Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mike410]

As most hagwon jobs include kindergarten, is it a turn off to tell a recruiter you don't want to teach kindergarten?

For those that teach or have taught that level, what was it really like?

I do like kids, but I don't want to just be a 'babysitter'.

[ttompatz]

[Mike410]

[radcon]

Teaching kindergarten is a woman's job.

[drcrazy]

[teacherbunny]

firstly I have seen many very good male kindergarten teachers..
The best thing is to love kids.. Of course there will be days when you are sick of it..
But I think it is a really fulfilling part of ESL.
Their whole English foundation is based on the building blocks you give them in these early years, and they learn so fast.
teaching kids that want to actually learn..
before they get to elementary and have all the fun taken out.
And the schedule is one of the best..

It does take a lot of energy though.

..excuse my lack of sentence and paragraph structure and anything else..
It is sunday my brain has taken a day off

[andrewchon]

[Voyager2]

[Mike410]

[FastForward]

I like teaching kindergarten, because the kids want to be there and enjoy learning. When I taught elementary and middle school, the kids were forced to be there and it was really hard to teach them anything.

If you like kids and have a ton of energy, teaching kindergarten can be fun.

[jkrishnamurtidotorg]

The culture of teaching kindergarten may vary depending upon the type of parents the children have and the way the school is run both by the director and/or other teachers. Class size and classroom environment also can play a big part.

I only have one year of experience so far at one location, just to put my perspective into shape.

I actually love teaching kindergarten, and this is my first time. My experience thus far is that they have a lot more enthusiasm and can soak up things quite quickly, which is encouraging if you actually try to teach instead of go through the motions. Sure, they can be fidgety and get distracted easily. When it comes to classroom management, I prefer to be positive. I act goofy sometimes, which makes them laugh and focus their attention on me. I ask them lots of basic questions about the material I present to them, and keep them engaged constantly, and give points for raising their hand and participating. You also have to be able to hang out with them and be a friend to them. I care about my students, and I show that in various ways, which earns their respect for me. They tell our director and their parents how much they want me back next year. I also put their names on a whiteboard and give them points for being good and take away points for being bad. Those who earn more points/stickers get pencils and erasers from me, and various other cheap but colorful or amusing things. They fall in line quite quickly when taking all of this into account.

I also teach Elementary and Middle school students. I am quite passionate about teaching, and still enjoy these age groups in their own unique ways. However, at this time I actually prefer the kindy kids to the older ones.

[Lucas]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUXkj6j6Ezw

I'm sure this guy ^ is a nice guy, but something about him always makes me wonder........

[J Rock]

Nothing wrong with teaching Kindy I actually did it 2 hours a day for a whole year. I started getting really depressed right before I walked into the building to teach them. I realized it wasn't for me, I couldnt keep the energy up to sing and dance with them.

It's good money if you can find the right job, it paid 50,000 Won per hour for 2 hours plus lunch. I pushed through making 500,000 Won a week extra for a year but I just couldn't do it anymore so I stopped.

I've been thinking lately about trying to do it again, half becuase I miss the extra money and the other half to get away from my wife.