Greetings to my new found friends here at Ajarn;
My name is William, residing in Kobe , Japan for the last 30 years, of which 25 + years teaching English in Japanese kindergartens.
In 1984 we started our own publishing company called Kid's Talk Press, which publishes the Kid's Talk series books & Cd's, consisting of 2 textbooks & 32 original tunes.
Our music is very unique in that we use a wide variety of music formats with the kids including Blues, Jazz,Calypso, Reggae, Country Western and Cuban Cha Cha Cha.
The music was recorded in America with the Montessori head music teacher.
The materials are designed to work in large classes, and no special singing ability is required.
It is a lot of fun to use this program. We have about 12 teachers and schools here in Japan using the program for over 15 years.
I have been visiting Thailand since 1983, and usually try to make at least 1 or 2 trips a year.
This year I will be starting a workshop aimed at Kindergarten ESL teachers.
The workshops will cover our system of teaching and materials, of which I will make available to you and your school directly.
In any case please let me know if there is any interest here for the coming workshops, to be held in Bangkok.
Aug 8-10 1pm-4PM
All the best!!
William
Kid's Talk Press
Thanks for those that have interest in our materials......we will have another workshop in Bangkok on Dec27/28.
Looking forward to meeting those teachers in the trenches.....
For samples of our music please check out this Cd baby/iTines/Amazon for song samples.
Kid's Talk Song Collection
Best regards
William
Can somebody sticky this please?? I would have been up for going had I known. At added plus that these dates are micky mouse days at school with it coming up to mothers' day.
Did anybody go? any good?
It is only the 9th today.. is it on tomorrow also??
It conflicted with the Cambridge ESOL conference (which was held yesterday at the Intercontinental Hotel in BKK) so I didn't go to it.
I too would be interested if anyone did.
.
tompatz... how do you find out about seminars and workshops?? I have only been able to make it to a couple of the years and they were pure fluke that I found out.
Our school is a registered Cambridge training center so we get invites to all their conferences and workshops.
These are not the same as the workshops / training seminars put on for teachers by Cambridge University Press or Oxford University press. For invites to those, get on the mailing list by contacting their local representative via their websites:
Oxford University Press - homepage
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge English Teacher (they also have webinars for teachers who register.)
The university press divisions usually hold about 4 workshops per year (in BKK) and a few more scattered around the country (CM, Korat, Phuket, UT, etc) for teachers.
Oxford Press typically focuses on k-6 (using their books and materials of course) while Cambridge Press usually has a focus on older students (m1-m6, young adults and adults).
.
we've had the OUP rep out a few times, and I am on their mailing list, but only ever got 1 invite to a workshop last year. My school, in their infinite wisdom, didn't think it worth me missing 2 classes. They did think it was worth missing 2 classes, on 3 different occasions, for me to talk with the OUP rep though.
Talking to the rep is usually a waste of time unless you plan to update/change your book selections.
OUP workshops are pretty good for YL teachers. There is lots to absorb and they do present ways to effectively use their materials in the classroom.
The workshops from CUP on the other hand tend to be rather staid and boring affairs that are more like attending a lecture than a workshop and the focus at the few I have attended was more on abstract theory than on demonstrations of practical ways to improve your classes.
Cambridge ESOL conferences are more inclined to be information sessions for training centers and test prep centers (for schools who offer Cambridge tests (YLE, KET, PET, FCE, CAE, etc.) and look at the administrative side of things rather than the classroom side.
If you were looking for something at a higher level (stuff you have to pay for) then the Asia Education leaders forum(s) from World Didac is in Oct 2013 in BKK (last one was Oct 2011). They have (Asian) conferences this year in Vietnam, India, and Kazakhstan (is that eastern Europe or western Asia?).
.
Last edited by ttompatz; 10th August 2012 at 18:11. Reason: added the last paragraph
Once again we will have our Kid's Talk Press workshop in Bangkok Dec 26/27.
Please let me know if you or your school is interested.
The materials are classroom tested for the 3-6 yr old kindergarten classes.
Samples of our original arrangements can be found on iTunes/Amazon, look for Kid's Talk Song Collection.
Please feel free to ask any questions.
The workshop itself will be limited to 6 teachers max...
Best regards
Looking forward to meeting the best teachers in Bangkok.
William
how do you mean that it willl be limited to 6 teachers? only 6 people can attend? when you say it is on Dec 26/27, it is a 2 day workshop or are there 2 days available to attend? i am definitely interested! thanks!
p.s. amazon say they are out of stock (just a heads up, though they still have it available for download)
Thanks very much for your reply.
I wanted to limit the workshop to 6 people on each day.
It gives me a much better opportunity to go over the materials and music.
Dec 26/27 1PM - 5PM
I believe the textbooks and Cd's are available on Cdbaby, under Kid's Talk Song Collection.
However, I would to accommodate any order for you and your school.
Looking forward to meeting everyone there in Bangkok.
Best regards
William
Once again we will have our Kid's Talk Press workshop in Bangkok Dec 26/27.
Please let me know if you or your school is interested.
The materials are classroom tested for the 3-6 yr old kindergarten classes.
Samples of our original arrangements can be found on iTunes/Amazon, look for Kid's Talk Song Collection.
Please feel free to ask any questions.
The workshop itself will be limited to 6 teachers max...
Best regards
Looking forward to meeting the best teachers in Bangkok.
William
wstark@sea.plala.or.jp
Classroom tested where and for who? How about inventing a system which could help real students in Thailand not just those rich kids in selected 200k a year kindergarden whose parents have already got all the resources they need.
Do you have any sample material or a website that I can peruse to preview the material?
I've listened to enough children's songs so your iTunes stuff doesn't interest me much, I'd like to see how you teach English using them, therefore would like access to the student materials as well as the teacher's materials to support a lesson.
Perhaps you can grant access to a sample lesson on your website.
Would be happy to give a sample lesson at your school....
I can also send you a sample of the lessons being taught at one of our kindergartens here in Japan.
Our music is the key to the classes...and a lot of fun.
Thanks for your comments.
Shoot me a email for the sample called....we have a video on dropbox.
kids_talk_press@bcb.bai.ne.jp
---Update---
The Kid's Talk program was created in Japanese kindergartens.....refined in the USA with the head music teacher of Montessori.Originally Posted by peelieorion
Since 1986 we have used the music in the classrooms with great response from the students, teachers and parents.
We can support your kindergarten if the parents are unable to pay......on a case by case basis.
Please contact by e-mail: kids_talk_press@bcb.bai.ne.jp
William
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