. Maybe he has a blue chair but wants a green one, or perhaps the air conditioning is too cold for him. There's always something troubling him.