Korean Job Discussion Forums

[susmin]

I am one of the supervisors at my school. Recently we were told by my boss that we were going to have a meeting to discuss changes in the returnee program. She wants us to do research and find out what else is out there and report back to her. Why are we doing this now instead of before the new school year started? I have no idea. Anyway, my question is, how does your school run your returnee program? What curriculum do you use? How often do your classes meet? What format do you follow? Which skills do you focus on the most? Any info that be given would be great.

[Derrek]

It is likely being done because some parents complained that your program wasn't like "XXX" school their children have attended before. And they threatened to leave.

Korean directors are well known to let the tail wag the dog in interest of keeping a few pissy parents from yanking out their kids.

Education be damned.

[mumblebee]

Our returnee program uses a history book, a grammar text, and a novel. The history book and novel are used for vocabulary building, reading comprehension and discussion/essay topics. We have one class for elementary students and one for middle schoolers.

[susmin]

How much time do you focus on speaking versus other skills? Also, does anyone use any North American textbooks?

[Aidge]

Focus a LOT on speaking and reading comprehension. Building vocabulary is good all-around. It really impresses the parents. We use a few reading comprehension books with true stories, and some english current events from a kids newspaper. Keep it real and relevant and converse as much as possible. Specific resources: Teen Times newspaper, McGraw-Hill Practice Readers B and C, and Can you Believe It? books.