Centro Infantil

I’m back in the classroom once a week, and it feels good. The learners are not the college-aged students I am used to; rather, they are four and five years old! Cute and adorable. Mischievous and ornery. I'm having fun. Centro Infantil Pre-School was established a few years ago. Some of our friends in San Miguel were involved in the set-up and continue to be engaged in fund-raising efforts. The pre-school is a kind of head-start program for children of low-income families, many of whom are single moms. The mothers were honored recently at a Mothers Day festival where the children danced salsa, rock and roll, and traditional Mexican dances, all in brightly colored costumes, led by the vivacious school principal, Patricia Palacios. In the English classroom, we have four groups of 10 students at a time, for 20 minutes with each group. I’m helping the other volunteer teachers develop a curriculum and try out some new ideas. The questions—who we teach, what we teach, how we teach, and why we teach—are important questions for English teachers to ask, whether we work with young or old, rich or poor. I’m glad for the opportunity to once again be asking these questions. And while pondering the “answers,” I’ll be doing TPR (Total Physical Response) activities and singing “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” with the kiddos.