HOW? I Prepare My Tuition Materials
As a pre-school Chinese tuition teacher, I mainly source for teaching materials in library, at the 'Chinese Collection'.
Why buy books when you can actually borrow them? #putonthinkingcaps
Below are some books I borrowed and taught my tuition kid:
A few key-points I take note when I am looking for my tuition materials:
This is because I need my kid to recognize the words along with the Hua Yu Ping Yin. It creates connection to what they are reading and slowly building up their vocabulary into their memory on how each word sounds like.
2. Are the words readable?
You can be surprised how publisher can positioned words in messy places until I have difficulty reading it, imagine what more my tuition kid can read under such condition? It will be an eyesore and makes the reading segment real boring.
3. Is the story content appropriate for learning?
I discovered some books that were not suitable for kids to learn because of its wrong portray of facts and wrong values shown in the book. Examples such as teaching children to eat watermelon skins (rather than the fruit) and killing one another in anger. Hence filtering books is an essential step I need to take before I checked them out of the library.
- It needs to have attractive content that draws interest for his own age.
- Cultivate the good values in a child.
- Prompt the child to put themselves in the character's shoes and relate their personal life to the experiences of the characters
- Put on their thinking caps. Could there be other possible solutions to these problems surfaced?
I like to look out for pop-up storybooks.
Personally, I think it is very interactive and kids love it. because it surprises them. In addition, it can create a sense of 'What's gonna happen?' where I can prompt them to think before allowing them to open the pop-up.
I love it when there are questions already prepared at the last page of the book. It is a bonus point because this way, I can further encourage my kid to think.
He does not need to write his answers out, because to me, saying it out is good enough.
Creating in him a desire to read, to comprehend, to answer back, and then becoming a discipline to ponder deeper and making it a delight in a long run before Primary School starts.
My kid is a foreigner hence I need to translate quickly from Chinese to English to make sure that he understands. A tough role to play but it trains my ability to immediately translate.
For books that require deeper thinking skills, I will write down possible translation on a paper. Branch out to various ideas I have, then add on during tuition time.
Being over-prepared can be a disadvantage where you might forget what you've written and how to relate it back. Hence, I seldom prepare notes like above. I just go by the flow. Nevertheless, preparation is good too as you know you are well-prepared.
I surprised my kid with a car-like sharpener and a star pencil to encourage him to do well in learning and stay focus, and be like a star!
It takes a lot of effort to teach, but the satisfaction after teaching is one of a kind.
I am reminded of Psalms 1:3 and it says "He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper."
I am reminded to do things unto God and not unto man, being faithful in the little things and cherishing what I have. Building and empowering the lives. Who knows someone is looking up to you as their role model?
I walk past this wall almost every week. I felt a revelation that everyone has an invisible wall built around their hearts/mind/body. It can be good or bad depending on how you see it.
What do you think? :)
What do you think? :)
