Job Discussion Forums

[briansplnr]

Hi all. I am currently teaching in Chengdu. I been offered this job to teach Kindergarden children ranging from ages 3 to 6 years old.

I would appreciate some advice about teaching material, teaching methods, and how to keep the kids attention. Each of my classes would be 30 minutes. I have about 13 classes and I teach each class only once a week.

Thanks alot in advance.

Brian

[august03]

Kindy kids are here are still walking around with their nappies on, they cry, throw up and don't touch their hands - who knows where they've been! Other than that teaching little ones is a bludge.

Use songs and nursery rhymes, ones with movements: heads and shoulders; old macdonald; london bridge; etc...

Teach numbers and colours and animals, teach basic "hello, my name is, what's your name", "goodbye, nice to meet you" etc....

Make it fun, use songs, use only oral English, and if you can get them to shut up you'll be fine.

Good luck

[nolefan]

some will argue that teaching kindergarden kids is easier than teaching other age groups...fine by me! Keep one thing in mind: you better have loads of energy to keep up with them rascals....OK?
also, it is important that you take control of the class early on, otherwise, it will be hell (think Shwarzie in kindergarden cop)

[naturegirl321]

Honestly, if you can get your own class and be in the classroom the whole time, it's much, much easier. I did the teach 4 different classes a day, each class was 30 minutes and it's difficult to say the least.
It depends on what you're teaching, phonics, reading, conversation.
What works for me is have the kids sit in a circle during the lessons. Also be firm in discipline at fist, have them stand in the corner, put their hands on their head, something like this to show that you are in control.
Reward them with stickers, high fives, candy, hugs, etc. It's easy to amuse them.
Sign lots of songs and rhymes. Get up and dance. Run and find the correct picture. Phsical stuff works.
Let us know what subject you will be teaching.

[Roger]

I taught in the same kindie for two years, and this was my best time in China.
First, you need to understand the kids, who cannot communicate to you their every need. Their worst enemy are their parents who erroneously think you should cram as much English vocabulary into their memories as possible. But this is counterproductive, and not in the interest of your pupils: they have first got to learn how to learn.

I agree that singing, saying rhymes and so on are the constant fall-back on techniques; on the other hand, you should devise a teaching plan with focus on what the children can understand without translation; you will have to teach them whole concepts; this begins with notions such as "I" versus "you", "he" and "she"; don't forget it will take time for them to assimilate these concepts, and if you ask a Chinese assistant to translate those concepts they will easily forget them again. I never tolerated translation in my classes, and they worked wonderfully.

You need to teach step by step, beginning with the smallest units: why not the ABC? Four-year olds can learn how to write, three-year olds can't. The latter can learn motor control - teach them how to use their various body parts. Yes, they should move around, a kindergarten is a playground, not a classroom!!! I taught four-year olds even pushups!
After the ABC - you can incorporate the writing into a kind of drawing class - you can teach them simple words; the Roman letters help them to identify phonetic units. Say "A" as in 'apple', B as in 'banana', draw those fruits and have the kids colour them.

I was lucky in that I saw the same class 5 times a week, for a whole year; by the end of it, I could ask those 25 kids, "what are we going to do today? What do you like best?", and they would raise their hands to signal they preferred drawing or playing.
Within that one year, I gave them a solid grounding with recurrent structures such as questions, negative statements, the present continuous and the past tenses.
But in most kindies you see those kids only once a week, and beisdes that you have to convince parents that you know what's best for them, not their parents!
By the way, I would suggest you take your question to the Elementary Education forum - you are bound to generate more insightful responses!

[Dalian Veteran]

[Roger]

I don't quite agree with you on the need for preschoolers to acquire a second tongue - at this age (3 to 6) they can learn a second language without the first one interfering much better. They can actually learn to conceptualise things in English before they do so in Chinese - which gives them a head start, provided CHinese is NOT used to instruct them on English.
The discipline problems some of us have stem from poor preparation on the techer's part; you must empathise with little learners in a way that's appropriate. And you must learn how ti build a language database that's suitable for the learners. In other words: a mere TEFL cert won't do; you need some insight in how preschoolers learn. Kindergarten teachers in Europe have a very specific training. I guess so do teachers in the USA; ask the Montessori organisation.
I found work with these kids a lot more natural and enjoyable than with kids that have undergone Chinese indoctrination/education for some time.

[Linz]

Heya! I am currently teaching Kindergartens in Zhang Mu Tou a township of Donnguan. Well.... all I can say is that I love it... to death! Teaching kids is the most rewarding experience. for a couple reasons.

They don't judge you. So you can act like an idiot and its great. They love it. No one to tell you you look like a fool. The more outgoing you are the better it is for them.

They love you and look up to you.

Its all games.

I can be having the worst day when I wake up. But when I go to work the kids always cheer me up.


Some things that are crappy about it is ...
the kids can be crazy!!! but its not your job to keep them in line. it's to teach them. there should be another teacher in the room with you.

well the parents can be a pain in the ass! but not all the time.. Some of them ask me to go out for drinks and dinner all the time.. they are not all bad. But you have to remember one thing. It's not your job to deal with the parents and its not your fault. Your job is teach. And I am sure you will be great if you let loose.

Most of the kindergartens don't even really care about the teaching aspect, they use you as advertising to get more kids to come to the school. I can't really say I have taught adults, because I have only taught the teachers for 3 weeks. Its fun too.. but not as fun as teaching kids. if you have any questions feel free to toss me an e-mail.
[email protected]
oh and don't worry about your lesson plans.. thinking of them is hard for the first 2 days and then they just keep comin out!

Lata and good luck Brandon