Monday: 1/13/14
Today we observed in 3 Mariposas Montessori school. It was interesting to see how the children interact with the materials, the teachers, and each other. I spent over an hour observing in the infant and toddler area where I was able to see how the Montessori setting was different from traditional schooling. I observed how children in the Dominican and children in the U.S. play the same and how the class interacts as a group. Even being so young the children had roles in the group which shows many of the different personalities. What I absolutely love and is part of Maria Montessori's belief is how independent children can be starting at such a young age. Having worked with toddlers in the past I know how much they are capable of, but I also know how adults have such low expectations of their abilities based on their age. I loved seeing children, as young as two opening their own milk bottle, getting their own glass cup and bowl and pouring their milk on their own. I also loved seeing a child who had spilled their hand washing water on the floor and went and mopped up the water. Even though it is common in the Dominican culture to be independent at a young age it shows how much a two year old can do. Then we went to the primary ages where we observed line, which is like their circle time. It was hard to be able to understand what was going on because it was in Spanish but it was still beneficial to observe the children's body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
Then we walked with Willfrank, who works at 3 Mariposas, who took us to the homes for lunch. We went to the Dolce's home who greeted us with a kiss on the cheek. There were three of us who from our group who ate Dolce's chicken, rice and beans, and salad; they also had red fresco or pop for us to drink. After that we went to Spanish class and Miche, the VERY beginners instructor, taught us more vocab and adjectives and also a lot more about culture, here and in the US. She is extremely knowledgeable on so many topics and so informative. She shared with us how it was living I'm NYC when she was younger and how she was treated as an immigrant. We discussed American history and when it was segregated it was not done properly which is one reason why the country is so segregated. She moved back to the Dominican as an adult and prefers living here.
Tonight we went to Voyvoy located right on the beach about a mile from Nanny estates. It was delicious food followed by some loco Americans participating in some karaoke. It was a blast and people were stopping on the beach to here our amazing voices and song choices: we are family, party on the USA, don't stop believing, call me maybe and some others as well. I am not sure if the other people eating at the restaurant enjoyed it as much as we did, but it was truly a fun time. Well I am headed to bed, buenas noches.