Tell us about yourself and\nyour background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My name is Sophie, I am an\nApplied Languages graduate and mum of one from Limerick. My passion for\nlanguages began when I took up French in secondary school, I had a great French\nteacher, whose classes made me fall in love with the language and I quickly\nrealised that it was something I was good at and wanted to study further. I\ndecided to study Applied Languages in the University of Limerick, I continued\nto study French and also took up Spanish and Japanese. What I especially\nenjoyed studying was language learning theory, especially early language\nlearning and linguistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the last 2 years, I’ve\nbeen very lucky to be able to stay at home with my little boy Jacob, but\nnow I feel ready to restart my career. I was really focused on finding a\nrole that would offer initial training and qualifications, continuous support\nvia a decent CPD programme and allowed me to work part time . When I came\nacross Lingotot keywords \u2018language teaching\u2019 \u2018children\u2019 \u2018flexible\u2019, it\nwas the perfect role that I didn\u2019t even know existed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why did you decide to\nchoose Lingotot for teaching early years languages ? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I chose Lingotot because\neverything they represent and do appealed to me from the outset. I have\nalways thought that there was a lack of opportunity for young children to learn\nanother European language before secondary school in Ireland. \n Lingotot is the perfect answer to that need. I love the brand, their\nvalues, curriculum and methodology. The teaching steps within a\nLingotot lesson clearly identify the learning needs of young\nlearners. It makes use of active, communicative and interactive\nteaching methods, which come naturally to children as learning is through\nsongs, stories, games, drama and play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What also really appealed\nto me is the incredible support you are given from the Lingotot head team and\nnetwork. They help you in every step of your journey. Initially, I was\nworried about running my own business, as I lacked experience. Lingotot\nprovided all the resources, training, qualifications and made everything\neasy. I have the flexibility of running my business when, where and\nin the languages I choose, but I know I have a support network backing me if I\nneed help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell us a little about\nyour typical day?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My day can be extremely\nvaried . During the day I could be running a morning languages parent\/toddler group and\nthen visiting a\nnursery for two 30 minute sessions. These are super active classes and it means the staff can\nhave a break while I keep the little ones engaged with songs, simple games and\na story – all activities of course in the target language. In the\nafternoons, I teach French and Spanish to children in local community venues\nbut also as an extracurricular activity in primary schools . This summer I\nhope to be outdoors more as I’ll be offering the Lingotot Forest School\nprogramme and languages holiday camps. I keep Fridays and the weekends\ntotally free but I know some colleagues offer Saturday classes too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lesson plans are all provided and fulfil all the developmental milestones by age group which means I don’t have to plan from scratch, I know I am delivering quality content and I can put all my energy into engaging with the children to a high standard. When I’m not teaching, I catch up on the business or marketing side of things…or you might find me on one of the weekly CPD webinars Lingotot hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I teach the core\ncurriculum to children under 4 years of age (and their parents\/minders!) as\nwell as to the two infant classes. Our accredited classes are suitable\nfor children in 1st-3rd classes and 4th-6th classes. Teaching the\nolder children creates stepping stones for them at primary level, making the\ntransition to the later, more formal language learning a much more natural one. I\nalso love supporting parents at home via our cute work booklets, online\nplatform and designed resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n