Teaching English to children aged 5-7

I was essentially put in charge of a class of 15-20 children aged 5-7. There was also a broad spectrum of skill level and knowledge amongst the students, ranging from those who were very capable of learning the new concepts to those who had difficulty writing in Indonesian, let alone in English.

The experience was both challenging and very rewarding. It was rewarding in two main ways, firstly, to see that the kids were learning some basic English words and having fun provided me with a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Secondly, my Indonesian speaking skills improved exponentially and my teaching skills definitely got a work out.

My main criticisms are as follows. Firstly, there was no curriculum at the school, and so it was totally up to me to find out what English level the children were at. This makes it hard for the children to progress because with each volunteer they may be taught things that they have already done or things that are too difficult for their current level.

Secondly, the class was too big. This was not an issue of class control, as the kids were well behaved and I could comfortably control the entire class. This was more an issue of differing levels of ability. There were basically two main groups in my class - extroverts who worked hard and were able, and introverts who were a little shy and a majority of whom were unable to write neatly or at all. Because of this wide spectrum of ability I realized I had to create easier tasks for the less able and harder tasks for the more able students. Having two teachers or having two streams would be the solution for this group.