Preschoolers at South Rockhampton Kindy to learn Japanese

THE CHILDREN at Rockhampton South Kindergarten won't only be learning their ABCs and 123s next year.

Japanese will also be added to the preschool curriculum as the local centre takes part in the Federal Government's trial of a second language in 2015.

Rockhampton South Kindergarten is one of 40 preschools across Australia who have been selected from more than 1000 applicants to take part in the initiative.

Director of Rockhampton South Kindergarten Julia Greene said the centre was excited to be introducing a second language to the children next year.

"We are the only preschool in Rockhampton to trial the Early Learning Language Australia (ELLA) program in 2015," she said.

"Due to our neighbouring primary and secondary schools teaching Japanese as their chosen second language, we thought Japanese would be the most suitable language to introduce to the children here as most of these children will feed into those schools after preschool."

The preschool will be given five tablets that the children will use to learn the second language through an app based software. Teachers will also be taught ways in which the chosen language can be integrated into other learning aspects.

Julia said it was such a great opportunity for the children to gain another skill set that will benefit them in their educational future.

"The children learning Japanese will be four years of age so they're also at the stage of learning basic English and numeracy skills," she said.

"From a teaching perspective, we'll be trying to introduce the second language into other methods of learning such as song, counting and so on. It's really important to trial anything that will help with the brain development of children and we're looking forward to being involved in the trial."

The ELLA trial is a $9.8 million program that is funded by the Federal Government.

LOVING LANGUAGES

Speaking more than one language easily is linked to:

Better academic results - this is because bilingual children can often concentrate better, have better analytical skills and are better at multi-tasking

Increased sense of self-worth, identity and belonging

Diverse career opportunities later in life