Pros

Kinder Kids provides a wonderful opportunity to embrace and encourage a new culture to students. Children get to explore and learn a lot about the English language while also learning about the power language has in this world. The families, staff and children are all lovely to work with and provide a positive learning environment as long as you also put forth that effort. The Japanese staff are extremely hard working and supportive. I loved my experience working with my school. There are a lot of challenges that come with this position as any teaching job does, it is important to remember this as it in turn can be very rewarding. Lots of supplies and materials to support and encourage learning in the classroom. Excursions for K grades provides great opportunities to explore further on the material learned and see the students use their language outside in different contexts. Moving abroad can be a big transition and Kinder Kids was really helpful in this phase. It also provided an amazing opportunity to live in such a rich culture.

Cons

You don't have to be a certified teacher to teach children here so often those without the background knowledge are upset with the extra time you spend in your classroom. You should know coming into a teaching position that unpaid overtime is a part of the job and there are lots of extra tasks you should do to be fully prepared for every day's lessons. The Japanese co-teachers are wonderful and hard working. Be ready to support them in just as many ways as they support you. This will help your classroom environment and partnership run smoothly. Each week there is an extra class you will teach (Grad class). Unfortunately this can be a very long day as you will be teaching your whole shift. The material is laid out and direct but can be a bit dry. Would be nice to see schools getting nice playgrounds for students outside and upkeep. It seems that more focus is put into expanding the business and less focus is put on the existing schools.

Pros

After working as an ALT at all grade levels (K-12), I came to Kinder Kids because I wanted to have a bigger role in the classroom—which Kinder Kids definitely allows for! As a teacher at Kinder Kids for three years, I learned so much about the profession from my veteran colleagues and received a ton of ongoing feedback and support, which especially helped when managing my more challenging students and classes. The staff is among some of the most motivated and hardworking group of people I’ve ever worked with and an inspiration to be around. Although the work is tough, it’s both rewarding and gratifying.

Cons

This job isn’t for everyone and demands a lot of time, energy, and effort. For those looking for an easy teaching situation, you won’t find that here. Success as a teacher in this company requires proactivity and resilience. I enjoyed my experience a great deal, however, I encountered many moments of stress.