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Time on Text

At Dave and Amy English School, we believe the ideal length of time on a text is 1 year or less. Just to be clear, we don’t rush students through texts or level them up without merit. After 1 year, we expect the student to be able to level up to […]

CVC Phonics Text and Games

The following is how we use My English Book and Me 4 text and games / flashcards in our classrooms. The Japanese translation is here. We give the following to all students so that they know exactly how / what we are teaching. 1. About the Texts My English […]

Naming your School

It might seem ridiculous, but it took A LOT of thought before we decided on Dave and Amy English School as THE name for our school. At first, Green Gopher, Purple Panda, Mauve Marsupial were deliberated on because there were similarly named local schools. Then, the ubiquitous Rainbow […]

Advertising: What we DON’T do

In Part 1, we explained our current advertising methods. This is what we have previously tried (or not tried) and our thoughts on the effectiveness of those methods. 1. FLYERS in Mailboxes. Worth doing if you need students / just starting out. In the early days of our school, Dave spent many cold, dark nights […]

Advertising your English School

Currently, Dave and I: 1. Have BRIGHT, COLORFUL eye-catching signs. Essential information only. Don’t duplicate (English school and eikaiwa kyoshitsu— not both needed) Cartoon faces: might be effective if like Dave you are “facially challenged”. (and faces stand out) About us: All of our school signs are visible from […]

Saying Good – Bye to Seiji

Dave and I went to the wake of our dear friend Seiji Nakayama yesterday. He died aged 47, saving his and another child from a river. He was a great guy, loved by everyone. The wake couldn’t do him justice. The sheer numbers made that impossible. […]

Learn from the Best: Brown Teachers

At Brown University, I filled my schedule with classes from teachers that were known to be great teachers. It didn’t matter WHAT they taught. If they got rave reviews from previous students, I signed up to their lessons. And I learned so much. A good teacher makes learning fun, challenging and advances […]

5 Ways to Make Money as English Speakers

Over the years, Dave and I have tried lots of things to make extra money. In addition to the obligatory halloween / christmas parties and summer camps, here are a few ideas we have tried. I have written what we did. Of course, you might do differently. There […]

ABC Phonics: Get Moms and Dads on Board

At Dave and Amy English School, we send new ABC Phonics Elementary parents a welcome letter. It schools the parents in the HOW / WHAT and WHY we teach the way we do and WHAT they can do at home. It’s a win, win, win. Students progress faster, learn properly and our school […]

Kindergarten Texts: What to Look (out) For

If you’re in the market for kindergarten texts, the following is what to look for / to look out for. We ultimately decided to make our own texts to rectify the following points. Let’s take a look at what we didn’t like about existing texts. And what […]