Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Lemon84]

I've read so many posts here about how everyone in their right mind should turn down a kindy position. But will someone please explain as to why kindy positions are so 'undesirable'? Is it because it's harder to manage children at that age? I'm aware kids at that age can be hell. I have babysat young kids before, but I've never had to deal with a horde of them all at once...

Im a gyopo and I'm currently looking for a kindy position simply because they have fantastic working hours. I would really appreciate any input.

Please do be gentle with me ^^

Cheers

[greene]

6-7 (korean age) kids - can be so cute but can also be unmanipulable (not a word) little devils. i have a 7 year old class that is so horrible i dread tuesdays and thursdays, even though i only teach them for 40 mintues

8 year olds are a little better, 9 year olds better still so on and so on. the best kids are 12 and 13. once they hit puberty they get shy and boring, however

[prairiegirl81]

I love Kindergarten! But... I only teach each Kindergarten class at our school for 20 minutes a week.

The Kindergarteners as expected are adorable and more than that are free of any kind of "I hate you and this language and I'm not going to learn it" attitude. They all want to participate all the time and sometimes the love that they pour out for you is infectious. I never leave Kindergarten without a smile on my face.

However, I teach Kindergarten with the help of two Korean co-teachers and I love to do all that "kid" stuff that other posters don't seem to like. (playing games, singing songs, acting silly)

If you can speak Korean, have oodles of energy, and don't mind some creative lesson planning Kindergarten may be for you.

[FistFace]

I teach pre-kindy ages 3, 4, and 5. I love it. 50,000 per hour and usually one or two Korean teachers in the room 75% of the time to help keep control.

With that said, I wouldn't do it on a daily basis. I rather enjoy waltzing in there a few times per week for some extra cash, but I also enjoy leaving after just a few hours.

[SW]

I agree with all the positive things about kindy (or "kinder", as my old Korean supers called it) posted so far. I taught it (and grades 1, 3 and 6) last year, and I teach middle school this year. I'd go back in a heartbeat, and for less money too. In fact, I might even go so far as to say I could teach kindy the rest of my career, but for two things: 1) teaching it year-round is too exhausting - I would need a Western schedule with summers off and an Xmas break, and 2) while I'm okay for now, no one would want to hire a 50 year-old man to teach 6-year olds.

[gillod]

I have 2 6 year olds in my afterschool class. They're 100% adorable and 100% trouble. I was THRILLED when they finally starting using some little English words. But they are a major handful. They run around te room, they try and stick stuff in electrical sockets, they rip stuff off the walls. And while you're tending to one, you've got 5 more behind you doing something else. They don't listen to Korean teachers, but at least a Korean can communicate with them. This is more like trying t get a dog to behave or something.

[edwardcatflap]

A lot of people on here think kindy work is demeaning, it's women's work , it's just singing songs and acting like a clown, it shouldn't be done by anyone over 30 etc... but it's actually hard work and very difficult to master. It takes split second timing and a lot more planning than higher levels to keep the classes engaged and under control.

Young kids need very clear guidelines and routines and a mixture of activity types to keep them interested and clear instructions to lead them into activities. When done properly you can get a class of 6 year olds taking part in communicative activities in pairs without a Korean teacher in the class room at all but that takes effort and a lot of planning. It can be very rewarding for the same reasons

[curiousaboutkorea]

I mostly teach kindy and I love it. This is my first year teaching. My kindy students currently are 6 and 7 years old (Korean age which means they're 4-6). They're adorable, hilarious and fun.

They take time! My first few weeks/months with them were a little more difficult then now (I was getting used to teaching and they were getting used to me). Now, it's a cakewalk. You have to keep you energy up, as the other posters mentioned. Once they learn to trust you and that they like you, you're golden. These kids will want to do well and not cause you to get angry. Of course there's always the little hell-raisers, thought he well-behaved kids will usually try to pressure those ones to stay in line.

You can't stop moving. If you stop the class, you'll lose their attention and it takes some effort to get it back. You'll develop tools that you can use to get the kids' attention.

You have to be ready not to give into whining and pouting (they'll do this).

Seriously though, if walking through the halls of the school and hearing your name shouted affectionately by dozens of kids doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't want to meet you.

Before I started this work, I was a bit hesitant, I was never great with kids (not much experience around them, no little siblings or cousins or babysitting etc). I'm a bit reserved. Now I sing and dance.

Also, I teach one class of 8 year olds and one class of 9 year olds (korean age). I despise the 8 year old class. Something about hitting public school then going to hagwon (probably their first year) makes them little devils. They talk and play way more than kindies and are outright rude, even continuing to talk when being scolded. The 9 year olds are better, though very energetic (crawling under tables etc).

