Flexibility. Creativity. A big imagination.
When teachers bring these elements into an early years classroom, young students learn to love learning, and they carry that love of learning into the elementary grades and beyond. At BASIS International Schools, we are guided by the belief that students can achieve far more than we have come to expect, and with the right support, every student can excel. Early learners naturally question, create, and discover and our teachers encourage and support students as they learn about the world around them. Early years teachers create the blueprint for students’ future success, and with their own creativity and imagination, inspire students to develop their own!
What does this look like in the classroom?
“Learning phonics and sight words can be boring at times, but not here! The kindergarten classes at BASIS International School Guangzhou get three new sight words each week and a new phonics rule. They learn from videos, movement, and games. They take a test, but before each test they love to compete with the teacher. They get very competitive! They want to badly to beat the teacher. They are intelligent little rascals that they actually do, in fact, beat the teacher! The teacher forgets that they are just five and six years old sometimes with their motivation to learn, compete, and even write! Their confidence shoots through the roof before their test and the teachers could not be any happier with their results.”
– Courtney Watson, Kindergarten Teacher, BASIS International School Guangzhou
What do our teachers love most about teaching early years students?
“Early years educators form the base of all learning that comes after. Every student that reads a textbook was first taught their letters by an early years educator. Every student that passes an AP Calculus exam had to use the numbers they were first taught in early years. We are tasked with creating the foundation from which all future learning is built. It’s a great responsibility, but those of us that are willing to take that responsibility on know that the care and effort we give our students will last them a lifetime.
I love teaching early years because there is so much visible progress. It is a lot of hard work, but it is very rewarding. The kids at this age are all so excited to learn and it is an amazing experience to go on the journey of discovery with them.
I think this position is good for educators that are still young at heart, love playing, love getting messy, and love sharing joy in simple pleasures like mashing a ball of playdoh, finger paints, and playing in the dirt.
Teaching early years at BASIS International Schools is a good fit for teachers that like to plan their own lessons, like to try out their own ideas, and are really excited about the opportunity to create educational experiences that are tailor made to suit their group of students. This is a good opportunity for experienced teachers that are interested in lesson planning, curriculum design, differentiation, and using a variety of teaching methods. Any teacher who has ever felt limited by prescribed lesson plans will enjoy this position.”
– Jennifer Meade, Early Education Teacher, BASIS International School Shenzhen
“I began my teaching career as an art teacher. When I was first offered a teaching position as a kindergarten teacher, I wasn’t very sure about it. Then I actually stepped into the classroom and instantly fell in love with it. Now I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. Teaching Early Years is the most rewarding job I ever had. This is my seventh year teaching kindergarten and I hope I can do this for many years until I retire!”
– Alejandro Cuetos, Early Education Teacher, BASIS International School Shenzhen
Visit our Early Years Program FAQ blog, or our careers site to learn more about teaching early years with BASIS International Schools.
