Over the past 2 Saturdays, I've had the pleasure of joining a group of cruisers as they bus up to a community center and work on academic skills with a large group of children from the ages of 5 to 16. I was very fortunate that Westley picked me out of the crowd last week as he was a joy to work with. Although he is in grade 5, his reading skills are around the grade 2 level. That didn't matter, he worked hard and enjoyed his time and picked me again this past Saturday. We enjoyed the company of one of his friends, Rayskin and occassionally Rayskin's little brother. Rayskin was very bright and eager. This week's assignment had little to do with reading, although there was a bit of writing involved. They were asked to make a Christmas card for someone in their family. My boys didn't really want to do much writing, but eventually ended up with something they could give to their loved ones. The leader of the group, a local named Jeanne passed out construction paper, sparkles, scissors, and only ONE large bottle of glue which was problematic.
Check out the liquor bottles in the background here at circle prayer time!
As with any group anywhere in the world, the bell curve is well filled out. You get the brilliant bright eyed kids who absorb information and pick up skills like a sponge, then you get the middle of the road average kids and then you get the low end, some who really don't want to do anything academic and would rather run, punch, hit, scream and so on. The lack of control of these children left me cringing at many times as I am used to running a tight ship and enjoy FULL control. After cards were finished, expensive paper was made into paper airplanes and the bad ones chased them right over and into those of us who were still trying to work. Westley has a very strong dialect requiring me to listen very carefully to what he's telling me, but I couldn't even hear myself let alone him.
Here's Westley. What a cutie!
After we finished making cards, my little boys and I made boxes to put Christmas presents in. It's one of the crafts I always did in December with my class. Many of the brighter gals stopped by to see how they were being made and quickly made their boxes too!
So, I have one more Saturday coming with this group, which happens to be their Christmas party complete with the cruisers bringing food. Heaven help us!
It's funny how many of the tutors got off the bus at "Da Big Fish" and rather than dinghy directly back to their boats sat and sipped a cold beer while debriefing over their morning experience!
The good experiences have me missing my old job as a grade 3 teacher, but the lack of control and the behaviour of the students made me very happy of my decision to leave work early and sit on my boat reading a quiet book!
This afternoon, Laurie and I will catch the bus into St. Georges and spend time in the mall. Laurie needs a few items in the hardware store and I just want to wander around window shopping in air conditioning comfort and having lunch at the food court! When we leave this island of Grenada, we'll be heading to islands in the Grenadines with very little in the way of shops, groceries etc., so we will be doing a final stock-up before leaving here next week.
