Aldea Infantil: Shoots and ladders

A June 9 post from Megan, an intern at Aldea Infantil:

This week was by far one of the best I have ever experienced in my life.  A particular experience that stood out to me was working with my cute friend Alex.  Alex is four years old and loves to come over and play shoots and ladders.  (It really should only be called Ladders when we play because shoots aren't an option for him.)  While we were playing I noticed that Alex was a really good counter, but didn't actually recognize the number symbols. He was clearly a very intelligent kid so I knew that this would be something he could learn quickly.  I made some flashcards for him the next day and he was pretty excited to work on them.  It was a bit of a struggle because he would try and memorize the order and just guess, but with lots of shuffling we finally got them and we were both super excited.  I'm excited to work with the other kids his name and experience the same thing.  I'm working on a lot of fun games to play with the other 6 four year olds.  

Aldea Infantil: Brett's first post

June 9
Hey! My name's Brett and this is my first blog post. This little guy here is Jose Angel, he's 4 year's old and he is absolutely adorable. In this picture we are help helping him to do his do his homework which consists of exercises like coloring within the lines and tracing along various patterns of dotted lines. We ended up having to help quite a few of these little guys do their homework, which was no small task. Getting four-year-olds to sit down and focus for an hour or more has never been an easy task. The kids were great though and in the end everything worked out after much convincing and reinforcement. The first week at the Aldea has been a lot like this experience with these little guys, what at first seems impossible suddenly becomes that much more manageable when you put your shoulder to the wheel and start working. Nothing here is particularly easy, but the chance to maybe change the course of a life here makes it worth all the while. 

El Bichito: Week 4

Week 4- Week of May 27th 

Last week we focused on basic reading and writing, but we were worried that some of the children may not have fully comprehended what they were reading.  We decided to go more in depth and make this week’s theme writing and reading comprehension. We came up with several activities that would help promote this learning. 

One activity was to increase the children’s vocabulary with words that might be beneficial to them in everyday life.  Such words included grateful, earn, friendship, conserve, honesty, kindness, and loyalty.  We wrote each of the words on the board and worked in teams to figure out the definition. They would write the definition down and then give an example sentence including the word.  We are hopeful the lesson got the children to think about new words, their meanings, and how to use them to resolve conflicts. 

Another group lesson focused on reading comprehension and following directions.  We created a treasure hunt and told them they were going to be pirates for a day.  We gave them the first clue.  It was written on a 3 by 5 card and had a sentence which they need to read and understand the instruction.  They then had to figure out where the clue was leading them and locate the next clue.  Each cards instruction was different from the last to exercise their thinking.  We gave hints, directions, and even had them count their paces to the next clue.  They hunted all over the building and surrounding property.

We included a picture of our participation rewards program that we implemented in week one.  We have started to see the positive impact this has had on the children, and their motivation to learn.  You can see the draw it has on the children from the picture as they receive their daily participation sticker.  It has amazed us to how such a small reward can really foster learning.  The children can receive one sticker a day if they participate in the activity, complete homework at facility, or are engaged in reading a book at the facility. 

Progression in reading has maintained its consistency and has been a joy to see.  Included is a picture of two of our star reading students Flor and Ina.  This picture was taken after Flor had finished a book and subsequently written a book report on it.  Her report joined the rest of the book reports on the wall.  We felt we had an extremely productive week and hope to foster more learning in the coming week.

Dane Smart

Brennan Howick

El Bichito: Week 5

Week 5:Week of June 3^rd

By Brennan Howick and Dane Smart   

            This week we wanted to give an added focus on hygiene.  We reviewed what past interns had taught, and reemphasized the need of constant personal care.  One exercise we did focused on the importance on hand washing.  We talked about the need to wash hands before each meal.  We listed the steps on the board and then each child practiced in the sink.  From that lesson on we encourage and instruct them to wash up before they eat.

We also talked about the need to shower each day and washing our entire bodies to keep ourselves clean and maintain health.  We then discussed the importance of eating healthy foods, what these foods are, as well as reviewing the food pyramid. The kids put food items in each category, and servings required per day for each category.  We discussed what a balanced diet is, and the presence of these in our diet helps us grow and keeps us healthy.  Finally, we talked about the steps to brush our teeth.  They learned about what should be used, how often, and the proper technique to brush. 

            

As part of our participation, homework, and reading rewards program we help a movie day at El Bichito (some pictures of the rewards program chart and rules are included).  The idea of the specific movie came from the children frequently talking about superheroes.  We thought we would surprise them and watch the Pixar movie, Megamind.  It was good to emphasize to the children that their hard work does pay off.  They were all very attentive, and enjoyed a movie they had never seen before. 

            

We really felt that this is an ongoing theme to reinforce, and to strive towards being healthy and clean.  We have seen the reoccurrence of these issues and will continue to help solve them.  We had the impression that this was just a review for many of the children but wanted to do our part to encourage them to continue these practices.  It was another fun theme and another fun week at El Bichito!

