Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mashimaro]

Unfortunately it seems most hagwon jobs include kindergarten at the moment.. So how bad is it? Do you have to sing & dance around like a fool.. Do they hit each other & cry a lot? What the heck do you teach kindy kids? I wouldn't know where to start...

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

To answer your questions: yes, oh god yes yes, and nothing.

Sparkles*_*

[tomato]

Hello, Mashimaro!

On my first job, I had trouble at first.
Like every director I've had since, my first director provided zero input, so I developed ideas on my own. By the end of the year, I felt as confident as I did in my other classes.

On my second job, I was good enough that another teacher, who was on his first job, came to me asking for advice.

My third job was at a school with no kindergarten. If you can believe it, I was so enamoured with the setting by this time that I complained that there was no kindergarten. So the director farmed me out to a couple of �����'s in the city--illegal, but nobody turned me in.

Someone asked a similar question in a thread entitled "students aged 3."
I suggested some ideas in this thread, and so did a couple of other people.

In the more distant past, there have been similar threads entitled
"I HATE kindergarten" and "What's so bad about kindergarten?"

[Saxiif]

Started out hating my kindy classes but then I finally broke them of dongchimming and learned the joys of kids who're so easy to please (its fun tossing them around and they love it ) and have short memories, which saves so much time on lesson planning since I can recycle lessons once they forget that they did them. And if I run out stuff to do they're always happy to play hokey pokey indefinately. I love 'em.

Think I'd go a little crazy if I had to teach straight kindy, but there's nothing wrong with a class to two of them.

[Mashimaro]

[waterbaby]

Hi Mashimaro,

Not posting the following links from my FAQsto quell your discussion here as there a lot of knew posters around since these threads disappeared & it'll be good to get some fresh input.

Hope they're useful!

What About Teaching Kindergarten?

Love 'em or hate 'em? Kindy can be wonderful or a nightmare...

1. What's so Bad About kindergarten?
2. What's the Best Age to Teach?
3. Kindergarten Kids
4. Advice Before I Commit...

[sistersarah]

I think how much you enjoy kindergarten all depends on the school you're at. at my first school, i was given no guidance at all....no books, materials, not even suggestions on what i should be teaching them. i went in every morning clueless and stressed because i had no idea what to do with them.

my second school however had their act together, a curriculum worked out, lots of materials and korean teachers who helped out a lot. my lessons were pre-planned for me almost every day! i taught more kindergarten classes at this school, but really enjoyed it. my kinder classes were actually better behaved and more productive than many of my afternoon elementary classes. i liked it.

before you accept a position at a school where you'll be required to teach kindergarten, ask a lot of questions. that is, unless you're willing to put in a lot of time in curriculum building and lesson planning.

[Eazy_E]

Some schools teach the kindergartens through a computer based lesson... it sounds something like a powerpoint presentation. At my school however, we have a book that we're supposed to follow but that doesn't nearly cover the whole lesson. You have to be resourceful and find some games and activities on the internet, and learn a few easy songs to teach them. Wheels on the bus, I'm a little teapot, etc. are some traditional songs that seem to work well.

I've been teaching kindy for four months now and I'm a lot better than when I started. There are some days though, when I'm lucky just to make it through without tearing all my hair out. Maybe you just have to have an aptitude for it. I'm not one to jump up and down like a fool.

I guess you just have to remember how young these kids are, ie. if they're running around screaming and hitting each other it's not your fault. That's just how they are at this age. Oh those kids!

[ryleeys]

I teach a few kindy kids and a few elementary kids... haven't noticed a difference, they all hit and throw things and cry if they get less than 100% (I love giving hard tests).

Today, I had two kids that used to be good friends, but this last week or two, yell at eachother and hit each other constantly. So today, I got fed up and said "stop yelling, or else"
Well, one kid yelled again and I told him he wasn't allowed to go to his next class until he wrote "I will not yell in class." 100 times. The kid went running out of the place crying... later, I get news that his mom called all pissed off and I'm thinking, "crap, I'm screwed." cause his mom is my director's sister. She was mad cause he says the reason he yelled was that the other kid hit him (I never saw it, but it's probably true). Anyway, my director calls me into her office and I'm sweating hard... she asks me about it and I tell her and she (and my translator) just start laughing their rears off, said I was right to do what I did, and sent me on my way.


I also made a kid write, "I will not ddong chim my teacher ever again." 100 times today. Serves the little bugger right.