Children in general are not easy to handle. In fact, the most challenging age group would be the pre-schoolers as they have a lot to adapt to and they don’t have the maturity to understand the gravity of the situation they are in as well.
Photo by Naomi Shi from Pexels
Ever since the pandemic has caused a shift in learning mode from traditional classroom-teaching to online-learning, lots of concerns and doubts have arised among pre-school tutors. Tuition agencies have come in with the save for parents as there are pre-school tutors available for guidance.
However, there are not enough and hence aspiring preschool tutors searching up for online jobs in Singapore are being encouraged to sign themselves up for home-based tuition jobs to grab an opportunity for themselves.
#1: GETTING TO KNOW
Firstly, tuition teachers should get to know each student personally. This can be either during online lessons or by asking parents outside of lesson time. There are common misconceptions about home tuition in Singapore, and its high time parents clarify and comprehend its advantage and need today.
Since tuition teachers will have a much easier time teaching the preschool students if they understand each child’s interests, talents, learning styles and other characteristics. It will allow them to plan their lessons such that it is interesting and fun for all the students.
#2: BEING PREPARED
Tutors should prepare a list of items that all students should have during lessons and engage parents in this process. How can you motivate your child to learn outside of their tuition class you ask? It’s not all that complicated; you just need to involve your child in every step of the way.
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Students will spend most of their time doing activities during their lessons and they need to have the necessary materials. Thus, tutors can inform parents to keep a preschool kit containing all the necessary materials such as markers, play dough, paper and any other necessary material. Taking this initiative will avoid scenarios where the children have nothing to do because they do not have the necessary materials.
#3: COMMUNICATION
Preschool tutors need to develop good communication with the families of each child. Unlike face-to-face lessons, teachers may not be able to observe how much the students are enjoying the lessons.
Having activities that entertain most of the children is not good enough as it must be ensured that all the students enjoy it, not only the majority. Teachers can solve this by asking parents how fun the lessons are for their children and use their feedback to improve the lessons in the future.
#4: THE DISCIPLINE
Tutors must remember that pre-schoolers are not as disciplined as older kids. They will have very short attention spans and this problem will be much worse for online lessons.
Photo by Tatiana Syrikova from Pexels
It is common for adults to feel fatigued by staring at a screen for a long period and this is no different for a pre-schooler. They may randomly walk away from the screen to take a break and forcing them to sit in front of the screen may upset them. Sometimes parents may also interfere and force their child to sit still and it is up to the teacher to inform them that it is acceptable for the child to take these breaks.
#5: TRYING NEW STRATEGIES
Teachers should not be afraid to try new things during lessons. Without having many changes in lessons, students may become very bored after a few lessons and it is difficult to capture their attention again without coming up with something new.
However, many teachers are also hesitant to try new things especially if their previous methods have already been working well. Having a lesson flop is not the end of the world and should only be seen as an experience to learn from.
#6: SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
Teachers can easily get carried away while planning for activities. Many teachers make the mistake of planning activities that are too long or monotonous. These activities may work well for face-to-face lessons as teachers will have more control over their students.
Photo by Anthony Shkraba from Pexels
Online lessons however will negate the effectiveness of these long activities. Moreover, activities for online lessons should also be more movement based on making students sit still for online lessons is impossible. It will also help to capture the attention of students if the teacher has a good sense of humour.
#7: ESTABLISHING A ROUTINE
Having a specific routine for each lesson is very important so that students know exactly what to expect and thus can give their undivided attention. For example, a lesson can start with a song and end with a story. Maintaining such a structure will make lessons less confusing and easier to follow for students. Too many changes may leave students more confused!
#8: ENGAGING AND INFORMATIVE
Lessons must be fun and exciting but at the same time also be as informative as possible. Focusing too much on fun may capture more attention but is not very useful. Parents may also be upset that their child is not learning much as they may have done their part of contribution and collaboration to be active participants in their child’s academic journey and would expect the same level of commitment from tutors.
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
Similarly, making a lesson too informative will make the lesson too boring for the students. A good way to be informative and fun is to cover multiple concepts in one activity so that students do not feel overloaded.
For example, multiple shapes of a different colour can be given to the children so that they can learn how to count, identify shapes and colours and learn new words all at the same time.
#9: EQUAL ENGAGEMENT
Needless to say, online lessons however also have their advantages. For face-to-face lessons, students will have to huddle around their teacher when the teacher is reading a story or just explaining something in general. This will result in some students not being able to see the book or see the visual explanations which is a big disadvantage.
Meanwhile, online lessons provide teachers with the option to display the book on the screen which will allow all students to experience the same effect while learning.
#10: A RUN-THROUGH
Teachers will have to make a lot of changes in their style when moving from face-to-face teaching to online lessons. Setting up an online classroom is more difficult than many people think and teachers need to learn how to do so before their first lesson.
They should practice setting up the classroom in the platform chosen and ensure that their sound quality, video quality, etc. are all of the good standards.
#11: PRE-RECORDING
Source: edsurge
Online platforms allow teachers to pre-record lessons for students to watch in their own time. This can be used effectively by teachers in whatever way they want to. It can also be used to provide both students and teachers with a short break as they can space themselves for the lesson instead of having to stay attentive for a fixed period.
#12: YOUR WELLBEING
Teaching is a stressful job. Many teachers put the wellbeing of their students over their own which results in them working much harder than necessary. However, it is important to understand that to be able to continue teaching well and with energy, they will have to take care of themselves. Self-care is very important and teachers should make some time for it!