Being a kindergarten teacher in Budapest has been…a journey. I’ve been talking about working in a kindergarten for the past two years, but for those of you wondering what that actually entails, here’s a play by play! I just wanted to share more details in case you’re interested in coming to teach English in Hungary yourselves! I had virtually no information on what working in a kindergarten would entail, and I would have loved to know what to expect. So now it’s my pleasure to show you a day in the life of teaching English in Budapest.
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Before we jump in, here are some FAQs!:
FAQs
Me? Alone with 24 mini-Hungarians all morning? For all of our sakes, no, haha. I am an addition to the Hungarian classroom. There are two Hungarian teachers with the children (my coteachers are the best!), and I work with them to provide a bilingual environment for the kids.
Oh gosh, no, haha. Putting aside the fact that my Hungarian is a (long, slow) work in progress, one of the points of the program is that I speak exclusively in English with the kids. If there’s something they direly need, they can go to one of the Hungarian teachers, but hopefully with me they’ll reach to communicate in English!
This is a full time job, but not in the sense of a 9-5. My contact hours (hours spent with the kids in the classroom) are from 8-1 every day. There’s always a lot to do after my contact hours end…but I’ll get more into that below 😉
Starting the Day
7:00 a.m: A day in the life teaching English in Budapest means…early mornings. At 7:00 a.m. I always spring out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed…jk. We have a casual uniform for work (emblazoned t-shirt, jeans, comfortable shoes), so thankfully I don’t have to spend a lot of time getting ready in the morning! More time for sleeping, yessss. After putting my hair up (kindergartners love to pull on any long hair I leave vulnerable, haha), I head out the door and hop on the metro to work! If I don’t manage to eat breakfast at home, I grab a pékáru (a baked good–most likely a cheesey one) in the market on the way.
7:45: Arrive at the kindergarten and prepare myself for the day. A few kids are already there and greet me with smiles and hugs. That definitely makes waking up early easier. Although, on those mornings where I didn’t get enough sleep and I’m still dead to the world, haha, I hightail it to the teacher’s office before I can run into any kids and try to get my head on straight. It’s also a great time to see all my wonderful coworkers, make any last minute copies, and comb through our book/prop libraries to see if there’s anything that could enhance class.
In the Classroom
8:00-9:30–Free Play: By 8, I’m in the classroom and ready to greet the kids. The first hour and a half of the day is normally our “free play” time. The kids get to do whatever they please (the coloring table, legos, and toy kitchen are the most popular though). Even though there are times I want to run when I’m asked to do the same Cinderella puzzle for the millionth time, free play is still joyful. I get to be swept up in the kids’ imaginations (I’ve been a jungle animal more times than I can count) and see the worlds they build. I normally start my time at the coloring table, and let me tell y’all, I am ashamed of my drawing skills. Every two weeks we explore a different theme with the kids, and so there’s English free play activities to help the kids get familiar with the topic and vocabulary. Memory cards are my faaaaaaaave. (But the kids can get scary competitive)
9:30-10:15–Circle Time: This is when we gather to sing songs and play games as a class. Although most of my English teaching is through exposure, circle time is when we give a structured “lesson” to the kids. My Hungarian teacher and I coordinate and go back and forth on talking about the topic, whether we’re introducing a song/rhyme, leading a game, playing with flashcards, etc.. Like for example, when we were doing plants our main story was “Jack and the Beanstalk”, and we did role play and pretended to walk around like the Giant, or sing our “I’m a Little Bean” song. My greatest lesson here was learning not to push it. Some days the kids can listen and play along for ages, and other days they have the attention span of a horsefly. And that’s okay! Reacting to the kids’ energy and focus levels makes circle time go a lot more smoothly.
I’m so proud of how much my kids learn during circle time! Here we’re singing 5 Little Ducks 
A classic fall craft that my coteacher thought of
10:15-10:30–Snack: Would kindergarten even be kindergarten if there wasn’t snack time? After we wrap up with circle time, the kids wash their hands and snack on fruit (no goldfish crackers, over here, unfortunately). Then we start the process of changing our clothes (gosh, I had no idea how time consuming it is to get a 5 year old to change clothes) and go outside!
10:30-11:50–Playground: After snack time, we let the kids roam free! I have to say, I think the playground is pretty decked out. I’m even tempted to jump on the equipment every now and then (especially the pirate ship). Of course, playing is a great opportunity to build vocabulary, so I spend a good bit of time pulled in to whatever fantasy the kids have concocted for the day. I’ve also learned that there are three golden standards you can reach as a teacher on the playground. 1. Swing pusher. 2. Monster/zombie/bear/anything that will make loud noises and chase kids 3. The most patient counter of Hide and Seek.
Winding Down
12:00-12:30–Lunch: Soon enough, it’s back inside, where we change our clothes yet again and start lunch. Each classroom has a nanny who cleans the room and prepares food, but we all pitch in to serve. Also, one kid from each table is responsible for setting and clearing that table. Seeing lunch in the kindergarten has been one of the best ways to learn about traditional Hungarian meals (like pasta with sugar/poppyseeds or beef stew), although I usually opt to bring my own food.
12:30-1:00–Naptime: We’re in the home stretch of my shift, and things get pretty calm. After lunch, the kids make their beds and I read a bedtime story (but honestly, I can recite Rumplestiltskin by memory now from how many times I’ve told it) before wishing the kids sweet dreams and heading out. If we finish before 1, I try to find something productive to do in the office (there’s always something else you can laminate) until then.
Afterwards
I won’t lie, having a job that ends at 1 is amazing, but realistically I don’t leave the kindergarten at 1 every day. There’s almost always some sort of teachers’ meeting. Other days, I stay after to work on crafts/classroom resources in the office. And other days, I’m researching games and ideas to fill out my lesson plan. But even with all these things, I find there’s still plenty of time in the afternoon to run errands, explore Budapest, or take it easy. I’m very grateful!
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So that’s a typical day in the life teaching English in Budapest! I’m so pleased with this job and the work/life balance that it contributes to. There can certainly be a lot of challenges working in a classroom of 3 year olds, but all of the learning, snuggles, and laughs make up for them. Could you see yourself as a kindergarten teacher?
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