Gourmet Kindergarten

The kindergarten gate, which had been noisy all morning, is finally quiet now.

When Pei Qian and Zhang Zhaoxia returned from their shopping trip, there wasn't a trace of any of their parents.

"Hey, little director, you're back!" Old Li, the gatekeeper, had sharp eyes and rushed over to greet him, taking the plastic bag from Pei Qian's hand with remarkable ease.

"Uncle Li, slow down, this bag is heavy!"

"Hey! Back in the day, I could carry a 50-pound backpack for 30 miles through the mountains. This little bit of food is nothing!" The old man straightened his back and walked with a brisk pace.

Pei Qian looked at that strong back and secretly admired him.

His physique is indeed stronger than that of a young person.

"Old Li, since you're so capable, can you help me carry some?" Zhang Zhaoxia, who was walking behind, joked with a smile.

"Take it yourself," Grandpa Li said without even turning his head.

"Hey! You're still sexist, aren't you?"

"This is called prioritizing, don't you understand? The headmistress is the pillar of our kindergarten, who do you think you are?"

Grandpa Li was quick to criticize, and he casually recounted to Pei Qian how the five senior students had arrived unusually early that morning.

Pei Qian smiled but didn't say anything.

This is called the "law of true fragrance"—no child will stay in bed when faced with the temptation of delicious food.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, Grandpa Li put the vegetables on the stove, turned around and left: "Young director, you go ahead and do your work, I'm going back."

"Okay, I'll call you when dinner is ready."

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Pei Qian turned around and saw Zhang Chaoxia had already quickly tied on an apron and was washing tomatoes in front of the sink.

"Aunt Zhang, take a break before you start, there's no rush."

"Not tired at all. Let's make it while it's fresh; the little ones are waiting to eat."

Pei Qian didn't try to persuade him further, but his mind was already racing with plans.

This morning we enrolled eight new students at once, and the original plan of ten sets of children's kitchen utensils is definitely not enough.

With over a dozen little mythical beasts, we can't possibly use them in shifts, can we?

Additional funding is required!

I took out my phone, found the manufacturer's customer service WeChat account, and sent a message: "I'd like to order another 10 sets of those children's kitchenware sets from yesterday. What's the latest you can expect them to arrive?"

The reply came instantly: "Mr. Pei, yesterday's batch was supposed to be delivered today. But we've increased the quantity at the last minute. Let me check the warehouse inventory..."

Less than five seconds later, another message popped up: "Success! The warehouse has the goods. However, it will take some time for temporary packaging and loading. We will deliver it to you before 4 PM! The payment will be settled together with the remaining balance then."

"Okay, call ahead when you arrive."

"no problem!"

Get it done.

After putting down his phone, Pei Qian stared at the stove for two seconds in thought.

Having the equipment alone is not enough; the software must also keep up.

To put it bluntly, we're short-staffed.

Teacher Yu is the only teacher in the kindergarten right now, and suddenly eight little monsters have been crammed in. Forget about teaching them properly, just keeping an eye on them to make sure they don't get hurt is exhausting.

We can't let Teacher Yu work alone; we must recruit someone quickly!

Switch to WeChat and open the job recruitment website.

As a newcomer to the industry, Pei Qian's main approach was to "copy what others have done," quickly typing out a job posting by following the templates of his peers:

[Job Opening]: One kindergarten teacher (salary 5000 yuan)

[Requirements]: College degree or above, 20-35 years old, experience in early childhood education or childcare, teaching qualification preferred.

[Job Opening]: 1 Dormitory Supervisor (Salary: 4000 RMB)

[Requirements]: Reliable and responsible, likes children, physically and mentally healthy, and those with a childcare worker certificate or relevant experience are preferred.

[Benefits]: Weekends off, five social insurances and one housing fund, all statutory holidays off...

After checking it once, if there are no problems, click "Publish".

With the hardware in place and recruitment underway, he's managed to turn this seemingly hopeless situation around...

……

On the other side, in the classroom.

After the senior students took their seats, Teacher Yu clapped his hands and then gave a brief introduction to the eight new students.

At this age, a name is the most efficient "social calling card." Once you say your name, everyone is officially "acquainted."

Upon their arrival, the eight new children sat on small stools, looking somewhat awkward, each like a quail.

Hao Hao was the only exception.

The little guy was sucking on the pacifier with a "smacking" sound, while the toy car in his hand was speeding along Jianjian's arm with a "beep beep" sound.

A pair of big, bright eyes were peering over Jianjian's shoulder, curiously observing the row of young men and women opposite him.

The six senior students opposite were equally stunned.

One night later, there were eight more younger brothers and sisters in the class?

This is too far-fetched!

Does the headmaster know magic tricks?

The children's eyes sparkled, but Teacher Yu was internally trembling with reluctance.

She glanced at this mixed group of "monsters" of varying ages and felt her head throb.

Just now, the kindergarten director introduced her to a new term—Montessori mixed-age class.

The words sounded sophisticated, but Teacher Yu was completely baffled.

She had only ever taught classes of the same age before, and this kind of "older teacher leading younger teacher" approach seemed outrageous to her. Who could take responsibility if something went wrong?

But she couldn't fight city hall. The boss had spoken, so what could she, a poor working woman, do but be "forced to work"?

We had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it!

"Tangtang, Duoduo, and Zhuangzhuang, you four boys are all big brothers and sisters now." Teacher Yu gritted her teeth and delegated authority directly, "I'm giving you a glorious task—each of you take care of a younger brother or sister and lead them to play with the teaching aids!"

The six older students were quite enthusiastic. They scattered and each took a student they liked, holding their hands as they walked to the teaching aids cabinet.

As for the remaining Hao Hao and Jian Jian, they naturally formed an "uncle-nephew group" and followed behind the group.

Teacher Yu followed and set up her phone to record the video.

She squatted down next to Tangtang, took out a bead-stringing teaching aid, and silently and slowly demonstrated the bead-stringing action.

He didn't say a single word the entire time.

After the demonstration ended, she silently took a step back.

This is the "non-intervention" principle that the kindergarten director explained.

Tangtang understood and picked up the beads to start stringing them.

Her partner, Yuanyuan, was watching from the side, her little hands itching to grab it.

Teacher Yu instinctively wanted to stop him, but when she remembered Pei Qian's instructions, she swallowed the words back.

Tangtang solved it herself—she handed the beads to Yuanyuan and instructed her in a childish voice, "Like this, thread them through."

Yuanyuan awkwardly poked for a long time before finally managing to insert one.

Tangtang immediately chimed in, "Wow! You're amazing!"

Yuanyuan immediately grinned, all her initial awkwardness vanished, and she excitedly reached for the second one.

Teacher Yu leaned against the wall and fell completely silent.

Looking around the classroom, the senior students were mentoring the new students, and they were actually doing a pretty good job!

No one was rolling on the ground, no one was grabbing things and howling.

When older children teach younger children, they reinforce their own memory; and when younger children imitate older children, they are even more focused than when a teacher teaches them step by step.

"Mixed-age classes... can they really be managed like this?"

Teacher Yu felt gratified and muttered to herself, "I must say, this Montessori thing that the young principal is tinkering with is actually quite something."

Seeing that the children were all engaged, she remembered the "hidden mission" Pei Qian had given her the night before, took out her phone, and opened the parents' group chat.

After carefully considering her words, she typed a line:

[Dear Parents, we have some exciting news to share: Our kindergarten will soon be offering a "Life Skills Practice Class," led by the principal, where children will learn basic cooking techniques and food identification. The specific start date will be announced later. Please stay tuned!]

Click to send.

Wait patiently for the group to explode.