Where it all started…
GrapeSEED, the Global English Learning System benefitting children all over the world, has its roots in the Miyagi Meysen Academy, a Private Pre-school in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. It is a preschool English education system with a track record of over 40 years.
Our direct experience with various learning systems gsve us a head-start in answering the question, "How can we best help children to learn spoken English? the Not content to rely on our own experience for designing the curriculum, however, we also
the results of recent academic research in the fields of pre-school education, psychology and linguistics. From this meticulous design process emerged several key principles that are the foundation of GrapeSEED, and which make it a fundamentally different and highly effective system for English language acquisition.
Principle
Children need to be taught as children
Children are wonderfully made and through their daily experiences. Learning ESL during the receptive years of childhood can have a significant impact. However, significant success is not possible in early ESL if the learning method does not take advantage of a child's unique "built-in" language learning process.
In fact, language learning systems larged failed to tap into the powerhouse of a child's mind.
To give a bit of background on why this is the case, we need to understand ESL was first developed for adults who needed to learn the "international business language." Initially, ESL programs focused on the needs of working people, so as a matter of course, the curriculum was developed for adults. Before long, English became prevalent all over the world as the "international Language." With the younger generation aspiring to study abroad or to travel internationally, and more and more parents who understood the importance of English conversational skills, the need for ESL spread to younger children as well. This led to a mere simplification of the curriculum and inclusion of easier vocabulary to make it suitable for younger children.
The curriculum designed for adults emphasized the grammatical framework, While such a method of learning might be effective for children above middle school, it is certainly not effective for younger children who have not yet developed logical reasoning skills.
The GrapeSEED curriculum avoids the inefficiency, frustrations and general ineffectivenesss of the grammatical approach. Children rapidly progress in a highly-effective, intentional system that taps into the child's "built-in" powerhouse of learning mechanisms.