Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jennad]

I want to bring a few things with me that the kids will love....any ideas?

[Skippy]

Stickers - if you got the time dig up some scratch and sniff stickers. Do not waste your time bring candy over. You can get candy here in Korea that the kids will like then anything you buy.

Also consider getting some little nick nacks sort of toys. You may also want to bring a roll of pennies or other coins to give the kids.

[tomato]

picture books

the easier Dr. Seuss books (Dr. Seuss' ABC, Hop on Pop)
the easier Berenstain Bear books (Bears in the Night, Old Hat, New Hat)

games

bingo games
children's card games
A small group of older preschoolers might be able to play go fish.

Otherwise, it would be better to play concentration, old maid, and bango (That's a game played like bingo, except that the leader takes one card of each match and passes out the matches.)

Go fish hasn't disseminated into Korea, but old maid has.
It's called 도둑잡기, which means "catch a thief."

Every large city in Korea has a good bookstore for English teachers in which these items are available.

[Illysook]

They like to sing songs and jump up and down as much as possible. If you play a musical instrument, bring it!

Songs to learn:

There's a Wiggle in My Toe/ The Wiggle Song by Joe Scruggs
Bounce and Twist and Flap by Eric Herman
The Hokey Pokey
The Locomotion

[Skippy]

[lille]

A big English map. I can make most English classroom decorations myself, but I wish I had a big map.

[Radius]

Mine love tic-tac-toe, and when you choose two kids to come up to the board, do eeny-miney-mo to choose the players--they love that, too. They always chant the Korean version starting off "coca-cola mashida.."

[pangaea]

I second the stickers. They also might like pencils or pens with your country's flag or something related to your country. If you have room, I would definitely bring some games as another poster suggested. Card games and Memory are great for young learners. Maybe you could bring a board game specifically geared toward kindy kids. Candyland comes to mind and I have never seen it here.

[jennad]

Thanks guys, these are great suggestions! I'm excited (and nervous!) to start teaching

[some waygug-in]

[jennad]

[SMOE NSET]

Like others have said:

Board games:
-Twister
-Guess Who?
-Bingo Cards
-Candyland (can be bought here but for 30,000W)
-Kids Scrabble
-Memory
-Card Games (Uno can be found here, I Spy Go Fish, etc)
-Flash Cards

Any others you like playing as they are very expensive here.

Others:
-Definitely stickers, the ones here are not very good
-A wall map would be nice for older kids (just protect the "Sea of Japan")
-Memorabilia from where you are from (flag, pencils, brochures, menus, etc)
-Pictures of you from home especially with friends or family (kids like to see where the teacher is from)
-Books (Like Tomato I recommend the following: Where's Waldo, Dr. Seuss, Bernstein Bears, Magic School Bus)

Hmm, I think that is all. I wouldn't worry about it too much though as the kids will love anything you give them, even an eraser.

Candy is not very important as you can find almost all of it here in foreign food markets. Unless you like some random unknown candy, you should be fine.

[lille]

[lille]

Oh, if you're in Canada, bring Robert Munsch books. They're a little advanced for some kids, but you can always read 'em to advanced 7 year olds. For the rest, you can paraphrase and the kids can't get enough of these books, they're hilarious. I've had especially successful drama and reading classes with "Jonathan Cleaned Up (And then he heard a sound)" and "Something Good". "Mud Puddle" also goes over really well.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

Please don't bring them presents of any kind. They are cute, but that does not mean that they deserve a reward for it.

If they speak English, even if they are good at it, they do it because that is what they are supposed to do, or better yet, because it is something that they want to do.

Also, listen to tomato... books, games, etc.