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.
