Does Playing the Uke Make You Good with Children?

Joko

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I am about to embark on a career change where I will find myself teaching English to kids in Thailand, and honestly I'm not so sure how suited I am to the profession.

I recently posted this video.

In a teachers forum online for expatriates working in Thailand I got this (edited) PM:

"bring the uke to interviews. about 5% won't get it, the rest will give you a job 100% of the time and truly love you for it. what a great way of getting through to the kids. trust me, you'll find the right sort of place, somewhere where they appreciate what you bring, and you'll be like a superstar there."​

One thing that foreign teachers lament in Thailand is that they are expected to be entertainers more than teachers. On an academic level, I can understand that, but personally, I AM an entertainer! That's one of the things I like doing and am good at!

So, as I embark on this new career, I have this reservation that I don't like kids. They're annoying. I'm like C.W. Fields; get away from me kid! YOu bother me! Kind of weird because I LOVE the ukulele, and let's face it, the uke is a kid magnet. Kids love the uke.

I dunno. I don't have kids of my own, and maybe, once I'm exposed to them, something human will be turned on inside me that will make me want to teach and entertain these snotty nosed brats.

Ever brought a ukulele with you to a non-music-related interview? That message I received had to be one of the first times this has ever been suggested.
 
I've never brought my ukulele or guitar to a job interview before, because I've never applied for a job where that could be considered an asset. But since you are interviewing to become a teacher, maybe that's exactly what you need to set yourself apart from the other applicants? Worst case scenario, the interviewer(s) is/are a stiff upper lip type who doesn't have fun ever, you could simply say that you brought it with you for fear of the heat affecting the instrument or for safety reasons. I'm sure their curiosity would get the better of them though. Good luck!
 
I don't think "The Alphabet Song" (AKA Baa Baa Blacksheep) is well known in Thailand, and you're right, being able to play it on uke would be an engaging way to get kids to learn it...
 
As a uke-loving, certified, professional teacher with nearly 20 years international experience currently teaching grade 5 at an international
school in Bangkok, I must say . . .

Don't teach kids if you don't already love them. That's what they need most, and if you don't have it, you'll be doing them a great disservice.

Thai people do seem to prefer/expect more entertainment than academics. Studies of Thai academic abilities and attitudes rank them
below their East Asian counterparts.

The uke is quite popular here now, but that's just generally speaking. One could have some students who love it or a whole class of students who don't.
 
As a uke-loving, certified, professional teacher with nearly 20 years international experience currently teaching grade 5 at an international
school in Bangkok, I must say . . .

Don't teach kids if you don't already love them. That's what they need most, and if you don't have it, you'll be doing them a great disservice.

Thai people do seem to prefer/expect more entertainment than academics. Studies of Thai academic abilities and attitudes rank them
below their East Asian counterparts.

The uke is quite popular here now, but that's just generally speaking. One could have some students who love it or a whole class of students who don't.

Thank you for saying this.

+1 but if you think you don't like kids, it doesn't mean you can't learn to love them.

Of course if you hate kids it's not a good idea for both you and them to become a teacher...
 
My 9th grade English teacher was a Mandolin player in a famous bluegrass band. The first test of the year, he walked up and down the aisles singing about how life is hard when you're dumb. I'm sure that not everyone appreciated it, but 21 years later, it is still probably my favorite memory from school.

That said, I agree that someone who hates kids would be wise to not enter the teaching profession. I loved the kids, and that still wasn't enough to keep me in teaching.
 
Ponder the idea that you have more in common with kids than you may have thought....you love ukes. Talk to a good therapist for a few sessions, may just be some family of origin "crap" getting in your way. Maybe it's "your child" you have a problem with. Use your talents to teach, be inventive, use that uke to teach....if they just happen to be intertained as a by-product...so be it. I was stationed in Thailand......lovely people.....just give them your best. Good luck.
 
