Teach English in JiAngjin Qu - Chongqing

Teaching EFL in a KindergartenAll ESL classrooms present challenges for the teacher, but the challenges of teaching four to six year olds are unique. students in this age group are inquisitive, energetic, highly visual, easily bored and distracted, and prone to emotional difficulties as they adjust to the school environment. A Kindergarten esl teacher must be prepared to teach students who most likely have had no previous exposure to a new language and are, at the same time, learning to transition into the educational system as a whole. Yet a well-organized and highly creative curriculum, a positive attitude and comforting personality can provide an enjoyable Kindergarten experience for both teacher and students. Kindergarteners learn through interaction with objects and with people. Structured play time is a key aspect of every Kindergarten classroom. By focusing all of your class time activities around a specific theme, you can introduce a subject to a child through a variety of means, including song, story time, free play, arts and crafts, and physical exercise. For instance, one thirty minute lesson could be spent learning about the color green. students could learn about green plants, create artwork using green paints or green clay, sing ?Five Green and Speckled Frogs,? read a book about the color green, spell green using foam letters and magnets, and play the game Red Light Green Light. By appealing to all their senses and a variety of learning styles, and by providing them with both audio and visual exposure to the color green and to the spelling of the word, you ensure that at least one activity will drive the purpose of the lesson home to each student. A Kindergarten ESL class should aim to cover certain basic topics over the course of a year. The teacher should aim to impart to each student a solid understanding of the Roman alphabet, colors, numbers, everyday vocabulary and basic phrases. It is critical that the teacher use concrete examples and plenty of visual aids when teaching vocabulary, as students at this age are unable to think abstractly even in their primary language. Kindergarteners are typically unable to read, but they can begin to associate letters with certain sounds. Using an ESL Phonics program can be very beneficial. It is the job of the teacher to model good pronunciation. This requires slow, clear and simple speech and, often, an over exaggeration in tone and facial expression to convey meaning to the children. Because Kindergarteners are quite young and may feel overwhelmed by the school environment, and particularly by the presence of a foreign teacher, the teacher of young children must be able to care for them emotionally as well as intellectually. Kindness, sympathy, and a welcoming demeanor are essential. A good Kindergarten teacher will make an effort to lower herself to the eye level of the students when interacting, and will find that a great part of the day is spent kneeling or sitting on the floor. Building a rapport with young children also requires a willingness to ridicule oneself, use physical humor and demonstrate enthusiastically. Because Kindergarteners tend to lose interest in activities quickly, each class should be broken up into activities no more than ten minutes long. Ideally, a classroom would have several ?stations? set up with arts and crafts, books, toys, and puppets. This would allow students not only to switch activities every few minutes, but also to physically move around the room frequently. Each lesson should aim to engage the students in the language through listening, speaking, reading and writing. At this stage, reading would entail following along in a story or reading a single word off the chalkboard. Writing might involve tracing letters or words, or using other fine motor skill activities to prepare the students for writing letters. The degree to which these four aspects of language learning will be applied in any particular lesson will depend greatly on the students? aptitude and the topic being discussed. Much like a mother tongue Kindergarten class, ESL Kindergarteners will spend a significant amount of time simply playing together. The teacher should encourage the use of English in their playtime, and create an environment in which the children are motivated and excited to learn more. It is important to keep in mind, however, that working with young children takes patience. Discipline can become a problem, and must be dealt with as per the rules of the school. Children may not learn as quickly as the teacher might like, especially if they are learning the Roman alphabet for the first time. Flexibility, patience, and a cheerful, comforting attitude regardless of the daily trials will go a long way towards enduring and enjoying a year as an ESL Kindergarten teacher.