How To Become A Certified Kindergarten Teacher

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Working as an English teacher in the kindergarten is very entertaining and challenging, as the teacher will deal with the children who don’t have even a basic knowledge of English, have the very short attention span and very different in terms of their behavior. Before I moved to China, I haven’t prior experience in teaching the kindergarten level students, because I always thought that teaching the young learners would be annoying, hard to discipline and far too energy-consuming. So what I had learned was just through my own experience. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nasiba Q. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My decision...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have 3 years of experience in teaching English in a few kindergartens in Beijing, China and some experience in teaching adults in a training center. When I started in kindergarten, it was very difficult because I didn’t have enough information about how to make a proper lesson plan. I didn’t have enough materials, games, songs, and it took me a lot of time to collect all the necessary information for teaching and creating my teaching plan. Without experience, it wasn’t easy for me to build a good rapport between me and my students. It took me a while to build a connection between me and the kids. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lidiia L. Please note that this blog post might...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Any kind of teaching is always a big challenge itself, no matter who you teach what you teach and where you teach. Teaching has been one of the most important and still complex processes for the teachers and students at the same time, especially teaching languages, as it is a sensitive and hard job. Teaching different subjects requires different approaches to it, so does teaching languages, particularly teaching foreign languages. English is one of those demanded languages being taught ages in foreign countries as a second language in educational institutions such as schools, university colleges, kindergartens, etc. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Muhayyo N. Please note that this blog...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences The majority of children turning 5 years old attend kindergarten for two years in preparation for primary school. Some kids enter kindergarten earlier at the age of only four. This actually varies according from state to state and also from country to country. In China, most kindergartens combine childcare with teaching so that the children will develop physically, morally, and intellectually in a harmonious way to get ready for their formal school education. A good environment is assured for the kids to have a conducive place to learn actively. Teaching English in China can be overwhelming considering that English teachers are also assigned to teach kids as young as one year old or even younger. Chinese parents...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have been working in China for more than six months now and it’s been a very interesting time for me not just to learn more about the country and its people, but also to enrich my teaching skills and grow professionally as a teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Evgeniya S. When I arrived in China, I hardly knew anything about specific features of teaching in that country, so I thought that the knowledge I had was quite enough to handle the classes in kindergarten or primary school. But since my first working day, I have often been surprised and even sometimes perplexed by what I have seen at kindergartens and schools in China. Many teaching techniques and methods that Chinese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Children learn fast, that is a fact. Learning a language is their natural skill, which they are born with. We all have gone through that process. There is no teacher needed to teach a kid how to speak, there is no teacher needed to teach a kid how to pronounce e.t.c. Mothers and fathers are not teachers, but they teach their kids how to speak, or maybe kids learn by themselves? In my opinion, communication is one of the very basic needs, which comes naturally. Children need to talk to their mothers, fathers and other people who are around them. Speaking is a result of listening and observing – in this case, family members. Kids learn from people in their environment, that is why it becomes so popular to hire a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Of all the hard jobs around, one of the hardest is being a good teacher. So how is it possible to become a great teacher? And how can a teacher become great at helping young learners in a kindergarten class who have little to no experience learning in a classroom setting? Although challenging at times, it can be done. There are a few keys to being a great kindergarten teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Julia W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first key is to develop the right mindset before entering the classroom. It is important for a teacher to cultivate a sincere desire to care about each student in the class and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English in kindergarten is more than just teaching a child how to pronounce words. If you want to be a dedicated teacher, and you want to successfully teach the children, it is essential to teach them how to follow rules and instructions. The following paragraphs will try to equip you with the most important ingredients required to be a successful kindergarten teacher. With having more than 2 ½ years of experience teaching English at a kindergarten, I am certain that the most important thing a teacher has to do is to build a strong rapport with the children. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Robin S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a new language is not an easy task, regardless of the age it is learned at. Typically it is a little easier to learn languages at a young age, as most of the learning process is done subconsciously and most activities are geared to be fun and informative. It is important to begin learning languages at a young age and begin to stimulate the different parts of the brain involved in language processing. Therefore it is important to begin learning English as a foreign language in kindergarten classes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Melanie D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching a young beginner class can be...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching children can sound fun from the first sight, however, it is a difficult job, because young learners are not that fluent in their own language when they start learning the second one. The age group that I want to consider in this essay is from 3 to 7, the kindergarten age. Parents make a decision to send their kids to learn English in a kindergarten thus kids are not motivated. A teacher can motivate children by making lessons entertaining and interesting. Games can make lessons fun for kids and productive for learning instead of common words drilling, for instance ‘What’s missing?’ game is very amusing for children to play and it prompts them to practice the target words. Active tasks encourage...  [Read more]