Let me start by admitting that I originally hated kids. I wanted nothing to do with them and they annoyed me. The weird thing is though, they've always liked me, probably because I'm naturally kind of goofy. However, over the years, I have learned to really love kids. It's just something that grew on me. I would think that you as an entertainer, you probably have kids flocking to you after your shows to see the "little guitar" you are playing.

I think kids will take to you more if you do use the ukulele. I am both a Sunday School teacher and a Kids Club leader at my church. For both, I used to use my guitar to lead singing. Of course, and no offense to guitarists, but guitars are everywhere, and I think kids tend to get bored with it pretty quickly. A few years ago, I broke my left wrist and elbow in a motorcycle accident, and couldn't play the guitar. Well, I had a soprano uke sitting around that I never played, and I learned how to hold it with my beat up arm, and I was able to lead singing again, though slower. Well, the kids LOVED IT. Both Sunday School kinds and Kids Club kids. When they asked what it was, I just told them I left my guitar out in the rain and it shrunk :).

Needless to say, the guitar no longer comes to church with me as the uke is now my main instrument, and not only that, but I am now teaching three of the kids to play.

I'll bet that if you bring your uke to school, the kids will love you for it.

Dan
 
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It's the unpretentious thoughts and innocents of children I enjoy. The few people who annoy me, all happen to be adults
 
Playing ukulele is not going to make you better with kids any more than a cat having a litter of kittens in the oven makes them biscuits...

I love playing uke but you couldn't pay me enough to work with kids. I can tolerate well-behaved kids in small groups (two or three at a time). That's about my limit.

John
 
I am a Pre-k teacher. I was good with children before I played ukulele. Being a musician DOES NOT make me better with children. What are you going to do when a kid interrupts you? Or starts puking... Or when they try to touch your ukulele after they were picking their noses? What if a kid has no interest in what you are playing that day?

It is easy to play for the kids and get them excited and have a good time. But can you get them to calm down after playing?

I am all for using the ukulele in the classroom , but if you don't have a passion for teaching children it won't matter how entertaining you are. I love my job and I love that I get to share music with the kids. If you really want a career with children, try to find a way to spend time with some first. To be honest I would never hire someone who told me they did not like children.
 
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My toddler took off her diaper and smeared feces all over her room yesterday.

Then she tipped over her training potty after peeing in it.

My ukulele was powerless to stop any of this. Just sayin'
 
I am about to embark on a career change where I will find myself teaching English to kids in Thailand, and honestly I'm not so sure how suited I am to the profession.

I recently posted this video.

In a teachers forum online for expatriates working in Thailand I got this (edited) PM:

"bring the uke to interviews. about 5% won't get it, the rest will give you a job 100% of the time and truly love you for it. what a great way of getting through to the kids. trust me, you'll find the right sort of place, somewhere where they appreciate what you bring, and you'll be like a superstar there."​

One thing that foreign teachers lament in Thailand is that they are expected to be entertainers more than teachers. On an academic level, I can understand that, but personally, I AM an entertainer! That's one of the things I like doing and am good at!

So, as I embark on this new career, I have this reservation that I don't like kids. They're annoying. I'm like C.W. Fields; get away from me kid! YOu bother me! Kind of weird because I LOVE the ukulele, and let's face it, the uke is a kid magnet. Kids love the uke.

I dunno. I don't have kids of my own, and maybe, once I'm exposed to them, something human will be turned on inside me that will make me want to teach and entertain these snotty nosed brats.

Ever brought a ukulele with you to a non-music-related interview? That message I received had to be one of the first times this has ever been suggested.

If you are serious...Don't even waste your time. I could care less how good of an entertainer you are, if you don't like kids they will pick up on it and you will be miserable.

I use the ukulele daily in my classroom. I mentioned it in my interviews. It works, but I care about kids.

I don't find them annoying. I find them to be the future. So my only advice to you before you embark on this career change is that if you don't like kids....don't do it.

Find a local school that you can volunteer your time at. Find out what you can tolerate.
 
so basically playing the uke won't make you good with children. It can help. But the key to being good with children is caring for them. Someone once said...."they don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."
 
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