Korean Job Discussion Forums

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

I have asked questions about this stuff before, but I'd like to see if anyone has any new input.

I am teaching kindergarten, and I really like it. I want to do all I can for my kids, but am curious just how far I should be taking it, and what to expect. I am not at your normal Hagwon. All parents are rich (it costs between 800,000 and 1 million a month for the kids to go there), so they tend to be more concerned about education and working with their kids at home.

I had parent/teacher conferences on Friday, and they went fairly well. About 1/2 of the parents wanted to talk to me (they had good enough English to do this), and it was nice to hear from them. One mother was expecting her six year-old daughter to have English conversations now, but other than that, the parents seemed happy. But I am still wondering ... how much do these kids need to know before they move on next year?

I've taught them a lot of vocabulary (Nouns), and am currently working on Verbs. I've tried to keep this centered around certain "units" or areas of study, as was suggested on here before. After this unit on verbs is finished next month, I hope to teach the children to construct small sentences with those sentence-parts.

Something else fun... I had the kids show me the Verbs, and I recorded them doing the Verbs. I have made some little videos they practice at home. You can see them at www.seoulstream.com/VerbTree.htm

Also, some parents expressed that they want their children to read. Is this something that ESL Kindy kids can do? I have a feeling that only some of my kids will be able to handle this any time soon. Just how do you go about teaching a kid to learn to read? It might sound stupid for me to ask that, but I'm curious. I have been teaching phonics and what different combinations sound like... ie: "Br", "Sh", "Ch"... etc... I guess the next thing is just to get some really simple books and have them get used to seeing words and learing to read them?

I have been teaching writing to the kids (5 and 6 year-olds), but haven't been too picky because i know that motor-skills are not so developed with many of them. Even still, I've seem some good improvement.

What's your input? Especially on the reading thing.

sayangamber · Joined: 20 Sep 2003 Location: Bundang

Derrek,

We have a 2 year program at our school for kindergarten. Our second year students read stories and write a diary every day. They can form sentences using present, past, and future tenses (they sometimes forget to use them but overall they're good). I would feel comfortable sending most of them to a school in an English speaking country without terrible concern for the language adjustment.

Our first year students copy sentences that the teachers write in their notebook every day. They are learning to read books suitable for them (obviously some children are better than others). They can form sentences but often need help with grammatical errors. They don't know the past tense.

Every month we study a topic (for example, jobs in the community or countries/nationalities). We teach the children not only the vocabulary but the appropriate sentences for the topic. For example, a police officer works at a police station. We do not ever let them use Korean and we don't either (including the Korean teachers). We expect that they answer in full sentences even when it's not necessary (where normally a native speaker would use a one word answer) so they get the practice of forming sentences.

We use phonics for helping them in reading/pronunciation. Obviously, many times when we are reading we have to explain the vocabulary in the material. We reinforce the reading by having them read the material at home and not just in class and we always ask reading comprehension questions.

I don't know how much help this was (or if I answered your questions) but if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Also, it might help us to know how long your students have been studying English.

SayangAmber

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Most of them have just started studying English, unless their parents have taught them a few words. A few of them have been lucky enough to have spent some time overseas when they were very young.

I imagine you are working for returnee school, or a school where some English proficiency was required before they entered.

My school is not an "English Hagwon" exactly. It's called a "Learning Center." English is just a part of what they do for the day. The rest is done in Korean.

sayangamber · Joined: 20 Sep 2003 Location: Bundang

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

My total instruction time with them is about 1 hour.

Paji eh Wong · Joined: 03 Jun 2003

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Starperson · Joined: 23 Mar 2003

Hi,

I've got no advice for you. But I'd like to just put in my two cents-worth. I was going to open a new thread but I'll just ad it here. IT's a gripe. I was offered a kindy job and in the interview the director handed me quite a detailed program for the next couple of months. It looked a bit strange, with storybook titles that sounded more like academic journal entries and 'storybook titles' that were repeated throughout the program. I thought well they're probably just teaching them important topics. Anyway I found on the first day that they'd already learnt a lot of what was ont he program and there was no book called, "......................" which was mentioned in the program. I said, ok doyou want to use this program? The reply was a sheepish, "teacher will change". I thought ok great, you want me to designyour curriculum and this is only a 4.5 hour a week job.
Isn't it their responsibility to design a program?
Or should it be mine?
I think it's theirs.

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

My school doesn't really have a program for the English side, but we just had a meeting last week about it. We are going to all teach from the same book series starting in January (anyone heard of New Parade?). It's a step in the right direction.

You're right about your situation though -- it would be nice if they had their own program. Luckily I'm at a successful school, and English is just a part of what's taught (only get an hour with each student in total per day). If it were all English, and I had to "design my own program", I think there would be a lot of pressure to churn out English-fluent rugrats.

Too easy to set you up for failure if you haven't been doing this for a while. I'd be nervous about your situation, too.

Starperson · Joined: 23 Mar 2003

Thanks,
I don't know whether they don't care what I teach the kids, as long as the parents are happy. Or whether they're waiting for me to come up with a program.
I just really don't think it should be my job because it's only a few hours. If it was full-time, ok, I'll do a plan. But come on.

And English is only one of their classes, aswell.

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Well, if it's part-time, then I assume you have a full-time job already, and don't have much to lose.

My guess is that he's wanting you to put something together that he can use as ammo to "Sell" the parents on.

If you're not dependent on this place for your daily bread, then just put something together that you think will work, and will make him happy, and do your best. If it doesn't work out, then go.