Target group:
The KIKUS range is designed for early language learning in kindergartens and schools. It comprises German (as a second language or a foreign language) and English and addresses children aged 3 to 10 in Germany and abroad.

Design:
The material design is very open and follows no particular progression. It is extremely flexible in use as particular class situations arise.

Even non-specifically trained educators/teachers can quickly grasp how to use the material. Auxiliarly aids are provided in the information DVD, the guidebook on the KIKUS method and the further education measures.

Materials:
The KIKUS material contains the following:
picture cards (to be held in hand by the educator/teacher)
The box contains 480 picture cards on different areas of childhood experiences such as family, clothing, animals, etc. as well as verbs, numbers, colours and prepositions.
The picture cards are excellent for playful teaching of basic vocabulary and can be used in individual or group settings.

This leads to a number of game and combination possibilities: Memory, Lotto, story placement, word building, plural building, sentence construction, etc.

Since the cards contain no written elements at all, they can be used in any (foreign) language courses.

Worksheets (hand-outs to the children)
The worksheets can be used either in class or as homework for guided parent-child-collaboration. The latter has the advantage that the content is repeated and intensified at home. At the same time, the worksheets provide an opportunity for parents and children to discuss classwork in the home language. This aids cognitive fortification of new linguistic learning, and both or several languages can be promoted simultaneously.
There are three sets, each containing 21 hard-back DinA4 worksheets. All have a four-colour design and invite painting, colouring, cutting, pasting – and above all, speaking.

Worksheets 1 – recommended for age 3 and over
Worksheets 2 – recommended for age 4 and over
Worksheets 3 – recommended for age 5 and over
Picture cards (hand-outs to the children)
In parallel to the picture cards, the 480 picture cards are also availble in a smaller version for groups or at-home use. The picture cards contain words pertaining to the pictures in the target language with corresponding boxes for translation into the mother tongue. This helps to deepen basic vocabulary. Suggestions for use: play-acting classroom games at home, article exercises, etc. The picture cards can be used to supplement the worksheets. Age recommendation: 4 years and over; they are also appropriate in classes for teenagers and adults.

Audio CD „Guten Morgen“
11 action songs for language learning.
These are particulary suitable for strengthening content and hearing and singing along over and over.
Therefore, this CD should not only be used in kindergarten or school, but should be taken home by the children.

Songbook „Guten Morgen“
It contains the texts as well as pictures for colouring, activity suggestions and linguistic information on the 11 songs.
Ideally, the sheets are distributed individually to the children after the songs have been introduced in the course. The children can then listen to the song at home repeatedly and work on the pictures and “exercises“ on the sheets.
The songbook provides a worksheet for colouring with a story opportunity for every song as well as the song text on the rear. The pages should be used in addition to the worksheets (age recommendation: 3 years and over).

Information DVD (for educators/teachers)
The DVD provides insight into working with the KIKUS teaching and learning materials and offers information on continued education for education professionals.

The KIKUS Method. A Guideline

The guideline contains

- a summary overview of the theoretical background and development of the KIKUS method

- an extensive description of the individual KIKUS materials with very concrete suggestions and examples for use in children’s courses

- a suggestion for thematic structuring of a language course

- information and aids for planning and executing individual course units and classes

- a detailed description of an introductory class and following classes

- basic information on linguistic learning in pre-school and grammar school as well as specific information on the KIKUS method.