Language at Northstar

Northstar Language Arts Program is one of the most exhaustive programs that we have ever designed. We have multiple sub-programs which form a continuum of language learning, from preschool to high school.

Below are some key points on we look at reading:

1. Overwhelming emphasis has been placed on reading, writing, spelling, and grammar, with little instructional time directed to building children's listening and speaking skills. This is a mistake.  
2. Oral language (listening and speaking) is the single most important intervention for learning languages.
3. A child's competence and familiarity with oral language is strongly correlated and predictive of the child's ability to read and write.
4. In oral language, receptive language development generally precedes expressive language.
5. Children need to hear new vocabulary used in meaningful contexts before they develop an understanding of that vocabulary
6. Children need opportunities to listen to narrative descriptions (in adult commentary, books read aloud, and so on) before they can be expected to produce narrative descriptions themselves, either orally or in writing.
7. The extent to which successful reading depends not only on decoding skills but also on knowledge and vocabulary, which, in the early years, must be gained mostly, if not wholly, through oral language.

As Non-native Language learners, learning English is, simultaneously, diffcult and rewarding. At Northstar, we want learners to be able to experience the language and all the beauty it offers.