Volunteering in Cusco, Peru

Monday, July 11th was orientation/ first day of volunteering in a classroom with about 25 four year olds! I arrived around 11:30AM and I jumped right in helping the teacher (Profesora Ivet). A few things that surprised me were... 4 year olds in school, the teacher pulling the students hair to get them to listen, and how much food they were fed. I signed up for the "After-School Program" and in Cusco some students start school in the afternoon around 2PM and finish at 6PM. Other students start around 9AM and finish at 1PM. It varies. I also heard that some students finish school at 3PM. SO, I guess it just depends which school one attends. 

The "usual" schedule for these students is... line up in front of the dining hall around 8:30AM. Then greeting/ song/ prayer around 8:45. Students eat breakfast; some of them you have to help feed. We usually finish, clean-up, and go to the classroom by 9:15AM. In the morning there could be a lesson/ activity/ or just sitting around. One day I helped the teacher organize and file the students' work into their folders. Another morning the teacher read a story to the students and they drew a picture of the main character. Another morning they had to match four images (child to ball and chair to table). Around 10:45AM it is snack time and recess time!! The students go outside to play and are given a piece of fruit (grapes, oranges, melon, etc.). Then we come back to class. Lunch is at 12:30PM. Students line up and get ready to walk to the dining hall. They try to hold on to each others coats, but most of the time they are hitting each other or playing around with each other. This is my general impression of the schedule and students. I have only been there for 4 full days, and I think there would be more to learn and help with if I was there longer. 

On the first day the teacher had me do one activity with the children where we opened and closed our hands and said the words in Spanish (cerramos, abrimos). Then I sang the ABC song and the Itsy-Bitsy Spider song to them. They liked it. On Friday, July 15th I did some origami with them. I also went over 7 colors with them in English and Spanish. I chose the 7 colors from the Cusco Flag (Red-rojo, Orange-anaranjado, Yellow-amarillo, Green-verder, Blue-azul, Indigo-celeste, Violet-morado). I have been learning some Spanish from my experience here, and I am looking forward to this upcoming weeks volunteering. I will be changing classes and going to the class with the older students. I will report back!!! It is very interesting to be in an educational setting in a different culture, age of students, language, and teaching style!