Fun English for Kids

My workshop on Saturday was a success!

Thank you to all who prayed. It was a miracle, but everything got done in time and I was only a little bit nervous! I spent last week running around doing last minute things like getting my flashcards laminated and recording the songs onto CD (yes, I am officially a Recording Artist!) and supervising the printing and photocopying of the booklet (see the photos below). As you can see, Leo (the graphic designer) did a fantastic job making the booklet look fab. There are similar designs throughout the booklet and it's just wonderful to see my work looking so lovely. The booklet is manual for how to teach English to young children, including advice on classroom management, lesson structure, curriculum development and a prepared curriculum for 5 year olds, including a list of games and songs as well as advice for the first ever lesson. It's taken me about a year to put it together with the flashcards, worksheets and songs, which are now on CDs the participants were able to buy. (All proceeds going to FEISA, of course!)





12 teachers came from different schools in and around Asunción; we sang songs, played games, did a worksheet and looked at how to structure a lesson and how to design a curriculum. I enjoyed it very much and the teachers were very enthusiastic. One has asked me to do a workshop with the other English teachers from her group of schools. There's also the possibility of doing another workshop in the next couple of months, for teachers who didn't hear about this one. We need to work on the publicity a bit more!

Last May we did a workshop on learning through play at the Paraguayan Conference of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Then in September, we went to Argentina to do the same workshop with the Argentinian ACSI Conference. Well ACSI seem to be quite keen to have me do a workshop on teaching English at the Paraguayan Conference this year... Watch this space!!!

English teaching workshop

On Wednesday this week, I went with Ana, the head of teaching practices at FEISA, to a meeting with the director of ACSI Paraguay (the Christian schools network), to ask for ACSI's help in publicising and organising a workshop for people who teach English to very young children. It was a great meeting, Esteban, the ACSI director, was very positive about the idea of the workshop and the materials I've produced so far. He was very helpful in getting us to work out how best to organise the workshop and so it looks as though it's going to happen on the 3rd March!!! That's now just two weeks away and there's a lot to do before then.

I've written a booklet on how to teach English to young children, including advice and a sample scheme of work, together with songs and a list of games. I've also produced worksheets to accompany the scheme of work and vocabulary flashcards for use in games. We have a graphic designer who is going to help with making the booklet look attractive for pre-school teachers here (they like pictures!). Please pray that he has enough time to do that! I've got to finish the worksheets and possibly put them into pdf format, and finish the flashcards then get them laminated. Then I've got to plan what I'm actually going to say to the teachers!! Please pray that I can get all that done and feel happy with the standard of work I've produced.

I am very excited about the chance to share with teachers here the skills and knowledge that I've gained over my teaching career, it's as though this is the culmination of all my previous experience. I'll let you know how it goes!

wildlife

This is an insect (some kind of cricket?) that spent a week on (the outside of) my kitchen window, munching away on this plant that had grown up from the ground below over Christmas. It's body is about 3 inches long. I could see it breathing! I was very glad that we were separated by glass!

Dengue fever

I arrived back in Paraguay at the end of January to find the country in the middle of an epidemic of dengue fever, which is a disease carried by mosquitoes. There has been a lot of rain recently, which has led to an increase in pools of standing water in gardens and gutters all around. The mosquitoes have taken advantage of these new breeding grounds and are multiplying like crazy! The symptoms start a few days after being bitten, and include aches and high fever, which can last as long as 10 days. The official figure is 8,000 cases since the beginning of January, but everyone knows several people who have had it, so some people think the real figure may be as high as 30,000. There is no vaccine and, if you've had it before, you can get the more severe haemorrhagic version, which can kill you. Five people have died so far.

It is a real problem in a country where people only get paid for the work they do; sick pay is very rare. And, of course, when there are so many ill, it gets hard to find cover and so those who are not ill are working twice as hard. Estela, the director of FEISA, had dengue fever just before the new school year started in February. Marina, one of the teachers, has it at the moment.

The authorities are trying to control the spread of the disease by encouraging everyone to empty out any standing water they have around their house and yard (the photo is of a banner in the street emphasising everyone's responsibility to help). There have also been teams out spraying insecticide in the worst-affected areas. However, their efforts have been criticised as being ineffective and ill-organised.

Reflections on a year in Paraguay

This first year in Paraguay has been one of great highs interspersed with some lows. Getting used to a new culture is never easy; there are too many things you take for granted in your own country and adapting to new ways of doing things always takes time. Yet it is a wonderful thing to know that you're doing what God's called you to do and, of course, there have been many blessings along the way.

My first challenge was getting used to the heat. It was new for me to have my glasses steam up when I stepped outside! The summer heat made my skin all clammy and my hair all frizzy. I learned to thank God for air conditioning and to put up with blisters on the tops of my feet from previously comfortable sandals rubbing against sweaty skin. I have appreciated not having to think about taking a coat with me, and the happiness of blue skies almost all the time.


I've loved getting to know the Paraguayan culture. It is vastly different to the UK. Because of the heat, things take a lot longer and move a lot slower. People are much more important than tasks, which can be a challenge for me, coming from a task-orientated background. Paraguayans don't like to disappoint you face to face, so they will agree to anything you suggest, but won't necessarily do it. They will also give you an answer to your question, whether they know it or not. They are a very gentle people; you very rarely hear a raised voice or a grumble. They are very welcoming to strangers. They work very hard in order to put bread on the table; there is no such thing as disposable income for the majority of the population. This can be seen in the supermarkets where things are generally sold in much smaller quantities than we get in the UK. Most people shop from day to day, rather than weekly. There is a huge "informal market" of people selling fruit, sweets, lottery cards etc in the street. There is a lot of corruption in the government and a lot of disgruntlement amongst the people about it. However, the opposition to the government is small and powerless, mostly because of the lack of an educated middle class. There are many more things I've yet to learn. I really enjoy the challenge of adapting to a new culture; it gives you a different perspective on things and it teaches you so much about your own culture.


I was very warmly welcomed by the SIM team in Paraguay. It has been a real blessing for me to be looked after by such caring people. Most of the team come from North America and I had a few experiences of culture clash while spending time with them. (I'm still struggling to cope with the concept of eating sweet and salty things together!)


My work at FEISA (St Andrew's Early Years Teacher Training College) has been a great pleasure. I've had the opportunity to develop new skills and use old ones. The biggest joys have come from putting together a teacher's guide for teaching English to young children and do workshops with the students on the same topic. I've taught English to a great bunch of students and helped with the publicity and communications work. I've loved getting to know the college teachers, particularly Ana and Noemi, who both have a deep faith and have been an inspiration to me this year.


The hardest thing about this year has been feeling very alone at times. It has taught me a lot about relying on God (mostly how much more I've got to learn!) and I've had great experiences of God along the way. I am so grateful for everything that has happened this year because I've learned more about myself and more about God.

Now I'm looking forward to next year. I hope to run a workshop for pre-school teachers on teaching English to young children and to publish my teacher's guide on the internet. I hope to develop the friendships I've started this year and to begin to get a feel for what my future may hold.