The first lesson with a new kid student: plan + games
Aylara A.
Kids' teacher · founder of AylaraTalks
The first lesson has exactly one goal, and it isn't diagnostics: it's that the child wants a second lesson. Everything else — level, gaps, programme — you can learn along the way, and most of it you can learn today through games without the child noticing they were tested at all.
A ready 45-minute plan
- 0–5 min · Hello + name game: name plus favourite thing ('I'm Aylara, I love pancakes'). You go first and go silly.
- 5–15 min · Play something winnable: memory pairs or picture I-spy. The child should win the first game of their life with you.
- 15–20 min · Switch the channel: a song, a short video, or a drawing minute — proof that lessons with you have variety.
- 20–35 min · The 'secret' level check through games (below).
- 35–43 min · The child's choice: offer two games, let them pick. Choosing is power, and power is comfort.
- 43–45 min · One question to close: 'What was the most fun today?' Remember the answer — it's your lesson-two opener.
The level check that doesn't look like one
No worksheets on day one. Games reveal the level faster than tests, because a relaxed child shows real language, not exam language.
- Colours and numbers: 'bring me two red things' — instantly shows if basic vocab is there.
- Picture description duel: you describe one object in a busy picture, they find it; then swap. Their sentences are your diagnostics.
- Simon Says with increasing complexity: touch your nose → touch something blue → touch the thing we use for drawing.
- 20 questions about a hidden toy: listen for question structures — that's your grammar snapshot.
What to tell the parent afterwards
Three sentences, in this order: something the child did well ('great reaction speed, picks up new words fast'), an honest level snapshot without jargon ('understands more than he says — normal at this stage'), and the plan ('next lessons we build speaking through games; in a month you'll hear the difference'). Warm, concrete, no CEFR tables. Parents don't buy programmes; they buy confidence that their child is in good hands.
⭐ Take this with you
One goal: they want lesson two. Winnable game first, level check disguised as play, their choice near the end, three warm sentences for the parent. Diagnostics can wait; connection can't.
🎈 Put it into play
Everything here pairs with our free classroom games — no prep, no accounts.
About the author
Aylara A.
Kids' teacher · founder of AylaraTalks
Aylara is a kids' teacher who spent years hand-making every classroom game — cutting cards and drawing boards on paper sheets. She created AylaraTalks so no teacher has to start from a blank page again.