Last Monday was a holiday in Costa Rica, so the kids had no classes. I invited the kids from my class to come over on Monday to study for their exams, which were also this past week. I had said to come after lunch, but five of them showed up at 9 am. :) So, we had an intensive morning study session. I was surprised, actually, that they came, and it was such an honor to help them with their studies. I become mroe and more convinced of the need for improvement in the school system here, es-pecially now after seeing first hand their notes and what they use to study. I am one that loves copywork and sees its great value to teach grammar- I love the written word. But these children are taught everything by copying into notebooks what the teacher has written on the board. Many children in my class are not able to read well or in some cases, at all, despite being 9 and 10 years old. From my best understanding, it is simply due to lack of personal one-on-one interaction that they are struggling so. We studied for about 2 1/2 hours and took a break. We ate and then I walked down the road to the kid's houses to ask permission to take them to the beach for a couple of hours. I so enjoyed the time talking with the grandmother of two of the girls. With authority, she told me she'd let the girls go with us, but she wouldn't let them go with anyone else. One of the moms was not home, but we were able to call her at her work and get permission. So, we piled into the car and took off for Tamarindo.
It was a sweet time spent just playing with them and letting them be kids. They've had rough lives, what little we know of their stories. All of them originally from Nicaragua and all living here without papers.
Here are a few pictures of the day:
(We didn't take the camera to the beach, sadly...)
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