[chokosaki]

I'm sorry to hear about your problem. It was quite rough in the beginning dealing with the teaching staff of a training school in China. A lot of these schools are businesses and the owners typically aren't teachers. They will think about what will look nice to present to parents and marketing. A lot of these ideas generally aren't practical.

But, if I HAD to teach something this to students, I would go about it sort of like this....

Try to present it with pictures that cover the correct context for the situation you might use that way to say hello.

And show them the different ways that you can address a particular person.

-IE pal, friend, buddy, brother (really limit this to what they know and what is REQUIRED from the school).

And just mix it up using the different questions...

How are you, _____?
What's up, ______?
How's it going, ______?

It would be ideal if they can read English, but I'm assuming they can't since it's a Chinese preschool.

So, to help them memorize these phrases, come up with a fun pose or gesture they can ask for each phrase.

And to top it off, possibly make some simple flash cards to represent the different keywords like friend and buddy.

So, you can ask the question, hold up a card, and let them repeat the question and insert the correct word.

Abstract ideas aren't the easiest to teach to young children, especially when they are learning these concepts in their own tongue.

Good luck.

And there are some decent schools in all parts of China. If you're interested in something new starting in spring, my school is looking for new teachers. We have everything prepared, no abstract ideas, 2-3 months holiday in the year and a lot of nice perks. PM me and we can talk more. Or my weixin is chokosaki

Again, good luck ^^