Korean Job Discussion Forums

Meggiebea · Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Location: Uijeongbu, South Korea

I have accepted a position teaching Kindergarten's 4 hours per day. 2 hours, lunch, 2 more hours. I am a teacher with experience (although not kindergarten experience), nanny experience, daycare experience. BUT I am guessing that these 4,5,6 year olds cannot speak English. I don't leave for a few months and I really wanted to spend that time developing lesson plans so I can go with a few months planned. I know that realistically I will probably only use half of what I planned but I'd rather be prepared.

The problem is, what do you teach little kids who cannot speak any English? Where do you start? Are a lot of toys and games and resources provided so it's like Canadian Kindergarten:

example: 10am to 10:20 Greeting, Calender, Weather, news
10:20 to 10:40 Storytime, questions,
10:40 to 11:00 Show and Tell
11:00 to 11:30 Playtime, different stations, coloring, painting, doll houses etc.
11:30 to 12:00 Lesson for the day (fruits, outer space, healthy living etc.)
12:00 to 1:00 lunch
1:00 to 1:45 nap time
1:45 to 2:20 Phonics (any iteas about this, by the way)
2:20 to 2:40 Art
2:40 to 3:00 Clean up

Is this realistic??? I don't know, kinda scared about what I have gotten myself into.

rvintage · Joined: 05 Jul 2005

So you are a teacher without ESL experience??? Then you really have no experience with what you are about to do.

I'm guessing that is a schedule that you made up?? I wouldn't worry about a schedule or preparing lessons. You get off the plane, you go to work, they hand you a couple of books and MAYBE a lesson plan of what they expect. You'll get the hang of it in a week or so. No Worries....

Scott in Incheon · Joined: 30 Aug 2004

I looked into running a immersion kindergarten once before coming to Korea as part of some research for a paper.

Immersion kindie...which is basically what you are doing unless you are going to the co-teacher in a room with korean main teacher...is run much the same way as first language classroom. The children need to get comfortable with the routine. Routines are really important as this allows the student to understand what is going on even if their l2 language skills are not that good.

Pick up any good curriculum book for kindies back home and it will be a great help to you.

You might want to add a music section to your schedule...and perhaps some sort of science thing...if you have the resources...sand tables and water tables are good for this.

You will have to ask the school about resources...books will be a big thing..you will want a small library to help out with story time...

Kids tend to learn English quite quickly in an immersion sending and often do their learning in chunks...short sentences and phrases...but there will be some who take everything in but don't produce so you have to be patient...

Run your lessons around themes...and expect to have to explain things with a lot of gestures and acting...total physical response or tpr is often used a lot in immersion kindies...

Not sure what else to add right as my 4 year old wants me to find her big snake...

TV time might be good...bringing kids shows from back home to show the kids for a little downtime...

hope everything works out for you

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

ChopChaeJoe · Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Location: Seoul

Kids that young can learn eally quickly. But you have to establish a dicipline -- that takes about 30 classes. You can cover about one letter a day with those classes. they won't start to "get it" until after that 30 classes, so you'll need to teach them all again.

You gotta start at the beginning. teach them to say hello. teach them to say their name. Teach them to say how old they are. Teach then numbers, colors, simple noun. Work yourself into a pattern (i.e. it's a ~~~~).

If you can keep the class together, they will learn at an astonishing rate. If the monkey get control of the class, I suggest child abuse. JK.

Oh, and you need to review EVERYTHING at regular intervals. Pick a day of the week with no new material.

Meggiebea · Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Location: Uijeongbu, South Korea

Awesome replies guys, thank you. I like the idea of reviewing once a week, that makes a lot of sense and I would not have thought of it.

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

Uh, yeah. Don't plan anything right now. If you want to get prepared, read up on discipline strategies, basic teaching methods, and general teaching stuff. Every school has their own system and it would be waste of your time to make your own lesson plans now. Try contacting a current teacher at teh school to get an idea of how the day goes. You already have experience with children. No imagine those children on crazy pills and you are ready for Korean children.
No, relaly I loved my last kindy class, but it takes them a while to get into a western system of discipline and kick the crazy pill habit.

mumblebee · Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Location: Andong

The english kindy class in a typical Hagwon is nothing like a North American kindergarten, unless your school is really exceptional.

