Oct. 29
China Journey 2
I had the opportunity to visit a Kindergarten/Childcare
program in late September. After much time spent on obtaining permission, I got
ready to do a lesson (or shall I say facilitate) to introduce children to
English language. Since I was told there would be 34 students in the class, I
requested if a couple of our students could join me as some of them had
expressed interest in visiting programs and schools here. Then there was the issue of whether or not we
have health insurance (hum) and then if we have any health problems. First, I
was going to teach this lesson to Kindergarteners and then it changed to 3-4
year olds. My contact got the permission for the visit finally by saying she
would take me only to her child’s class and have me teach a lesson there! She
appeared to be nervous about the whole visit. After the date and time was
finalized for the visit, she would call me to either give me an update about
the changes or the issues she was dealing with or simply to remind me the time
and the date! She also seemed very anxious and would ask me if she could help
me make “flash cards.” I reassured her that everything was under control.
On the day of the visit, we met with two women in
the main office, one who appeared to be the director. The conversation between
my contact, whose child is enrolled in the program, and the director was very
formal, unlike what a conversation between a parent and the director of the
program would look like in the US! When I inquired about the math education in
kindergarten, the director responded by simply saying “the directives for math
education comes from the ministry of education and the teachers follow the
directives.” Probing further, I asked if
could buy the textbook they use to which she responded with a firm “No.” Then I
requested if I may simply see the textbook and she obliged. She brought me a
whole lot of Chinese language books and one math book. I got to glance through
all of them in a rush and simply could not grasp much as everything was in
Chinese. I pushed the issue a little more to look into the possibilities of
observing a math lesson, and you guessed it! Her response “China is
number 1 in math and science, and we are very proud of it!” but she did not
give me permission to witness how they achieve this excellence! The whole
meeting lasted for no more than 10 minutes and we needed to rush out as the children
and the teacher in the classroom where I was to teach were waiting!
Whatever little hope I had about visiting the program again faded away after my
meeting and knew that probably that would be the last time I would ever visit
the program.
The second professional who was present at the meeting,
took us around. The facility was simply beautiful! The layout of the building
was triangular inside. The classrooms, which we could only peek into, appeared
clean and tidy. The children were not in the classrooms. The classrooms had
plenty of windows and as one walks along the corridor, one could see and hear
whatever being taught or how the children were engaged. The structured lessons
are done in the mornings. Maybe that explains why we were given an appointment
at 3:00 pm?
Up the stairs into an open hall-way, with two doors
each leading into a classroom, we enter one. The children (3 year olds) had
just woken up after a nap I was told, were sitting on child sized green chairs
lined up against the back wall and a few chairs arranged in a line on either
side. The environment seemed formal.
There were about 34 children in that small room with three adults. In the center there was some space where we
stood in a line, me and then my two students. Behind me there were four small, light blue tables
arranged in a square where I plop my things: the book I was going to read to children, The
Odd Egg by Emily Gravett, a stack of “This journal belongs to ________”
notebooks (a few sheets of colored papers, folded and stapled) I had made for
children to scribble, the cutouts of eggs and birds for children to glue to
make their own follow up stories and sticks, crayons and stickers.
In
an attempt to connect with the children, I introduce myself in Chinese:
Ni
hao
(Hi)
Qin
aide hai zi men xia vu hao (My dear children, good afternoon).
Wo
de Ming zi Jiao Vidya laoshi (My name is called Vidya teacher).
This
was scripted by my Chinese laoshi Pang (thank you, laoshi) so I could
share with children to ease their stranger anxiety! Then I tell them in English
we are going to sing some songs and “Qin gen wo shuo” (Please repeat
after me). I begin with “twinkle, twinkle little star,” a universal rhyme that
most children in many countries seem to be familiar with or at least the tune
and “One, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive” as it involves counting
in English and A,B,C,D” song to introduce English alphabet. My students who
accompanied me knew the lesson I had designed and they backed me up by
repeating after me. I tell the students to join me and a few children start to
make some sounds and as did the teachers. Then we clap and wiggle our fingers
and I pull a chair and sit down to read the book. We examine the pictures, some
curious eyes began to engage and I start to read as my escort starts to
translate it for the children. I say “Crack and CRACK” in soft and loud voice as
the eggs hatch and birds come out and children repeat. Then I request the
teachers if we could distribute the note book to the children and have them
write (scribble) their own sequel to the story by gluing the cutouts. I assured
them that my students and I would help with the activity and clean up. But the
teachers felt it was too much for children to handle and that they can send the
booklets and the cutouts home and parents can do that with their children. We nodded
politely and gave the children the stickers to the children and exit from the
class. They children follow us to the play ground.
In
between the buildings and the front there was a big play yard with slides,
monkey bars, seesaw and space for children to run around or do some exercise. This
space was bustling with activities. Children running and playing on one side
and a group engaged in drill practice. The kindergarteners were getting ready
for the National Week celebrations. A teacher stood in front of the group and
moved her hands up and down and sideways as the children mimicked with the big
red silk roses in their hands. The music was loud and the children’s actions
were well choreographed. The director
and the teacher who showed us around waited for us at the main gate. I thanked the
director and give her and the teachers the key chains and pens (SOE-yeah! Thank
you) and “Thank you” cards to them and walked out of the premises with little
hope of returning to the school or having any interactions with children or
teachers or parents.
The
next day unfolded much differently than I had expected. I got a call from my
escort if I would such activities once a week! I was not sure I was hearing her
right? I say “Come again” and she repeats. My response, YES! Of course! Parents called
her to find out about who had visited the school as the children shared with
them what they learned. They asked her
why the school could not have such lessons more often, at least once a week! But
my contact felt that it would be too difficult to obtain permission and hence
discussed with the parents alternate ways to arrange these sessions. Things moved at supersonic speed! Within a few
hours the 15 parents had rented a couple of rooms in a tea house, right
opposite the Kindergarten program, for every Tuesday evening (from 7 to 8 which
after the first week changed to 6 to7 pm) and asked me to give them a list of
things I would need to engage children. Since I do not know the place well
enough to know what is available where, I relied on her to get me some colorful
transparent scarves, a parachute and child-safe scissors and a few English
books (which are almost impossible to find here). I too explored the local stores for some
musical instruments-like bells, shakers and drums-, glue sticks and lots of
colored papers and stickers and stamps- thanks to the $200 grant SOE granted
me! When we were in Tibet, in one of the street markets, I found 19 cow bells
for 80 RMB! One parent who had some of
the books I had listed brought those to share. So with all of these, we were
off to a very great start!
We
have had these play sessions now for five weeks and it has been one FUN ride
for me and my four student helpers! Brown Bear, Brown Bear has been a hit.
Children and the parents love it. Now I have my own, thanks to Karen for
picking up some excellent books and sending them to me! I read Tap the Magic
Tree yesterday and it was mesmerizing! Most of the parents do not know English,
not even the alphabet or the English number names! They are learning alongside their
children, which is really fun to watch. The parents are eager to have
information about child development. I
have now prepared a handout that is being translated into Chinese.
Lesson
1. Never travel without children’s books!
Lesson
2. The power of parents! They are very resourceful and as a group, they can
achieve whatever they wish to!
Lesson
3. Never give up! I never dreamed that I would get to work with children and
parents and now I am delighted beyond measure. I hope I will get an opportunity
to interact with teachers as well so I can learn from their experiences and explore
their challenges together where possible.