Author: Miao Xiangqiong, Teacher of Haka Preschool in Huize County

“Course Gamification” means that “let the children play in the process of studying and study in the process of playing”.

This is what I learned during the initial training after the Huize “One Village, One Preschool and Pre-primary Class Turns into Preschool" project of Humana People to People started in Haka Preschool.

Not just initial training, in Haka Preschool other teachers and I have participated in many trainings arranged by the project. Through these trainings, I have a brand-new understanding of early childhood education.

Before that, teachers in preschool would play and do handicrafts with children together, but they would not have an in-depth understanding of the effects. In addition, there would be a certain trend of top-down black board teaching in rural preschools in the daily teaching activities, which does not meet the needs of physical and mental development of children aged 3-6. Meanwhile, regarding early childhood education, we can also guide the children to explore and learn through environmental innovation and corner activities. These are all we need.

More than that, I have known parents in the village who would like to send their children to kindergarten in the city. Kindergarten in the city have better conditions in all aspects, children will also get comprehensive exercise.

Recognizing this problem, I am nervous about how can I teach the children in the preschool well in the future? As a preschool teacher, how can we achieve real “Course Gamification” in daily teaching? What can we do to keep parents from sending their children to kindergartens in the city?

About how to provide good service in early childhood education - in a parents' meeting, a parent said that children in preschool should be playing games, dancing and singing rather than learning pinyin and mathematics.

Some parents have such awareness, and as teachers, we really need to seriously reflect on the previous teaching methods.

I hope that I can put the knowledge points of each training into actual teaching activities, instead of taking it for granted to give lessons to the children, and by that let them spend a pleasant time in the preschool through various splendid classes.

On a sunny day, I took the children to the playground and played the game “Eagle Catches Chicken”. The boys are competing to be “Eagles”, while the other children are agile in avoiding the eagle's pursuit on the playground. When I seeing children having so much fun, I know that this is not just a game. For the children, how to be good at play an eagle and how to make concerted efforts to avoid the eagle's pursuit all require the children to coordinate and cooperate with each other.

On another day I asked the children to bring corn and beans from home. Today we will use them to make puzzles together.

What pattern should we make?

Umbrellas, elephants, balloons, potted plants, trees and houses. The children have strong imagination and practical ability.

Curriculum comes from life and nature. Let children explore different worlds through combining these common seeds freely in daily life.

I am still working on exploring how to teach children well. I hope that through our continuous efforts, children in rural preschool can enjoy a better education compare with urban kindergarten, instead of children from rural areas are all goes to cities.

Project introduction:

"One Village, One Preschool and Pre-primary Class Turns into Preschool" Projects is a pilot policy of Yunnan Provincial Department of Education in the field of preschool education. It is hoped that the existing preschool classes could be changed into independent pre-classes/schools, and the pre-classes/schools will be set up in large administrative villages, so as to gradually realize the preschool education layout of "One Demonstration kindergarten for One County, One government-run kindergarten for One Township, One Preschool for One Village". Huize County is one of the pilot counties. After preliminary communication and field visits and research, the Federation for Associations Connected to the International Humana People to People Movement (Switzerland) Yunnan Representative Office cooperates with the Education and Sports Bureau of Huize County to assist them in recruiting and training teachers under the policies of "One Village, One Preschool and Pre-primary Class Turns into Preschool" Projects. It mainly trains and supervises the teachers in terms of knowledge, curriculum management and teaching, to change the teaching method of "primary education" in preschools. In addition, provide teacher training rooms, management toolkits, teaching videos and other related tools and materials. On-the-spot supervision and visit of preschool education centers to provide hardware financial support for preschools. Expand the coverage rate of rural preschool education and improve teaching quality so that more children can receive quality preschool education.

This project is jointly organized by the Federation for Associations Connected to The International Humana People to People Movement (Switzerland) Yunnan Representative Office and the Education and Sports Bureau of Huize County.

This article only represents the views of the author and not the views or positions of the donor.