Teaching in Kindergarden

This has been the first full week of teaching kindergarden and I'd have to say it has been quite amusing, a little challenging and a definite memory blast of my own experiences in school. The kids are generally good if a bit challenging I can only imagine the sort of pressure that some of them must be under from their parents to succeed and the curriculum that we offer at the school is certainly quite challenging for children of such a young age.

I won't get into too much detail but to say that the children at my level show skills in english only slightly behind what a native might have at their age level. When it comes to writing and reading some of them display skills above and beyond most English speakers when it comes to letter and word recognition. I do have to constantly remind myself that Taiwanese attitudes to children and face are different from my own personal views on how to best educate children. Some times I feel we push them to much and other times not enough. My own Chinese co-teacher yells at them in a way that I think is demeaning something which I don't think is the best attitude if we wish to develop children with a strong self-concept.

As for today we had a birthday celebration. My own class the seal class did for their contribution a stirring rendition of the hokey-pokey. The practice in the morning was brutal with bumps, screams, and tears ending just short of full out bloodshed. I discovered the power of my voice raised in commanding force something I don't think I have ever done. These kids are sweet and I'm already looking forward to next week when we can get back to learning some more.