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Kid Castle
5 Reviews
86%Overall
Rating
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14 of 32 people found this review helpful
Fantastic place to work
100%Overall
Rating
26 of 44 people found this review helpful
Gee Duh Bao ... Wo ai ni!
80%Overall
Rating
In other words, KC, I love you! Forgive me for the company line; I actually haven't worked for Kid Castle in nearly 6 years, but my memories remain mostly positive.
So ... I was new to Asia and new to teaching, and here I was at the biggest Kid Castle on the island (Sanchong branch). I was given some training and then thrown into the field - and swim, did I ever!
I never had a problem getting books or supplies, and when the staff and I felt like going outside of the box a little bit (without compromising the cirriculum), we had the support of management to do so.
Speaking of staff support, this went as far as a coworker letting me stay at his apt until I could get on my feet, co-teachers taking their free time to cruise the neighborhood and look at places to live with me ... heck, KC even gave me a room full of free furniture, just to get me started.
There was a good (but not great) line of communication, be it between fellow foreign teachers or with the Taiwanese staff, and I think this has improved even more since I moved on to other pursuits, as management seemed to be trying to upgrade this facet of how things functioned at school.
There were things I didn't love about working there. The pay was good, but not great. Working Saturdays, which I sometimes did, wasn't ideal. Dry erase markers run out of ink sometimes. I saw a cockroach (or 3) skittering about the tile floor. The thing I learned soon enough was THIS IS THE NORM IN TAIWAN, and that's OK!
In all of my experience at other schools, I'd say the quality of facilities is good (not great) at KC and my fellow teachers became my best friends (nearly 10 yrs later, I'm still in touch with many of them). I still get emails from ex-students, keeping me apprised of their lives. I wouldn't say it was like a family at Kid Castle, but I definitely felt embraced by my coworkers (even the owners, who knew me by my name at the outset, which is rare) and pleased with the teaching conditions at the school.
18 of 33 people found this review helpful
It's all in the franchise
90%Overall
Rating
Kid Castle is one of the more established chains in Taiwan, and there are branches all over the island including more rural areas. If you are looking for a more unusual location then Kid Castle would be a good bet.
The thing to remember is that Kid Castle is a franchise system, so in many respects every branch is different. The material is mostly the same between branches, but there isn't a centralized head office support system for things like finding accommodation. Also, you will need to negotiate your pay and any other benefits with each branch. Actually this can be a good thing as if you have experience you may be able to get a higher rate.
The material is good though and updated on a regular basis, so prep time is minimal.
Overall I'd say that if you are in Taiwan and see a Kid Castle job then it would be worth going for an interview. Some of the branch owners I worked with were terrific and would go the extra mile for their teachers, others less so.
19 of 34 people found this review helpful
Kid Castle in San Chong
80%Overall
Rating
I worked at Kid Castle in San Chong for 6 years, and managed the foreign teachers for a while. The material is very good, especially for older kids. The expectations and rules were difficult at times.
Class size in Kindergarten occasionally exceeded 26 students. The schools (the kindergarten and Anching Bahn are separate) are new and very nice.
7 of 12 people found this review helpful
Kid Castle- A good environment overall
80%Overall
Rating
I taught at the Kid Castle in Sanchong a few years back. I had a good experience overall. Here are some highlights/thoughts from my time there:
- It's a HUGE school. It's one of the largest schools in Taiwan. This means there's always a lot going on. In some ways this makes for a really fun environment. In other ways, it can be a little stressful. It means your class sizes will all likely be around 20 students.
- Because it's a big school, the staff size is really large. This is a very good thing. It means you'll be surrounded by a lot of other western teachers (about 15-20) and a LOT of Chinese teachers (probably 100!). This makes for a really fun social scene. You'll walk into a good group of friends, and you'll have the opportunity to become friends with a lot of the Chinese teachers. This was one of my favorite aspects of the school.
- The school I taught at is in Sanchong, Taipei County. A pretty good location, especially now that the MRT runs there. It's about 20 minutes from Taipei city, less on a scooter. Kid Castle has about 100 branches in Taiwan (I think), so the experience at every branch will be a bit different.
- The training wasn't great... which is both a good and bad thing. If you have experience and you're independent, it's really fine. You'll mostly be on your own in preparing materials and in the classroom. However, if you don't have any experience (like me) it can be pretty daunting in the beginning. Just be patient and easy going and it will work out.
- Kid Castle Head Office is available if you need support... but I don't know who works there now. It really depends.
I think that about sums it up! Overall, I had a great year there, probably the best of my life. The kids were really fun, and usually pretty well behaved. I had a great time. It's an intense place, because it's so large, but that comes with a lot of good aspects as well. Go with the flow, and you'll have a good experience teaching at Kid Castle in Taipei County.
Working in Taiwan and for Kid Castle was a fantastic experience. The kids are great and very keen to learn. We were instantly welcomed by the program organisers and they also helped us with accomodation initially and introduced us to an instant social circle, which was great.
Teaching really was a joy with the children, they work really hard, I actually feel bad that they have to study so much but we always made the learning experience fun.