Kindergarten Teaching

[Geo_star]

I would like to know more about teaching at kindergarten level in Japan.

What is it like? What hours are expected? What is the salary like in comparison to higher class levels?

Can anyone recommend their employers?

[gfell]

Kindergarten teaching in Japan is not like teaching kindergarten in the west.

Kids in Japan start going to classes from the age of 2 and up. Typically the classes will be basically all in Japanese and a small component for English - such as singing the ABC's and an English picture book. During the rest of the class, the native English teacher would help out with art, craft and culture studies.

Activities such as:

• How to use scissors
• Painting
• Fishing in a small tub of water
• Playing with shapes and trying to put them thru the correct hole
• Coloring and so on

The meaning of Kindergarten in western countries would typically mean age 5 or 6. In Japan, this is referred to as Elementary 1.

Try CB College in Osaka or Shichida Child Academy throughout Japan. Blue Dolphin and Royal Kids is another option.

If you can teach in a class of 6 or so students with 2 other Japanese teachers, it would be best. CB College offers classes like this and the English teacher just tags along and helps out basically.

Hours are definitely daytime, and the salary is typical as if teaching adults at a language school.

[boydie]

I was emplyed by Koala English in Gunma Prefecture
Great school based on the immersion method of 50/50 Japanese /English
This school used the best ideas from both Australian Childcare centers and Japanese Kindergartens and combined it so that the Japanese students were able to learn English without realizing by simply attending, playing, eating lunch etc and the same for the Native Englsih speakers in picking up Japanese.

From a teaching perspective although it was hard at first as half the children spoke Japanese and the rest spoke English. But that quickly changed.
You could teach as you would at home which was good ie in English, in a more natural way than you might be able to in a conversation school as the kids attend daily.

The pay was comparable to any school at Y250 000 but the hours were better with only 30 with the kids but that includes eating lunch and playing in the pool. and the holidays were long with the kids off 12 weeks so plenty of programing time
or even extra work available then and the foreign teacher gets 4 weeks hols plus public hols. Some bigger international schools pay more but they need you on Sats and the hols, whilst given, are not always paid so watch out for that.

The school also allowed you to bring your own kids along for a huge discount which was a great relief for me to take my 2 and 6 yr old to work with me as I was not impressed with the cleanliness of the regaular daycare I looked at

One down point is that the teachers do all the cleaning, so if youve been in the public system that will come as a shock. But then most schools have the teachers clean so I guess its normal in Japan

This school I taught at had everything that you could wish for in resources and it was a happy place to be so I highly recommend it
Called Maebashi International Kindergarten
call via their English school
Koala English 027 237 3400 and ask to speak to Jason or Mrs Taeko