Top 9 English After-School Clubs around Zurich
In multilingual Switzerland, introducing a second language early can give children a lifelong advantage.
Public school in Switzerland begins after age 4, and English classes begin during the 3rd class of primary school. This immediately translates to pre-school and pre-kindergarden education to private day-care, often referred to as Kita or Crèche in the French speaking regions. Most Kitas offer half-day and full-day care of babies from 5 months old up until Kindergarden age and are often a great place where children learn to interact and grow in a social environment.
They are however expensive for many families, climbing to CHF 2,500 per month for Monday-Friday, 8-6pm, on average. And for families with more than 1 child the total cost can sum up to a large amount.
An alternative to full-day Kitas in Switzerland are playgroups. In a playgroup children have supervised play-time and guidance by an educator while they play and perform fun tasks inside and outdoors. Depending on the provider often called a "Tagesmutter", playgroups are offered either for a pre-defined duration on set days of the week or they can be a full day. Luckily for bilingual families there are many playgroups that offer learning through supervised play together with foreign language teaching such as English. Foreign language learning through play has proved to work in instilling children with the foundations to become multilingual adults.
Why Play-Based Learning Works
According to researchers at the University of Zurich and University of Geneva, the ages 1 to 6 represent a crucial window for language learning. During this time, play enhances memory, attention, and language acquisition. Social games, storytelling, and music create an ideal environment for children to absorb English naturally.
