So I picked up an extra teaching gig here in China at a kindergarten recently. I've been there almost two months now and I can't help but proclaim my love for tiny humans. Now, I have nothing against babies and toddlers and kids in general back home, but I seriously believe that Chinese children are ten million times cuter than American (white) children; there, I said it and I mean it. Chinese babies have the cutest chubby cheeks, pants with no butts, the best looks of curiosity towards foreigners. I'm full on obsessed with Chinese babies.
Now, my kindergarten here is more what we would consider a preschool at home. I have four different classes, Pre-Nursery (2-3 years old), Nursery (3-4 years old), Kindergarten 1 (4-5 years old), and Kindergarten 2 (5-6 years old). Primary schools here start with first grade and most students start there at the age of six. I teach at the school three days a week and the classes range from 15-30 minutes based on the age group.
And if I haven't yet mentioned yet that these kids are darling and adorable and hilarious and just precious beyond belief, well I'm telling you now. Sometimes I dread having to teach there because I no longer have my four day weekend (ya I know, I was way too spoiled before) but every time I leave the kindergarten, I am usually ready to burst from love for these kids. They make me laugh and smile the entire time I'm there.
Do I get to teach them the most thrilling material? Heavens no. Am I able to command the attention of 20+ munchkins? Hardly. But that is more than okay. Each class has its own special quirks and perks. Each class has a stack of flash cards that we go through, a CD of songs, and the two kindergarten classes have books to learn letters, sounds, and words.
Pre Nursery is usually just a chaotic mess, but it is also my favorite class (no surprise there). There is one boy who squeals with delight when I walk into the room and just starts squeal shouting "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!" and his giggle is something you wouldn't believe until you hear it. When I first started, there was one little girl in the class who just burst into tears at the sight of me, she was terrified of the scary weird looking teacher. But now she rushes up to me and says hello and actually participates in the class instead of hiding from me. Most of this class is spent singing and dancing with the kids and I'm pretty impressed with their ability to regurgitate English words (most of the time I don't think they know what they are saying, but its impressive nonetheless).
The Nursery class is probably the most difficult. There are over 30 children in this class and it seems like it grows every week. It is completely impossible to keep all of the kids entertained and focused on the class and at times it can be frustrating, but it is really impossible to actually get frustrated at them. They are just so young and cute and tiny and I can't help but love them. There is one boy in the class who is probably the most adorable child I have ever seen and I named him after my brother Matthew (I've given many of the kids English names). One time I saw Matthew at a little fruit market and he just start jumping up and down and opening his mouth like he wanted to say something and just didn't know what to say and he was so excited to see me outside of school he couldn't control himself. He blurted out "ni hao!!!" and his mom finally looked up and saw me and just started beaming. And then I said hello to him and he just repeated "hello hello hello" endlessly for several minutes before we both left. He is just beyond cute.
K1 is another great class. They are probably the best behaved and some of the students already have a great grasp of English. They can answer questions about the weather, their favorite season, animals, colors, activities...more than what some of my students in Guiyang could do. This class is also very big, with almost 30 students. One thing that I do in all of the classes is make sure they are up and moving and active usually every 5 minutes. It really is difficult for them to sit so long and pay attention and learn so I break the classes up into several small sections. We do some flashcards and then stand and move around. We do some flashcards then sing a song. We do some flashcards and then do some role play or acting. The K1 class loves being active. They recently learned words like such as jump rope, ride a bike, play the guitar/piano etc. They favorite thing to do now is a game called "teacher says, student does" so I'll tell them jump rope and they have to pretend to jump rope. We've had some near fatalities with a few students getting a little too into the guitar. And seeing them "ride a bike" is a sight to behold.
K2 is obviously the best at English. They are all preparing to enter primary school and many of them do have great English skills. There is one student from Serbia in the class and she speaks Serbian, Chinese, and English at 6 years old. Some of these kids are way too smart for their age. Its easy to tell that a large chunk of their English comes straight from memorization and I'm pretty certain none of them can truly read or write, but you can't deny how impressive it is.
So, all in all, I love it. I love these kids. I love the chorus of "hello" and "goodbye" I get whenever they see me. I love that in PN, one little boy always helps me walk out of the classroom by pushing on my butt. I love their smiles and laughter and even when they cry. The world is a much better place because of tiny humans.
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