Queen Elizabeth Institute
Sarandi 968
Paysandu, Uruguay
I visited this class. Here is one of the teachers Analia, on the left. Next to her is one of the directors, Beatrice. When I first came in the students were a little reluctant to speak English. Analia said it could be because usually when a foreigner comes they are going to get tested so they are nervous.
Later we talked about reasons to learn English. The children typically said their parents made them go to the classes so they could travel someday or work in another country. But when we talked more the children told me they thought the best reason was to make more friends by being able to talk to children who spoke English. So I asked them what they would say to someone the wanted to be friends with. One of the boys said "Quieres ser mi amigo" so I translated that for him and wrote it down. They had all came to life by then and I took this picture.
The someone dropped their pencil bag and I said "What happened?" and wrote that down, too so they could see what it looked like.
I liked how they let the kids sit and lay on the floor. This is typical of a Montessori classroom where the children are given a lot more freedom than in a traditional school.
They also have a day care class for infants under 2 years old who are learning a little English