Anastasiia Ovchinnikova TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Two months ago, I closed my laptop after a one-hour defense over Zoom of my MA dissertation from the University of Barcelona on mobile-assisted language learning in front of the most highly cited researchers in the field of Applied Linguistics. It was very satisfying and rewarding to know that everything I had done before directly led me to that point. In this article, I am going to elaborate on the following topics that helped me to get into the competitive program in Applied Linguistics: Learning the English language has always been key to my personal development. When I was 15, due to my English level, I won the FLEX grant program...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What do you know about speaking and teaching English? Well, the answer to the first part of the question goes back to early times. I started to study English when I was between ten or eleven years old. I can say that after a few classes, I was already able to say short, simple but probably still inaccurate sentences. However, teaching English appeared as a possible professional job a long time after that. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate marisol b. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. After my high school graduation, I decided to get a university degree in Tourist Business. By that time, my English skills had improved enormously....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The average four-year-old has an attention span of eight to 12 minutes. Kindergarteners typically range from four to six years in age so at best, an instructor has approximately 20 minutes in which to work when teaching kindergarten children. Teaching aids are critically important to maintaining the attention of this age group! When teaching four-year-olds their second, third, or fourth language, good teaching aids will keep the child's attention while also simultaneously teaching them critical content. This paper will explore how to create a schedule in an EFL kindergarten classroom. For simplicity sake and congruence of understanding, I will write from the perspective that the kindergarten classroom is a total...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas English has become a worldwide language, leading to early learning of English in the school context is becoming more common nowadays. It has been suggested that children should master their mother tongue before moving on to their second language. However, if you learn a language after the age of seven, you can never turn it into your mother tongue. You should learn it as soon as possible. After that age, they won’t learn it the same way as they do their native language. This is the reason why there are more and more kindergartens teaching English and what does a teacher need to put in mind when teaching EFL for children? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tran T. Please note that this blog...  [Read more]

Charlotte Lam Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In Hong Kong, the education system is competitive where the majority of people try their utmost to study in a better school. They are also required to learn Cantonese, English, and Mandarin starting from kindergarten. In order to get into a renowned school, the Cambridge examination becomes an important criterion for getting into a famous school, and therefore, Cambridge English lessons become much more popular in Hong Kong city. The Cambridge English exams are designed for different levels of English learners. For children in kindergarten, Cambridge English for young learners is suitable for them. It is designed for children in primary or lower-secondary education. There are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas There are many things I have learned over my thirty-plus years teaching students full time in classrooms, ranging from primary grades 2-5 and in junior high and high school. However, one of the most crucial things a teacher needs in the face of young and older learners is confidence! If the students suspect that the teacher has no idea what they are doing, it can be detrimental to the lesson and the teacher's ability to control the classroom situation. Having a confident teacher brings positivity to the classroom and comfort among the students that they are going to learn something valuable. Throughout my career, I wore many hats to grow...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences If someone asks me what I think about teaching kindergarten children as a native English teacher (NET), I would say that it is one of the happiest and most rewarding experiences that I have ever received. But, if someone asked me what I thought about teaching kindergarten children when I first started, I would have responded differently. I would say, “I can’t seem to get my students’ attention,” or “Some of my students still have trouble learning new words.” It was after a few weeks into teaching and some wonderful advice from my coworkers I realized that I had overlooked the fact that the students’ age, perception, and interests play an important part in teaching. When I took those factors into...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In the past, some scientists thought young learners do not learn as fast as adults. However today even parents are aware of the importance of starting learning a second language early. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Safak İ. When people start learning at early ages of their life, they increase the probability of gaining better language skills and favorable attitudes to other languages and cultures. Moreover, it will be possible for them to acquire native English levels without an accent. Besides this being bilingual will provide the kids with many cognitive advantages such as mental flexibility. Looking through different language spectacles, their brain will develop the ability to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas For many kindergarten students, their English classes are likely the first time being introduced to and interacting with a native speaker. As such, the experience that the children have in the class can have a huge impact on their future outlook of learning English. It will be my job as a teacher to make the class fun and engaging so that the kids associate English with fun. The importance of the formative years in learning means that there are several aspects to consider when approaching English teaching in a kindergarten, many of which I picked up throughout the course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eleanor R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Growing up I always had an interest in learning and teaching a language. Of course, English was my best subject and I always made sure I was part of the drama club playing one of the big roles. During my kindergarten days, our teacher used to play musical chairs as we waited for our parents to come to pick us up. It's interesting that now as a teacher I really love using it for my lessons and have tried to upgrade it just a little bit more. I am currently teaching at a kindergarten in Shanghai, China. I really love my job and my workmates who have become more like family and friends. When I started working there, like any other teacher, I was scared, felt vulnerable and wanted to do my best. I kept asking...