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- The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Attending Evening Classes
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Attending Evening Classes Working during the day and going to school in the evening is becoming more and more popular in Vietnam these days. People have to work to support themselves and their family; however, in order...
- My First Week With The Four Year Olds
I've completed one week, with two classes of an hour, with my class of 4 year olds so far. I kicked off both classes with a 'song' I made up because there wasn't one like it in the book we use, which is called "Little Elephant". My extremely...
- Let's See What The Magic Bag Thinks
We've all been thereSometimes in class we want to choose one child to do something and often this can be difficult because the kids get annoyed if they aren't chosen. What criteria do you use to choose which child is going to do whatever it is,...
- Over A Year Since My First Blog Post!
One year on How time flies?! I've only just realised that it is now more than 12 months since this humble blog was launched with this post. The original purpose of the blog was to reflect on the process of initiating my first class blogging project...
- Classroom Routines
One of the most important things I have learnt about teaching young learners is the need for routines. There are many things that can be used in the classroom for many reasons, but today I'm interested in discipline routines. When I started teaching,...
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Hello Little People!
Well it's been a while, but I'm going to get back into blogging now that I am actually teaching again and so far enjoying every minute of it!
This year I have been given a class of four year olds. It is my first year at a new school and although I have a lot of experience of different levels and ages I have never taught any group lower than six years old. Obviously there are similarities with teaching children of this age, but there are also significant differences. For instance, most six year olds can write something in their own language and use a pair of scissors reasonably well, but many four year olds (certainly here in Spain) will not have learnt to write and struggle with the necessary motor skills required to cut shapes out of paper with a pair of scissors.
I feel like writing about this situation, as despite being an experienced teacher with various qualifications, this is a little bit of a jump into the unknown. I have observed classes of very young learners and seen them around other schools and they all appear to be constantly hyperactive and noisy! I've always thought that it must be a nightmare to get anything done with these classes. Having knowledge of young learners behind me, I have a head start on someone completely new to the situation, but I think that this will be a great learning experience and I hope that I will still be positive about it after my first classes and beyond.
I want to keep a sort of journal of the classes on this blog in the hope that the reflection will help me get the best out of myself and also that I might attract some comments to assist me in my very young learner teacher development! So, here's to routines, songs, miming, drama, fun, noise, hyperactivity and hopefully, some learning!
I've had the kids for two 60-minute classes this week and it has been a lot of fun, I'll blog about my experiences so far as soon as I can. If anyone reading this has experience of pre-school teaching and wishes to share some 'top-tips', please do, I'd love to hear from you!
- The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Attending Evening Classes
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Attending Evening Classes Working during the day and going to school in the evening is becoming more and more popular in Vietnam these days. People have to work to support themselves and their family; however, in order...
- My First Week With The Four Year Olds
I've completed one week, with two classes of an hour, with my class of 4 year olds so far. I kicked off both classes with a 'song' I made up because there wasn't one like it in the book we use, which is called "Little Elephant". My extremely...
- Let's See What The Magic Bag Thinks
We've all been thereSometimes in class we want to choose one child to do something and often this can be difficult because the kids get annoyed if they aren't chosen. What criteria do you use to choose which child is going to do whatever it is,...
- Over A Year Since My First Blog Post!
One year on How time flies?! I've only just realised that it is now more than 12 months since this humble blog was launched with this post. The original purpose of the blog was to reflect on the process of initiating my first class blogging project...
- Classroom Routines
One of the most important things I have learnt about teaching young learners is the need for routines. There are many things that can be used in the classroom for many reasons, but today I'm interested in discipline routines. When I started teaching,...