I do all this without a Korean teacher, and almost never need to ask for one. My classes are all about 5-10 students.

I have taught much larger classes of 5, 6 and 7 year olds (Korean age). There were 28-7 year olds, 26-6 year olds and 20-5 year olds. They had lower English levels than my smaller classes. I was expected to sit in front of them with a book in my hand and point to pictures and have them repeat and do stuff like that. I was supposed to have a Korean teacher, but she usually ignored everything or just left the class. Those were the worst classes and I am so glad I don't do them anymore.

Overall, kindy's good, depending on the teacher.

[runthegauntlet]

I always liked teaching Kindy. The kids are like sponges and their rate of learning is amazing.

At my hagwon, though, and many others it seems, you didn't just teach kindy. You teach kindy for 3-4 hours and THEN have to go teach the elementary students after that! That's the awful part. Kindy can be way more draining than doing the other classes, but by itself is manageable. Having to do both, though, was awful in my opinion.

The kindy teachers worked 10-7 while the other teachers worked 2-9. Yeah, sounds nice and fair, huh? That was at an ECC.

[joyfulgirl]

It probably depends on your personality. Obviously, many of the above posters really like teaching Kindy. I, on the other hand, despise it.

Well...I mean, the kids are cute and all, sure. I feel affection for most of them, and they make me laugh. I don't despise the kids, just the job.

I teach four hours every day of 5-7 year olds (Korean age), and it's simply exhausting. Probably because my personality is not really suited to this type of job. I really do not enjoy singing and dancing or planning games day in and out. It's hard work. There is no Korean teacher with me to 'keep control' or help translate anything, so the language barrier is BEYOND frustrating. Because they cannot understand most of what I say, they often ignore me and just carry on talking to each other in Korean. Or, activities can get out of control...and kids start pushing and shoving, etc. They sit there and make each other cry, just by calling each other names in Korean, and I've no idea what's going on. They think it's funny to chew on props, destroy things, scream for no reason, punch each other, do the opposite of what they're supposed to do, sneeze in your eyes, etc..etc..etc..

You need to have a gigantic amount of patience, creativity and energy. I think I'm too old to be at it. It's been a hard year, and I'm looking forward to it being over soon.

I really enjoyed teaching ESL to older kids and adults SO much more than this.

[NCdan]

I'll agree with everyone else here: kindergarten is great if you're a super-high energy person. I'm not, and I currently teach mostly kindergarten and preschool. It's not that I can't teach effectively, it's that my supervisors seem to think that the only way to effectively teach kindergarten and preschool is to make an idiot of yourself all day, and that is what makes teaching kindergarten so annoying for me. The only redeeming quality to me is that the material itself is so simple that no extensive lesson planning is required.

[frankly speaking]

Depends on how the school is run. I taught one group of kids for 3 hours and another group for 2 hours. They were about 6-7 years old. The wonderful thing was to watch them develop their language skills. In a year, they went from "hello, goodbye, abckghf" to communicate stories, read with inflection on simple stories, pronounce words that they didn't know through phonics. It was a very rewarding year.

You need to have a lot of energy, enjoy kids that age, be tollerant, patient, have a good curriculum and know how to motivate kids without scaring them too bad.

At that age they tend to cry a lot if you are too firm. Sometimes I would just give a disappointing stare and that would have the whole room in tears.

Not all people are good with young learners. I wouldn't take a full time kindy job unless you knew that you enjoyed it. It can be tough and really burn you out quick.

[seonsengnimble]

Kindy has its ups and downs. The ups are that the kids are adorable. They take a lot of work, but they latch on to you like you're their family, and although they can be a bit crazy, after a while they will know that if you say a certain phrase or give a certain look that it's time to settle down and listen to the teacher. Personally, the kids I remember and love the most were my kindergarten kids.

The problems with teaching them are a bit high, though. First of all, it takes a while to establish a good bond with them. They speak almost no English and run around like crazy animals when you start. While a lot of their parents are cool, tons of their parents are insane and want you fired when you scold one of them for trying to kill one of their classmates. I personally, had one student who was trying to hang another student with his taekwondo belt when I entered the classroom and the mother told me I don't understand Korean culture because I sent the offending kid to the VP.

Another issue is the long hours and weekends involved with kindergarten. Elementary, middle school and high school students just come a few times a week and you're done with them. Kindergarten students need parents days and field trips and various other activities which are outside of your regular teaching schedule.

And finally, the last reason kindergarten is no good is that each kindergarten class takes at least three times the energy out of you as any other class. Teach four hours of kindergarten, and you feel like you've been teaching non-stop for twelve hours.

[jhicks99]

[lifeinkorea]

Anything 2nd grade and under is babysitting. Have fun being a surrogate foreign parent.