{"id":1864,"date":"2013-08-27T08:39:03","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T15:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/66.147.244.209\/~canadiu3\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:42:40","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T16:42:40","slug":"back-to-school-from-a-preschool-teachers-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2013\/08\/27\/back-to-school-from-a-preschool-teachers-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Back-to-school, from a preschool teacher\u2019s perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/66.147.244.209\/~canadiu3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/preschool.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1865\" alt=\"preschool\" src=\"http:\/\/66.147.244.209\/~canadiu3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/preschool.png\" width=\"799\" height=\"476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/preschool.png 799w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/preschool-300x178.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I only taught in preschool\u00a0for\u00a0one school year, but the memories of being with thoughtful, playful and happy\u00a0kids are still somewhere in my system\u2014and it\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n<p>I had no plans of being a preschool\u00a0teacher\u00a0at all, but perhaps destiny drove me to what\u2019s considered as \u201cthe\u00a0noblest\u00a0of all professions\u201d, short as it was.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of being with\u00a0children\u00a0for a few hours everyday may be a source of great (advance) joy to anyone, but it does not mean that teaching children is easy. Having\u00a0been\u00a0there, I can tell you it is not easy, but oh boy, is it fun!<\/p>\n<p>Since we are going back-to-school, and if you are a preschool teacher or a wannabe, here are some important\u00a0facts\u00a0that you need to know or remember:<\/p>\n<p>1. <strong>Teaching\u00a0children\u00a0is NOT EASY.<\/strong> Yup, teaching cute little angels is not a breeze. As a preschool teacher, you need your wits about you, and tons of energy\u00a0and\u00a0creativity because these kids, they will keep you on your toes.<br \/>\n2. <strong>Going\u00a0to\u00a0a preschool class unprepared is a BIG NO.<\/strong> Don\u2019t underestimate the\u00a0intellectual\u00a0abilities of children, you\u2019ll never know what to expect from\u00a0them.\u00a0I\u00a0remember\u00a0the story of one of my co-teachers. She got an unexpected question from a curious kid, but failed to\u00a0explain\u00a0it well (partly because she didn\u2019t have enough visual materials to support her answers, and children are visual learners!). She got creamed.<br \/>\n3. <strong>Integrate Multiple Intelligence in your lessons.<\/strong> Just like adults, children are strong in some points, weak in some, learn better through a unique learning style, which may be one of these or a combination:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Visual-Spatial<\/li>\n<li>Logical \u2013 Mathematical<\/li>\n<li>Bodily \u2013 Kinesthetic<\/li>\n<li>Musical \u2013 Rhythmic<\/li>\n<li>Intra-Personal<\/li>\n<li>Inter-Personal<\/li>\n<li>Naturalist<\/li>\n<li>Spiritual<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>4. <strong>Don\u2019t\u00a0bore\u00a0your students.<\/strong> Children have very short attention spans but no\u00a0clowning\u00a0around is needed (you are, after all, a teacher and not an entertainer).\u00a0The\u00a0keyword\u00a0is CREATIVITY.\u00a0First rule: Do not let children sit in class for a long periods of time. Allow them to go\u00a0out\u00a0and explore.\u00a0Use\u00a0real-life\u00a0objects to explain a concept. Children will soon get tired of seeing\u00a0flashcards\u00a0each and every school day, so the best way is to replace it with\u00a0objects\u00a0that really exist.\u00a0Mix\u00a0teaching\u00a0strategies that may include dancing, singing, writing, reading and\u00a0listening.<br \/>\n5. <strong>Be prepared to deal with parents.<\/strong> Expect them to be\u00a0regular\u00a0guests in your class. They would want to\u00a0be updated with the progress\u00a0of\u00a0their\u00a0children,\u00a0so\u00a0be\u00a0ready to answer all\u00a0their\u00a0questions.\u00a0Make sure you have an updated lesson\u00a0plan and\u00a0interesting\u00a0visual materials to show them. Parents\u00a0only want the best for their children, and some of them could be very discriminating, and place heavy and exacting demands.<\/p>\n<p>I was only 21 when I had\u00a0my\u00a0first teaching stint in\u00a0preschool. I was really nervous and didn\u2019t know how\u00a0to\u00a0handle myself in\u00a0front of the kids\u00a0and their parents.<\/p>\n<p>I\u00a0had the first day jitters; the shivering was there (which I\u00a0believe\u00a0all first-time preschool\u00a0teachers also felt).\u00a0But after my first\u00a0day, I promised myself that I would perform\u00a0well, really well for the\u00a0children. Though\u00a0innately na\u00efve, I had to sing and dance like\u00a0there\u2019s no tomorrow to catch up with my restless students\u2014and\u00a0admittedly, it felt good!<\/p>\n<p>Do you want to make a difference in the\u00a0lives of\u00a0children? The\u00a0path\u00a0to\u00a0being a preschool teacher might just\u00a0be yours. You\u00a0should\u00a0always remember, though, that through your\u00a0wisdom and actions, you can make\u00a0or\u00a0break them, so do\u00a0your best to be the best teacher that you can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I only taught in preschool\u00a0for\u00a0one school year, but the memories of being with thoughtful, playful and happy\u00a0kids are still somewhere &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-lifestyle","mauthors-katherine-marfal-teves","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}