Yes, it’s true, I’m never going to become a millionaire teaching English to children in very non-chic Northern France. There are plenty of opportunities to teach adults business English in companies or through language schools and I did do this for a couple of years. However, I decided to specialize in teaching kids and give up the classes for adults. This decision was for a variety of reasons which may or may not apply to you. Maybe you’re stuck deciding whether to do TEFL adults or children. If you are or if you haven’t thought about it yet, here are some of the things I love about teaching children English.
Teaching children is fun!
How many jobs are there where you get paid to play? Well, maybe if you’re a professional video gamer. But you don’t get to sing, or dance or tell stories doing that. I feel truly happy when I’m singing a song with my kids or doing the Baby Shark dance and I know that they are really enjoying themselves and learning so much too. Yes, of course, there are days when it’s not so fun, when you’re tired or you have a grumpy class and it’s a bit more of an effort to keep up the happy face. But maybe you can do a different type of activity that day, crafts or reading a story. It doesn’t have to be high energy all the time but can still be fun.
I save money on a gym membership.
After a full day’s teaching, I feel physically exhausted. I have danced and jumped. I have got up and down from the floor approximately 3 million times. I have walked up and down the stairs at school from one class to another and done the actions to heads, shoulders, knees and toes with five classes. It definitely beats standing in front of a white board for eight hours a day and it keeps me fit and healthy too.
Teaching kids makes me happy
Every day the children I teach make me smile, laugh and give me so much satisfaction. There is hardly anything more satisfying than seeing real progress and children enjoying themselves with something you’ve created. Little kids love to tell you stories about their lives which are often really funny. Bigger children love to tell you about what they’re doing at school and at home. Sometimes they tell you sad stories but most of the time, they always make me smile. When we’re all playing together and chatting and learning, it really makes all the effort worthwhile.
I don’t have to teach lots of grammar
I am perfectly capable of explaining the present perfect continuous tense to a group of adult learners if I really have to. However, my heart always sank when one of my students asked me to do so. This was a big part of my choice between TEFL adults or children. One of the joys for me of teaching little children is that there are not really any specific grammar lessons. We teach tenses and how phrases are formed but through games, songs and other fun activities rather than long technical explanations and exercises. This makes English lessons, for me anyway, a lot more enjoyable and relaxed.
I’m better at teaching children
I think that a lot of my colleagues prefer teaching adults to children and somehow feel that they are better and more serious English teachers because of this. That’s fine. If they are doing what they enjoy, then that’s great. I don’t think however that being a teacher to children is any less important or serious that teaching adults. It requires a different and special set of skills that not everyone has and it is just as important a job. Honestly, I am better at teaching kids than I am adults and I enjoy it a thousand times more which means that I do a better job. I am very proud that I have taught so many children to enjoy English and to speak it well.
Did you have to make a choice between TEFL adults or children? Why have you chosen to teach English to children? Do you teach adults too? What do you think are the differences? As always, I’d love to hear your ideas and opinions in the comments. To stay up to date with new posts and ideas, you can follow the GoogooEnglish Facebook page. Alternatively, sign up for email updates below.