Krazy Kindergarten

My Kindergarten classroom just keeps looking different! It’s been about 6 months since I received my missionary job title as Kindergarten teacher. When I first found out that I would be teaching 5 year olds back in November, I could not be more excited to get started on preparing the classroom and mapping out the year. It’s what teachers do, they plan and prep. Unfortunately I had to wait another month to even see my classroom, much less begin putting things on the walls. I’ve been using my bright blue room for a while now tutoring three girls every day Monday through Friday, but the classroom has also taken a different form. I have a mobile classroom to be able to teach my 12 other Kindergarten students who don’t live inside the Finca, and it is bringing me So Much Joy. 

Let’s back up a sec. Back when the pandemic first hit (which seems like forever ago), a lot of the staff here at the Finca moved on site. We’re talking maintenance workers, security guards, and their families. They had to get creative with places for everybody to live, so after much rearranging, the Kindergarten classroom became a temporary living space for numerous men. The week before Christmas my classroom was no longer a bedroom and I was able to step in and take a look at what would be my very first classroom of my own. Let me tell you, it was quite the site to behold. Luckily, I had the forethought to take some pictures so you can see what I was dealing with. 

While no one was living in the classroom anymore, the beds were still in there along with other random things like a broken flip flop, forgotten masks that had termite lines crawling over them, a crumpled pair of pants that had slipped behind a dresser, safety glasses and a handful of hardware tools, and of course a lingering smell. I found myself pretty busy cleaning up before I could begin setting up. And because the school year had come to somewhat of an abrupt end the year before, teacher materials needed to be organized and sorted through just to figure out what I all had to work with. 

Over the next few weeks I got the room into shape with the help of maintenance removing the beds and a very sweet Kindergarten mom who offered to clean and mop my classroom while she was cleaning other parts of the school and preparing it for the school year. Within days of starting school I had lesson plans prepared, I was cutting, gluing, and taping things like mad, and praying that my Spanish was good enough to be in charge of a classroom full of 5 year olds. Then we received news from our department of Colon that in person school, no matter the restrictions, wouldn’t be allowed and that school will be taking place distantly. Ugh. No. Not what I wanted. 

So for the last 9 weeks I have been making packets or cuadernillos for my Kindergarten students to complete each week at home. My interactions with the kids have been minimal. Some of the parents send me pictures or videos of their students doing their work which I love to see. Every Saturday the kids come to drop off their completed packet and receive another one so I get to greet them and see them for a bit. It’s nice getting to see the kids face to face and interact with them, but I know that I am not providing as good of an education for them as I could if school was in-person. Thus a plan began brewing. 

Call me crazy (but I’m a missionary so it’s kind of the same thing), but after getting a handle on tutoring my Finca students and making weekly packets, I was eager to do more for my students. A really awesome lady, a former Finca missionary from Nicaragua still lives part of her time in Mohaguay, the village neighboring the Finca. She started makeshift classes for the kids living their three days a week for a couple hours. She helps the older ones and some kids who are in middle school or done with school (aka after ninth grade) help the little kids practice writing their letters and identifying numbers. Through bucket-loads of grace, the help of the Saints, and her inspiration, I began forming an idea of how I could have “school” for my Kindergarten students. 

While we can’t hold classes in the school or on Finca property, there’s nothing wrong with offering optional learning opportunities in the church. And so after getting approval from our director and encouragement from others (thanks Mom!), I decided to put my crazy ideas into action and see if the Kindergarten parents would want some kind of in-person educational experience for their children. The parents responded positively, so “school” began last week for my Kindergartners. 

Just two days a week, Monday and Thursday they can come to the church that also functions as a school from 8-9:30. It’s completely optional, but 10 of my 12 kids have come so far. The week before we began I pulled out my lesson plans again and made a revised plan. Something that could work if just two kids showed up or if all 12 came. And I modified it so that I could carry all the materials I needed.

The first day I was riddled with nerves. What if no one comes? What if they all come? Will they understand my broken Spanish? Will I understand their super speed talking? I ended up having 6 Kindergartners come along with 4 other students (2 first graders, a three year old brother who tagged along, and an older sister who accompanied her brother). While most live in the village of Mohaguay, two of my Kindergartners made the 45 minute trek from Corazalta where they live to come to school that morning. There were three boys present, all named Kevin, and while we had a few language mishaps, the class ran rather smoothly. 

Though it’s only been two days so far, I love my mobile classroom and getting to be a Kindergarten teacher. It’s been such a gift from the Lord to be able to have the courage to step out and give something a try. My word of the year for 2021 is faith. I came across a fitting definition in a book I was reading that said faith just means go for it. I liked it so much that I wrote it on a notecard and hung it next to a collage of pictures I have on my bedroom wall. The Lord said to go for it; take a chance and trust that I’m going to be with you through this process. And He is with me. He’s with me as I teach the kids to use their right hand to make the sign of the cross. He’s present when the kids come running up to me on a non-school day saying, “Profa, profa!” And He’s there as I make plans for the upcoming weeks. 

It took a leap of faith to give this alternative school a try, but I’m so glad I listened to those little promptings of the Holy Spirit because it has brought me so much joy. I’m still holding on to hope that the school will open up again very soon and I can use my Kindergarten classroom for its intended purpose, but for now I’m glad to be able to see some of my kids and know that I’m helping them as they start their education.

Playing a game to learn our colors.

Learning the letter M, the shape circle, and practicing our fine motor skills by coloring.

Doing a craft project to reinforce learning the shape "square".