AIM, which stands for Accelerative Integrated Method, is a relatively new program at Manotick Montessori that teaches the French language through gestures, literature, music and dance. Children learn how to speak and communicate first, then reading and writing follows.
Wendy Maxwell created the AIM program to teach French to her students when she realized that her students weren’t responding as well as she wanted them to in the way French is traditionally taught (students sitting in the class trying to memorize verb conjugation). After much success, the program meets the requirements of the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for a French 2nd language course.
“We decided to incorporate the AIM program because it’s an additional teaching tool for children between the ages of 18 months old to elementary levels,” Janine Marcotte, owner and principal of Manotick Montessori explains. “AIM’s methods help them grasp French quicker because of the relationship between the spoken word and the visual use of signing.”
Manotick Montessori has had the AIM program for over a year now and is taught by Julie Dupuis, who has over five years experience with the material.
“It’s such a powerful method of teaching,” Julie says. “It’s highly interactive and fun for the children; and when the program is enjoyable, children learn faster.”
Janine believes that the program is unique simply due to the fact that, “the children not only hear the spoken French word, they can also visually see it in the form signing- which is a more concrete form of teaching.”
The AIM program uses several techniques to help children remember. Julie uses the strategy of “sandwiching” at the beginning of the year, where you say a word in French, then say it in English, then in French again. Julie believes in its success because not only does the student associate the French word with the English word, but the French word ends up being the lasting impression.
“Children aren’t sitting at a desk while I’m at a board,” Julie explains. “It’s very interactive; they sing, dance and act. Not so much textbook, more hands on. There are no grades...I have a check list instead to monitor their progress. We’re not focused on how much work is on paper, it’s about how much a student can learn.”
A perfect example of how successful this program has already been at Manotick Montessori is Kyla, who before taking this program was fully Anglophone.
“Her parents didn’t speak any French, nor did Kyla,” Julie explains. “By the end of the year, with only 45 minutes of French class a day, Kyla was fully bilingual. It got to the point where she could even make jokes in French; that’s a tell-tale sign of someone who fully understands the language they’re speaking.”
The AIM program is also beneficial for children who are on modified programs or who are developmentally delayed. “This is because it’s so visual,” Julie says. “They learn best through routine and memory, and that’s how we teach the AIM program.”
With elementary students, the program is designed with more reading, incorporating vocabulary to write their own stories, reading questions and answering them, using all correct spelling and grammar. The elementary students also memorize plays and act it out.
The AIM program has already made lasting impressions on the students and their parents alike at Manotick Montessori. But the most important thing about the program is continuing with it.
“Like any form of learning, it’s Important for parents to have their children speak French, teach gestures to them and to keep them working creatively at home,” Julie says. “Parents need to keep their children’s minds active in what they learned at school or else it won’t stick.”
No comments:
Post a Comment