We have now kindergartens in every locality and every township and is understood as a place where a foundation is laid to create a stepping-stone for the children to climb onto the ladder of their future, yet it is a place highly misunderstood and misconceived. The basic reason lies in our occupied thoughts of high school environment where we have studied and built our lives but kindergarten is different; it is a dreamland for tiny toddlers who enter into the place to feel open space and allow their imaginations to fly.
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Kindergarten has a very different approach than high school; it has its way and style, as it is different because it is for our little under five’s. It is made to make the five-year or less adjust in their formal and friendly atmosphere but to understand the real concept of kindergarten, we must understand under five-year oldies behavior patterns, their social environment, and their interests. Though they talk big and show their bravery yet from inside they are tender and soft and can be easily molded according to the way we elders like them to be but this is not an aim of kindergarten. Kindergartens don’t develop little kids according to the way we are but nourish and develop according to the way they are.
This is the basic principle of kindergarten. It should be a school of warmth, care, and a gentle environment. It is not a place as said by James L Hymes to “overpower youngsters and push them back.” (Hymes, Online) In other words, as I said above, it is a place where children learn in a free environment and the world of their own – the world of their dreams and fantasies.
The way these children analyze themselves and shape their lives depend upon the basic conceptions of the way they learn and experience during their early lives. Also, the different dimensions of their success level they take with them depend on the way their mental powers are nurtured.
They are introduced to the basics of the subjects that they need to study in high school and teachers adopt various techniques such as videos, computers, artwork, music, games, and other activities to enable them to learn the basic skills playfully. But every teaching method or project plan is scheduled keeping in mind their social environment and family background. Here the children are from Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, therefore our educational plan is to be prepared to keep in mind the social atmosphere of Jakarta.
The official language of Jakarta is Bahasa Indonesia and English is widely spoken and understood fairly, so a plan needs to be made keeping in mind children having flair for their language Betawi Malay and English. (Berita Jakarta, Online News)
Keeping in mind the high standard lifestyle and diverse culture, it is very necessary to come closer to these students, understand their language, and make them learn and apply abstract concepts and concepts of numbers. But before teaching these concepts, my aim of teaching strategy is to develop their ability to pay attention. Both the rhythmic clap and chant methods enable tiny toddlers to pay attention and attain the capacity to know the directions. In the rhythmic clap method, I will ask my assistant to start rhythmic clap and tell the children to stop whatever they are doing and clap following the teacher’s rhythms.
In the chant methods, I will tell children to follow the voice and actions of the assistant teacher as she makes with her hands and voice and makes the children modulate the voice. The children sitting closer will respond first and then the rest of the class will follow. If a child does not respond to the teachers’ activity and is not paying any attention, I will again continue with the same process keeping in the mind to look straight into the children’s eyes while chanting.
This is the best method that might allow the children to pay attention and focus on the directions. During their day’s programs, I will fix some time for them to have their own way with play-way materials and peers. But before I give them exposure to the materials like blocks, pictures, and the things they would be using in their daily lives, I would allot ten minutes to make them aware of these materials and give them freehand enabling them to understand better and get exposed to them.
Then I would adopt what is known as the ‘Modeling’ method. (Brunaccioni, Online) It is a game for young toddlers to make them aware of the way I will be speaking, my tone, pronunciation, and my eye contact. Maintaining eye contact with children is a very difficult job as the children are often in their thoughts, and looking here and there and moving around. I will follow each child and demonstrate the way to keep eye contact. In this way, the child can be more open to the teacher and will respond well as he knows you are there to listen to him or her.
This practice is tedious and a lot of patience is required but many children do not have practice in making eye contact during conversation. Praising and applauding the child will follow this practice and it would set a tone for the whole academic year. Next followed will be a molding of the children’s behavior and inculcating in them good manners as dictated by the society like how to say Good Morning, respecting and wishing elders, the importance of saying thanks and sorry, eating manners, helping friends and other needy people. Then they need to be taught to maintain personal hygiene, the importance of keeping the surroundings clean, and the way to follow other rules and regulations like how to cross the busy road, etc.