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas According to Jeanne Et Al (2009: 284) teachers are regarded as one of the most important socialization factors in every society in the world. A world without teachers would be a black hole without any fruitful improvements. Kindergarten English teachers are regarded as the backbone of any form of language acquisition as people climb the academic ladder. This is the first stage that children are exposed to a language that is completely foreign to them. Children at this stage are just beginning to become comfortable with one language and introducing a new language, especially one as complex as English, can, therefore, be difficult. However, studies suggest that children learn languages better than adults, and so...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Having spent more than 20 years as a marketing consultant, I decided to change career, to become an English language teacher. Hence, I took up the 120-hour TEFL course with ITTT, along with a specialised course in teaching young learners and another one in teaching business English. Even before I finished my TEFL course, I was offered a teaching job with a private school in Bangkok, Thailand. I have since been teaching kindergarten kids for about 8 months. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Albert P. Teaching kindergarten kids is definitely a lot more fun and less stressful than working for corporate clients in my previous job. I start work at 8:00 a.m. and...  [Read more]

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Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have always looked up to teachers regardless of the subject they master. Since we are kids, teachers become part of our lives at school. We become familiar with this role since we start attending school till we reach university and as students, we were all at some point in front of different styles of teaching methods and personalities. Whether we feel or not comfortable with a teacher, they are there to educate and to share their knowledge. The role of a teacher has significantly changed over the years and as a result of the role of the students also has been affected in some way. Teachesome way part of our growth and development process which is very relevant to our lives. Kids are sent to school every day for...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Early childhood is the period from 0-8 years old, it is a time of remarkable growth with brain development at its peak. During this stage, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them. We can say further that Early childhood education is a branch of education that relates to the teaching of children from birth to the age of eight, therefore covering infancy, kindergarten and the early school years up to grades 3. So how does storytelling come in? Well, storytelling does a lot here because this stage is very crucial to a child’s early physical, socio-emotional, cognitive and linguistic development. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Chinenye M. Please...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I think to best address this question you need to know why I took this course. I am a USA certified teacher who arrived in China almost 6 years ago after a teacher in the Florida school system for 13 years. I was an ESE (Exceptional Student Education) certified, Middle School Math and Science teacher. When I first arrived, I assumed all the foreign teachers I worked with were also certified teachers. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jennifer K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I quickly discovered this was not true and began to experience working with TEFL/TESOL teachers. There was a distinct lack of understanding in many...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas “The role of grammar is perhaps one of the most controversial issues in language teaching” (Richards and Renandya, 2002, p.145). From the past to the present, there have been so many changes in methodologists’ views on which grammar items should be taught and how to teach them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Man C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the past, in a traditional classroom, grammatical competence and explicit knowledge of language rules were emphasized. Grammar teaching held such an essential part in language teaching that other aspects became either ignored or downplayed. People assumed that if the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Learning through games has become more common over the years. The traditional academic-oriented learning method of repetitive memorizing is slowly becoming outdated, and most students prefer to learn in a fun and interactive environment. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Katherine I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Children of all ages love to play, from the tiny infants to the toddler who sings ABC songs, to primary children who plays memory games. Children learn important skills by playing. Playing enhances children’s ability to problem solve, memorize, concentrate, imagine, be creative and interact with others (EYLF, 2009...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In a globalized and fast-growing world, the English language has grown to be considerably important. But let's analyze a bit further into the topic. The English language is the second most spoken language in the world only after the Chinese mandarin. With English speakers all around the globe, It's been a big part of tourism and other industries around the world. There are many reasons why the English language has grown to be so important in the past few years. The great development of a great powerful and influential country like the United States is one of the main reasons. Media from this country is consumed everywhere and has gained the interest of people from different cultures, languages, and countries. In a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences If someone would have asked me 10 years ago what would I do once I finished University, it would have never crossed my mind to tell them that I would become a teacher. The process of becoming a teacher started when I began to look for part-time jobs while I was studying the Language at Hanoi University. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anay M. G. My English skills were poor, yet I had good basic knowledge of the language due to years and years of continuous study. Being non-native to the English language, I had to deal with learning English since primary school all the way until high-school. At that time, I didn’t appreciate very much the work of my teachers, I thought the English...  [Read more]