Ahhh...class!

Today was not my very first class for my new teaching job, but I thought it was about time to write a little about it. During the month of June, the students here in Singapore are on break, so the classes are actually part of a holiday program. There are two age groups, 4-6 and 7-10. So far, I have been part of two of each age groups.

Let me start by saying how amazed I was this morning with the intelligence of such a young group of student!! The activities were created by the teachers (and moms) that developed the enrichment school to help motivate younger children to use and develop their thinking skills. Their programs are based on dialogic thinking, where teachers are there to facilitate the learning process. Students work on their creative and critical thinking skills, decision making skills and problem solving techniques.

This morning, I got to run my first two classes completely on my own and it was a lot of fun! Both groups were easy to engage in the activities, although there are always a couple of shy ones in the group. I even had a little girl draw me a picture and specifically ask me to take it home and hang it up where I could see it. She couldn't have been more than five years old!! It's the best thing when the students leave class with enthusiasm, saying they had fun..

Well, more holiday classes to come and then the centre I was hired for begins their weekly programs next month. I'm looking forward to it and hope this job works out in the long run. It's only been a couple of classes so far, but I feel like I have already learned so much from the students and the founders of the program.