A1-Legacy: Foundation Worth Building

A1 Legacy is an English academy that teaches elementary up to middle school students.  Faculty teach students using American textbooks and classics and contemporary storybooks.  The emphasis is on acclimation and mastery of knowledge through hard work and determination. The academy advisors consists of a group of individuals involved within the Korean academic circle and experienced staff members who have been in the academy business for twenty years or more.

When a parent or student expresses interest, he or she must first come and take an assessment test. Upon passing the test, the student is then scheduled an interview with one of the faculty members and asked a series of questions to determine English fluency level and competency to handle the program.  Should the student pass the interview, he or she must then make a decision with one's parent to ascertain whether the students wishes to be a part of the program.

Blue Ocean

It is often the case that students who have had nominial language exposure will often struggle grasping the nuances of a language unless the instructor can provide an alternate means to visualizing language. 

A1-Legacy has launched such a program called Blue Ocean:

Blue Ocean approaches the teaching of English through hands on experience.  Utilizing popular story books, students engage stories directly through visual aids, projects and direct teacher student feedback.  The program essentially takes a child on a journey in English studies by helping him or her to engage in the vocabulary words as if they were learning to swim. For example:

Before you even teach a child to swim, an instructor must first   create a comfort zone . Likewise when students feel comfortable about a word or story he learns, he is more likely to engage in activities around it.

Rules are then taught to the young swimmer.  Instead of teaching the negatives of water, utilizing proactive stimulus and fostering a positive environment ensure that the child will also enjoy the learning scenarios.

Once a child has reached a comfort level with the idea of swimming and water, he or she slowly approaches the water edge, where they begin to develop a sense of confidence of his her ability to master one's skills and interaction with the environment. He or she is then instructed on the techniques of navigating the water.

As their skills continue to be honed, deeper waters are introduced gradually until he or she feels confident enough to tackle the task by him or herself.