Sorry for the little set back on posts... I didn't expect blogging to be such a .. time consuming hobby. But I will do my best to keep up! With lesson planning, working full time, updating parents weekly, running an extra after school class for the children, and everything in between, we've been keeping very busy.
But everything with work and out of work has been incredible! Here are some updates:
Work:
I absolutely love how the the children here are so eager to learn and absorb everything. From the day I stepped foot in the classroom until now, you can see how much they've grown intelligently. From the youngest class (3 years old) up to the oldest graduating class (6 years old), you can see development. The children have grown on us so much. There is not a day.. actually an hour that goes by that my roommates and I are not talking about our kids.
My kindergarten class is about to graduate in a couple weeks so I am waiting on my new class of babies coming in soon. I have been trying to look up names and keep them in mind for when I can give all the new children their American names. I think that's one of my favorite things about the school, seeing the new children coming in, seeing their personality and giving them a name to fit it.
I think because of the new class coming in soon, all of the classes have been switched around according to the age.
As for lesson planning, we've been using classic preschool books to base our lessons on. They kids love it! For the month of July we used "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. We broke down the book into subjects to work on each week. For example, we did primary colors, secondary colors, and the last two weeks we did the animals of the book and we just went more in depth with it. This month we are using "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle and we are focusing on numbers, fruits, vegetables, and butterflies. One thing we learned from school is being able to break down a book and show children the many different aspects of it. We sure are taking advantage of it! We believe that this also gives the children, who are ESL learners, a chance to get familiarized with the vocabulary and storyline of the book.
Being two months in, we've gotten adjusted to our schedule:
7:40-8:15 - The children are arriving at school and all the teachers are there to greet and take the children up to their classrooms.
8:30-9:30 - Children are taken to the Beijing International Sculpture Park which is right in back of the school. *If the weather permits and the pollution is at a suitable level... (Be grateful we don't have to worry about that back home!)
9:40-10:00 - The children "exercise" which is dancing choreography to about 5 or 6 songs. It really is a workout. It's basically like zumba and it gets addicting. We find ourselves singing the songs long after the day is done.
10:00-11:00 - This is the time that I have my lesson to teach the children for one class. I usually do a circle group, introduction to what we are learning, and then I follow with a group activity.
11:00-11:30 - Lunch Time! We also get to eat with the children and our food is provided by the school. All the vegetables are grown organically and used to make lunch and dinner. I have never in my life ate so many vegetables... I'm more of a junk food type of girl. But this type of diet has been good to me. Some of the girls at the school have been saying I look slimmer already.
11:30-11:45 - The children use this time to settle down and get ready for nap. The teachers often have then walk around and recite Chinese readings or songs.
11:30-2:30 - The children's nap time aka our nap time too! We get this time as our break and we live so close that we can walk home and use this time for whatever we like, which is usually Netflix and a nap.
2:30-3:00 - The children are beginning to wake up and we are returning to work. They also have their snack which is always fruit.. a different one each day.
3:00-4:00 - This is the time that I teach my other class. I follow the same type of routine I do for my other class.
4:00-4:45 - Dinner Time! We also are provided with food to eat with the children at this time too. It's always nice to sit and eat with the children.
4:45-5:10 - The children are getting ready and each class has a specific time to be picked up according to age.
Then our day is over! Every week each of us has a specific day to conduct an extracurricular class from 5pm-6pm.
Some pictures of my kids <3
 | |
|
 |
| My kindergarten class.. In only two months we've developed such a close, strong, loving bond. I think I'll cry when they leave. |
 |
| My middle class, made up of mostly boys! |
 |
| My boys, so much lovin'. |
 |
| Here are some of the pictures of inside of the park. |
 |
My kids on their strolling to find a place to play. |
 |
| This is a whale sculpture made of mosaics |
Until next time.. which will be soon! I promise.
Ms Suzy