To inculcate in them these behaviors, I have decided to keep one whole period of 30 minutes for this. Every day I will teach the children one good manner or the other and that too with the help of pictures, diagrams, short movies, and cartoons. I will also frame short rhymes in English and Betawi language, which have one or the other moral lesson to convey. I will also invite a doctor who would tell them the ways to maintain personal hygiene and dentist to check their teeth and the way to brush the teeth. On one day, I can invite one traffic policeman to teach them about the traffic rules: the way to cross the road and the functions of red, yellow and green lights on road signals.
Giving lessons to under five-year-old children means trying to keep crickets in one basket; if the lid is opened to put more crickets, the other would jump out of it. (Bodrova & Leong, 2008) Only managing one classroom full of kindergartens takes a lot of energy out of the children leaving very little time to give them analytical skills and the lessons to make them aware of the subjects.
The subjects need to be introduced to make them aware of their importance in their lives in the most practical way. E.g. giving them blocks is the best method to make the children aware of the concept of numbers. I will give blocks to all the children and tell them to recite 1, 2, 3…with me while separating each block. Another method is teaching them rhyme of 1, 2, 3.
Children love colors. So every day after the class of mannerism, I will devote fifteen minutes to take them out in nature to make them feel the different colors the nature is immersing out in its all dimensions like I will make fly motions with the children to make them feel they are also flying and touching the sky which I will say “sky is blue, and this color is blue”. I will make them touch the leaves and grass to have the feeling of green color. I will make them sit under the shade of a tree and tell them the tree is brown. I will also make them feel the color of their own body like hair and eyes are black. I will make them grasp the colors by showing them the pictures of different balloons and kites.
I have chalked out a few instructional strategies to enable them to learn rhymes, English and Betawi language and numbers: (Pillar & Skillings 1995)
- Demonstration: Making hand movements, actions, and little dancing steps is the best method to teach English. I will do one action and make the children follow it and the same process will be recited and performed many times. I will also use demonstrations in the form of dancing, writing, and boxing to make children grasp the vocabulary of various words. Simple sentences and phrases will be taught by the way of demonstrations.
- Choral drill: In this method, I will make the children chant together following me. It will be a repetition of poems, nursery rhymes, alphabet, an alphabet song, sentence patterns, and vocabulary lists and I will make the children repeat again and again in melody and rhythm. This practice will be used for more than half the time during the practice session.
- Look and Say: It is a technique for children to look at the pictures and any drawings or patterns being drawn by the teacher on the board and all the children will follow it by looking at the pictures and listening to what the teacher is saying. Children would either look at the picture by pointing at the words on the chalkboard or by pointing at the print on a page or in a textbook. Each page of the book has an illustration with the alphabet and a word corresponding to that alphabet like there is a picture of a kite and correspondingly the word kite would be written and an alphabet K. I will point to the word, alphabet, and picture and repeat the same. The teacher will read one phrase and the children will listen and follow the same. This exercise will start from the first page and continue till all alphabets are over in due course of the session. This will be practiced for numbers also and as well as to teach about goods, animals and birds, and all necessary things of our use in our daily lives.
- Use of Tape Records: I will make the children listen to rhymes, alphabetical songs, and songs of birds, animals, and flowers to make them have fun while they learn. Above all, I will also make them have some exercises and leave them in the park on the swings, which have been created specifically for their physical development.
All the above methods will enable the children to develop motor skills to increase their mental awareness while playing and enjoying.
Reference List
Berita Jakarta. Jakarta Now – Language. 2008. Web.
Bodrova, E. & Leong, D. J. (2008). Developing Self-Regulation in Kindergarten — Can We Keep All the Crickets in the Basket. Web.
Brunaccioni, J. Settling In to Kindergarten: Helping New-to-School Kids Settle In & Feel at Ease. Web.
Hymes, J.L. What is All About Kindergarten? Web.
Piller, B & Skillings, M. J. 1995. English Language Teaching Strategies Used by Primary Teachers in One New Delhi, India School. Web.