Aldea Infantil: New interns

June 9
The first several days at the Aldea have been quite an experience to say the least! With so many things to take in (trying to learn Spanish, eating new food, learning names, etc.) Brett, Megan and I have been able to find a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction in the work so far. We've spent a lot of time with some of the younger children at the Aldea. Trying to teach things such as math, reading, and manners definitely takes a lot of patience, but it's also very rewarding. 

One experience that stands out for me happened the other day when we were outside playing basketball. I found myself at at one hoop with a couple of special needs children, Luzmila and Miguel, who are both about 14 years old. They decided on team names (Lions & Cobras) and then started to take turns shooting underhand shots on the net. They shot really well, and it was awesome to see their faces light up when they made it! They shared the ball and both enjoyed going against each other. They asked me to play with them again the next day, which I did, and it was just as fun. 

It has been a wonderful experience at the Aldea Infantil and I look forward to getting to know many others over the next couple of months.

Justin Schow

El Bichito: Week 3

May 20 post from Dane, who is an intern at El Bichito: 

In the past several weeks we have observed that the children may be lacking in reading skills.  While several of the older children enjoy reading very much, some of the younger children aren’t as engaged or confident in their reading abilities.  We decided that the theme of this week should be focused around reading, writing, and spelling.  In hopes of improving the children’s reading abilities, we engaged the children with several educational activities.

One activity we did was a sentence hunt game. Before the activity we took sentences out of several books and wrote each sentence on the board one by one.  The children had to work in teams, use reading skills, and problem solving skills to narrow the search and find the sentence in each book.  Our goal for this lesson was to get these younger children to open the books and read sentences to find the answers. It turned out very well; they were actively and energetically involved in the hands on task. 

Another activity we did was spelling game where we used dice.  The children would each take turns rolling a pair of dice. Whatever number they rolled they would be given a word containing that many letters. They would then write the word on the board and get it checked off once it was correct.  If incorrect, we would assist them in the corrections.  They were also very engaged in this activity and filled up the white board 3 times before we finished.

We also wanted the kids to get practice reading out loud in a group setting.  We chose two books that we felt were relevant to their need. We chose a book about better eating habits, and another on working together.  We sat together and took turns reading each book and then discussed the meaning and how we each could apply it into our own lives. 

As mentioned before some of the older girls seem to really enjoy reading.  Understanding they have already been involved in reading and book reports we wanted to continue their progression at that level.  We have continued a reading rewards program that rewards them for reading books.  We decided that challenging them to read books over 100 pages would further benefit their reading skills.  Once they have finished their book they can do book report to receive an award for their hard work. 

This week they have shown improvement on both attendance and requesting homework assistance due to our participation rewards program.  We reinforced positive work ethic and promoted positive behaviors by showing that their actions would pay off.  We are starting to settle in and have a better feel on how we can be assistance in the progression of the children’s lives and helping them reach their goals.  

El Bichito: Week 2

May 17

We started this week off hoping to build from what we had accomplished in week one.  Our goal for the week was to increase and maintain attendance after the youth have eaten their meal.  At the conclusion of this week we feel we have make progress in achieving this goal.  Understanding that it will be an ongoing process, we believe this will be a consistent goal for us to move forward.  Last week it was easier to build rapport with the male youth, while the female youth were more reserved, and shy.  This week an additional goal was to reach out more to the female youth and let them know that their presence and participation is important to us. We asked them what some of their interests are, and they responded that they liked to read.  We have continued the book check out process, and many of the girls are taking advantage of the resources El Bichito has to offer. 

            We continued preparing our theme based lesson plans.  Our two main focuses for this week were Mathematics and Geography.  The math lessons were designed to help us understand what level the children are on.  We observed that there were some children that were very advanced and others that very behind based on their age. So we prepared numerous exercises to ensure that everybody’s thinking would be stimulated.  The geography lessons for this week included teachings on different landscapes around the world, the placement of different countries, and more in depth learning of their home country.  We had each child draw Peru, label major cities including Puyllucana, where they live, the mountain ranges, and the Pacific Ocean; included is a photo of the youth holding these drawings.  In an attempt to not reinvent the wheel, we have been taking into consideration the work that previous volunteers have done, and hope to further build off their accomplishments.

            We also did an activity to help them further their thinking for the future.  We gave them supplies to construct a house on a piece of craft paper.  We gave them instructions to build their future house.  We posed the question, “what you need to do in life to get the house you want?”  They responded saying, “with money, work more, and a job that pays well.”  It was a fun activity to wrap up an awesome week! 

Besides our large group lessons we have been excited that more and more children are coming to do homework with us.  Along with the local volunteers from Cajamarca, we are striving to help the children understand the need to do their homework and further their education.

El Bichito: New interns

Welcome to new interns at El Bichito, Brennan Howick and Dane Smart! Stay tuned for updates on their service so far this summer!