I thought I was going to hate teaching Kindy. I grew up the baby of my family and I did not think of myself as a "kid" person. I subscribe to reddit.com/r/childfree. The phrases "human birth control" and "crotchfruit" are in my lexicon. I keep my arms crossed tightly at family gatherings praying no one will hand me their spawn.
Teaching little kids, though, is apparently a different matter. Because I love it.
Kindy classrooms are different from the somber classrooms elsewhere in the buildings. The walls are painted with colorful cartoon murals, featuring an odd mixture of Winnie the Pooh, Disney, and Looney Tunes characters. The floors are carpeted, and the desks and chairs are all bright, colorful plastic and super tiny.
It took me a little while to figure out how to teach a Kindy class. Not only are they too young to read yet even in their mother tongue, but some of them can't even draw shapes yet. They have the attention span of goldfish, and it's like playing whack-a-mole trying to get them all to sit down at the same time. Oh, and they are at the lowest possible level of English, so anything I do I have to show them which means getting 36 little eyes to look in one direction. Truthfully, sometimes I just have my TA (teaching assistant) translate. Not to mention, one little slap or stolen crayon results in FULL MELTDOWN mode. This is another thing I have my TA's deal with. I deal with crying kids as if they're lepers, quickly quarantining them someplace else. Emotions can be very contagious.
There are some advantages to this age group, though:
1. They have a lot of energy. (Usually). Unlike pre-teen classes, who often do not want to do absolutely anything, little kids are down to play games, sing songs, and learn new words.
2. They are easily entertained. It does not take much to make them laugh. The simplest things, like crossing your eyes, are just the HEIGHT of comedy.
3. They like routine. This is the biggest one. Forget trying to plan a new exciting lesson for each class. That's confusing. Teaching new games all the time is confusing. The kids actually like singing the same songs, playing the same games, and getting the same rewards all the time. Only the vocabulary changes. This means kindy classes take literally no planning if you have a good routine down.
4. You can fill up most of their class time singing songs and coloring.
5. They're super cute. Seriously, just adorable and cuddly. I'm very lucky that I'm a girl, because apparently the amount of physical touch they want is weird for the male teachers. They want to sit in my lap or cling onto my legs whenever possible.
6. I can't understand them when they complain. If they look upset and they're telling me off in Vietnamese, I can pass them off on the TA.
7. You can force them to do anything pretty much if you give them a sticker. The threat of not getting a sticker is also very powerful.
That said, here is what a Kindy class might look like for me:
1. Songs (They love "Baby Shark" and "Five Little Monkeys" the most). 20 minutes.
2. Circle Time. We sit in a circle. I introduce vocabulary and review last week's vocabulary. I might play duck-duck-goose with the vocabulary, or some kind of memory game. Mostly the goal is to get them to say the words. 8 minutes.
3. Run and Touch. (Also sometimes "Simon Says") I tell the kids to run and touch something yellow/blue/green, etc. If we already know parts of the body, I'll tell them to touch an eye or something. The point is to get them touching the wall so I can set up the next game. 2 minutes.
4. Musical chairs. Sometimes I substitute with "Hot Potato," but the result is the same. Every time a kid is "out" they practice vocabulary flashcards. 20 minutes.
5. 4 corners. Stick a flashcard in each corner. I sit in the middle and close my eyes. The kids run to a corner. I call out a corner. The kids in that corner sit down. They freaking LOVE this game, I don't get it. I like it because I end up with a bunch of little kids on my lap and playing with my hair. 10-ish minutes.
6. Break Time. 15 minutes
7. Video clip or song. They love love love love LOVE Mr. Bean. 5 minutes.
8. Slap the board. Tape flashcards to the board, give the kids flyswatters and let them hit the right word. I will never understand why this is so entertaining. Even my older classes love this. 10 minutes.
9. Book activities. Each class has a student book and an activity book. We do the activities. By the time the kids find the right page and do the activities, it actually takes forever. 15 minutes.
10. Coloring. I try to have the coloring relate to vocabulary from the class, so I can walk around and ask "how many biscuits?" or "what color is the T-shirt?" 10 minutes.
CLASS DISMISSED.
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