Kids Lessons 2: The Regulars

On Monday I had my first regular kids classes. It was a help shift at a kids school. I had one class of each of the three big groups, Kinder (3-6), junior (7-9), and senior (10-12). It was exhausting. The juniors were the most exhausting. The classes had 5 kids for kinder, 6 for juniors and 3 seniors.

All of the kids were kind of into it, and had various levels of success. The kinders could name the things (presents, bells, other christmassy things), but usually dropped the "there are" from
"there are n items", but got the general idea. The juniors were a bit better, but their language for this week was a bit easier. I did get mixed up with the flashcards I was meant to be using, so for the first activities used some of last weeks. I realised halfway through so I just got the extra cards and put them in the pile. The kids didn't notice.

The seniors were OK. They got a bit mixed up when I said "How are you today?" instead of the expected "How are you?" (there's a bit of a ritual for starting the lesson that includes asking "how are you?" The rituals a bit different for each level.) so they answered "Monday", but I realised what was happening and rephrased. I had been told the seniors were not quite so outgoing and willing to compete, but this group were, although it is a smaller group. It's also odd that of the three, a boy and a girl have the same name.

The schools not far from my regular school, so travels not really an issue. It's just sort of a front desk and a room, and the teachers room is essentially a closet. I'm probably not going to spend that much time in there, in any case. The classrooms outer wall is a glass wall to a hallway, so I could see people (parents presumably) watching me and the kids, but I didn't worry about them.

On a related note, since I knew I'd need lots of energy for the classes, I had decided to load up on sugar, and the best source I had was a packet of musk sticks (thanks Justin). The staff member (I can't remember her name (Etsuko or something like that)) asked if the kids could try some. I said sure. Maybe one or two out of the 6-10 who tried some liked it. Most people over here (gaijin and locals) have not appreciated the taste.

I did make a bit of an impression while juggling some paper balls between lessons, so next week I'll take my juggling balls in with me.

Anyway, that's my adventure in kids classes for this week.

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