I get a big kick out of teaching at kindergartens. The little kids are so much fun as long as they don't try to chop me in the groin.
Recently I have been teaching insect names at one school since many kids catch insects in the summer, particularly rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles. One game I play with them to help them remember the names is a variation of musical chairs. The game follows the same rules as usual but instead of music I call out an insect card and they repeat the name as they walk around the circle of chairs. I use mosquito as the stop card and when I say mosquito they have to sit down. This is where the fun part is.
Most kids get it. They have to sit down. If they are the one who doesn't get a chair then they are out. But some kids are really out to lunch. Here are a few crazy things they do when I call out mosquito.
Some kids will run around in a hurry to find an empty chair even though they were standing right next to one.
Some kids will try to sit on the edge of a chair already occupied or they will try to sit in the space between two chairs.
Some kids will simply stand there and watch others run around. Of course they end up being out.
If two students are looking for a free chair and there's one I can see, I call out "there; there," and point to it. What happens then sometimes is that the child sitting next to that empty chair will move to the empty one. Why? Children's logic I guess.
Some kids will walk or run right past an empty chair and continue running around after everyone's seated.
Some kids will actually stand and look at an empty chair while another student comes running around the circle and sits in the chair right in front of the watching student. This makes you wonder even more when that student is proclaimed out and he or she starts to cry.
Sometimes two kids sit in the same chair and to settle the issue of who gets it we play Rock, Scissors, Paper. But sometimes two kids will start doing this while there are still other chairs free.
Once a kid put his hands on an empty chair next to him and called his friend over. When another kid sat down he got angry and tried to push that kid off the chair, telling him it was supposed to be for his friend.
Some kids just don't get it. The Japanese teacher and I look at each other, laugh and shake our heads. But as long as everybody is having fun then it's fine.
hotaka posted on Jun 28, 2007
| views: 361
Comments
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evil_twin said on Jun 28, 2007....
Kids are so funny. Stories like this just make me smile. What a great job you have! It sounds like fun.
-evil_twin LA
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polarheart said on Jun 28, 2007....
Hotcakes, one thing that I've realised since having a child of my own (now 3) is that kids are very possessive, but I'm sure that being a teacher you already know this. When the two sit on the same chair - even if there is another chair open - its because in their minds they claimed THAT chair. The one who keeps the chair for his friend has claimed his friend and his friend's right to sit next to him. That's the only thing that I can think it can be in their heads. My Tigger I think will be one who will just keep running around and never sit on any of the chairs! LOL ;-) -
mobil said on Jun 28, 2007....
You lucky SOB Hot, working with kindergarten kids. I know, it's hard work
too at times, but they are such a delight. I went to my granddaugher's
kindergarten class last month and read to them. You are like me or me like
you. I so enjoy watching them and their reactions.......Great post Hot
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missb said on Jun 28, 2007....
Hey Hot,
I used to teach kids as well years ago in taipei. I got lucky [being indonesian and all] :) But don't worry, i don't have an accent ;)
That was my first time and it was truly enlightening. I never knew that i'd be enjoying the job so much. There's always something new everyday. The smart ones, the shy ones, the naughty ones and the troubled ones. I loved them all. Too bad there are fewer teaching jobs now in taiwan. But if i had the opportunity to do it again, i'd do it in a heartbeat!
Thanks for the post :)
Cheers!
B
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secretlife said on Jun 28, 2007....
what more could you ask for than a job where you get to smile every day?
hey, I read somewhere that the rhinoceros beetles are often kept as pets in asian countries...do you see this?
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skald said on Jun 28, 2007....
Kids are just wonderful. -
destinydiva said on Jun 29, 2007....
you have a great job hot.....
I love how kids minds work...so curious and and full of wonder......amazed by the smallest of things...
mmm maybe I havnt grown up yet ?????? lol
I enjoyed reading this...thanks hot x
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jadestar said on Jun 29, 2007....
lovely story - funny, too. Kids are great.With all the musical chairs, mountain trips, blowing up out-houses & 2 lovers - where do you find the time to blog? just wondering..... -
hotaka said on Jun 29, 2007....
evilT, yes, kids sure do help liven up a day. They can get me through the hours when I feel like I am about to break down.
polarheart, great observations. I do glean some interesting insights on adult behaviour by observing children. They make the complications of the adult world seem so simple to understand. Basically it's all the same rubbish just in a much simpler context.
mobil, always good to see you here. I think I would be run down if I taught all day like those teachers do but in small doses it's a great pleasure. Good that you went to read to them. I would love to do that but they don't understand much English and I can't read Japanese fast enough or well enough.
missB, sounds like you really enjoyed doing that. It takes a certain type of person, doesn't it? Some people just won't do it.
secretlife, they sell them in the stores, stag beetles too and others. In fact, there is a Japanese animation series called Mushi King (mushi meaning bug) and a collectable card game. Boys love it and it teaches them about various insect facts.
skald, I have always loved kids and perhaps I am learning to love them even more. Somebody is influencing me.
destinyD, don't grow up. Grown ups are boring. Did you ever read The Little Prince? Grown ups are too complicated. Hey, I should know!
jadestar, are you making fun? I blog after 11 at night and comment a little, then comment again in the morning before I start teaching. One lover now and there's no time to be lovers so that is only time consuming in that it is on my mind all day. Holding back on the outhouse plan. I can't afford a trip to Montana now anyway.
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