In my 2023 Taipei contract, the 20-minute morning circle with songs and puppet phonics counted as contact hours, but play centers didn’t, even though both are core for attention span and phonological awareness. Do your schools tally early-years time like that, or pay differently for storytime vs. free play?
“time like that, or pay differently for storytime vs. free play?” — In my Taoyuan kinder, circle and storytime counted because they were on the weekly plan; centers didn’t unless I tied them to objectives on the timetable. Best tip: append a one-page schedule to the contract listing counted blocks by name and minutes and have the DoS initial it; it saved me two payroll ‘rounding’ fights. Would your admin sign an appendix like that?
But at my Banqiao buxiban, circle counted, free play didn’t until I logged a 10‑min ‘guided center: initial sound sort’ in the weekly plan; once it was on the schedule and I turned in the contact-hour sheet, it got paid at the teaching rate. Small caveat: admins usually require you to be the named lead for that block, so if your DoS signs off weekly plans, label one center as ‘teacher‑led’ with a measurable target.
Quick tip: I got centers counted in my Neihu gig by writing a one-line objective with start/end times on the plan and having @DoS initial it on Monday; once it was tagged “instructional,” payroll treated it as contact. Small caveat: some chains cap the tally no matter what, so try bundling your “20-minute circle” plus a guided phonics center into one 40‑min block on the roster — does your school export a CSV that shows which blocks are coded as C?