Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jst]

I was looking at hagwon job postings and I was wondering, "Why would someone teach kindergarten?"

1. You work more hours compared to people who just teach elementary and middle school, and you get the same pay.
2. You have to eat lunch with the children.
3. Your clothes are likely to get damaged (torn or stained) at some point due to children being children.
4. You have to prep a lot more to keep them interested.
5. You have to deal with crying.
6. You have to deal with all their energy (sometimes you want a little peace in the classroom, but that likely won't happen with kindergarten)

These are just some things that came to mind.

So, why would someone teach kindergarten?

[interestedinhanguk]

[vermouth]

I love, love teaching kindergarten students.

I've taught just elementary, subbed in Middle school and kinder+ elementary and Kindergarten students are way better.

1--Teaching kindergarten is vastly more fun. Almost none of the kids are ever being forced to go to school against their will the way that many students are in elementary and moreso in middle school.

2--Kindergarteners are just happier people than elementary and middle school students. They haven't gotten jaded by the system yet.

3--They're easier to please. If you're at all playful or energetic you can really make kindergarten students happy.

4--You'll notice a much bigger improvement because they start at a lower level. Most of your students you'll see grow by leaps and bounds over the 5-7 time they're in preschool-Kindergarten.

5--Strangely there will be less broken about their English. Less stuff has been firetrucked up. I see less pointless articles, less ridiculous sentences, more consistent usage of common phrases amongst kindergarten. For instance my kindergarten students would all ask, "May I go to the bathroom?" Whereas my elementary school students at my last job would often struggle to remember the word bathroom and give me a "Teacher, bathroom?"

6--You don't always work more hours, you don't always work through lunch. Yeah you have to deal with their energy but in middle school you have to try to magically give students energy.

But once you learn to accept that teaching little kids comes with a bit more chaos then you can realize that they're so much more fun.

*ModEdit

[cyui]

Kindy Hours are awesome! Higher Pay, but WAY harder to get.

I would love to have one, but don't think that going to happen.

[cragesmure]

Yeah, if I have to teach kids, kindy is definitely the best for me. Sure, there are downsides, but I'd rather deal with a 6 year old than a 12 or 13 year old any day of the week.

[ktkates87]

I love working at my kindie hagwon. I might try to teach older students in the future but just because the next places on my list of where I want to teach require this. In any case, this is my experience of working at a kindie hagwon.

We dont have to eat with the kids. The Korean teachers do that, and we get a 50 minute break. We can eat there for free or go out.

The hours are good for me. I work from around 10am and finish by 530 every day. Aside from the 50 minute break for lunch every day, I get 4 other 40-50 minute breaks during the week on various days.

We do cool stuff like go on field trips. There's also usually a birthday party in the class once or twice a month which breaks up the day a bit. We have a playroom that I get to run around in with them some days.

The kids are fast learners and are incredibly enthusiastic about being there. They work hard and you see alot of growth in each student. The kids are also SUPER CUTE. I have 5 year olds that write and memorize speeches, and participate in english song competitions. I enjoy seeing this every day.

Another point, my kindergarten kids worship me. I joke about having a posse because they're always running to greet me at the door and following me around all day. They write me little letters along the lines of "I love kate teacher." It's more than I can say about some of my older elementary students that I teach later in the afternoon.

One last small perk about my school are the gifts we get from the parents. Kids are always bringing me iced coffee in the morning, or when it was christmas time I scored nice perfume, kiehls facewash and a pair of expensive leather gloves. Parents also like to drop off krispy cremes and fancy juices all the time. I'm sure you get this in other jobs too, but it's nice getting to know the parents and seeing them around. They're alot more involved than the parents whose kids just come for an hour 2 or 3 times per week.

All in all it's a decent gig. My days and weeks go by really fast and I enjoy working where I do. Maybe it's because I'm a big kid that I like it so much. The only thing I hate is the constant whining you get from some kids. They dont seem to be taught the concept of "tough $h!t" at home.

[gypsymaria]

[northway]

[interestedinhanguk]

[some waygug-in]

I thought it was illegal for E-2 visa holders to work at kindergartens.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I was told.


If you're at a regular hagwon that just has a few kindie classes, I suppose that's OK, but if the school ain't set up to teach Kindie....it won't be so great.

[interestedinhanguk]

[cyui]

Anyone's good hagwon hiring? Not really picky with location/hours, but want an open-minded director, who has experienced, lived abroad and gotton used to working specifically with Non-Koreans'.

I have my documents' ready now and live close to the Atlanta Consulate.

Thank-you.

[gypsymaria]

I never heard anything about not being able to teach kindergarten with an E2. My recruiter specifically asked me if I'd be interested in teaching younger children, and I immediately said yes. I was a nanny before I came here, so I love working with kids, and a lot of those skills carried over.

[interestedinhanguk]

[northway]