Big differences:
highly structured...kids sit at the desk a lot. Maybe some circle time and games, but a very teacher-centred and workbook-centred class.

Less 'fun' stuff...parents want to see their kids 'learning' so that usually means more book work....no sand/water table, easels, playground visits, dress up clothes...

Homework for 5 year olds.

Few toys, and rarely toys that can be used very imaginatively.

Kids here generally don't get much in the way of socialization from their parents when they are small. They do not know how to behave towards adults that are not their parents/relatives (who typically allow the kids to hit, kick etc.). The kids often do not know how to share, take turns, and treat each other kindly. They seem more like 2 year olds in their social behavior. Then you add in the stress of not understanding/being understood.....It is not usually unmanageable if you have a supportive school...our school provides a lot of support to our kindy staff and it makes a big difference.

Some useful stuff...hand puppets are great, for the teacher and the students to use. You can demonstrate requests and make the puppet comply (sit down, repeat, get a pencil) so that your instructions are clearer to the students. Also, a tracking chart of good/bad behavior is essential.

This age learns fast, and can be lots of fun, but it can be daunting at first.
Get online, there are lots of preschool sites with ideas for classroom management, lesson plans, activities etc.

tomato · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 4:33 am Post subject:

Smurfette · Joined: 21 Jun 2006

If you can, try to get into a Montessori school. I'm at one now and I feel its a much better environment than a teacher centered, workbook centered classroom.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

The first couple of things you MUST teach are "Sit down" and "Close your mouth". "Be quiet" can come later. Use a lot of TPR teaching both.

Sit down: Say "Sit down"...and you sit down..."Stand up". You stand up...repeat until the kids have a good grasp...then say "Sit down" while you're still standing...or "Stand up" while you sit. That way, you're sure that they have the meaning.

Close your mouth: Say "Close your mouth"...demonstrate. "Open your mouth"...demonstrate. Repeat...and repeat...you can then move on to "Close your hands, open your hands", "Close your eyes, open your eyes" and "Close the door, open the door".

One thing: You MAY not be teaching the same kids every class...find out before you plan too much...and expect that everything you've planned will be thrown out the window after your first couple of days!! Laughing

spyro25 · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

I work at a 'brighton' kindergarten and we have a wonderful curriculum for our kids. we teach phonics 3 times a week (smart phonics series, phonics for kids series), reading (reading starter series), music, show and tell, science (dream science - they come in litle boxes every month).

they also learn korean, arts and crafts, and math with their korean teachers. Our kids are some of the brightest students i've ever seen, because we get them young and get them away from their useless parents and into a good school system!

Don't be daunted by kindy - this year has been the most fun year I've had!

Never again though hahahahaha

tomato · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:30 am Post subject:

For a while, I thought I was going to have to start a kindergarten-help thread myself.
The director decided that it would be better for the kindergarten class if we would ditch the book series supplied by the chain and start a phonics class.
He decided to combine my 3:00 MWF class with my 3:00 TTh class and have me teach the class by myself 5 days a week.
He waited until yesterday to tell me all this.
The combined class met for the first time today, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

trinity24651 · Joined: 05 Nov 2006

Tomato - where are you located?

tomato · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:06 pm Post subject:

I'm in 장호원 (Janghoweon).
That's a cozy little berg in the 겅기 (Gyeonggi) province,
but it's right across the river from the 충북 (Chungbuk) province.
The closest larger cities are 이천 (Icheon) in Gyeonggi
and 충주 (Chungju) in Chungbuk.

I wanted a job in a small town, but I wanted a job with no upper elementary or middle school kids.
Most small-town jobs involve the whole gamut,
so I was lucky to get both in the same package.

In each 3:00 class, there is a child who is a real snicklefritz.
I thought it was all I could do to handle the MWF class OR the TTh class.
But the director must have decided it was time to move me up a notch.