MotherCare

I've been promising to write about MotherCare for ages and, just as my time there is nearly up (tomorrow will be my last day), I'm finally getting around to it. I'm pretty sure I've already written some of this is earlier posts, but I can't remember what and I don't want to waste precious electricity time rereading my blog, so my apologies if some of this is repetitive.

MotherCare is run by Sapna, who is an extremely commited educator. It's a pre-school, taking kids up to six years old. It's based on Montessorie principles, although I don't know enough about that to tell how well they're upheld. All the teachers are well trained and committed and the school is well staffed; each classroom has a main teacher, at least one assistant and a didi (a woman responsible for cleaning up, serving lunch etc).

The kids are from a very comfortably off section of Nepali society, with many parents being prominent business people, doctors, etc. There's also a sizable, though not overwhelming number, of foreign kids.

The school is has a large, shady playground, full of climbing frames, swings, a sandbox and even a small pool. Here's a section of it:

The classrooms are huge. Each year group actually has a suite; a main classroom, a carpeted area for indoor play and reading and a changing/bag storage area. The rooms are immaculately clean and tidy, light and well-resourced, with colourful poster-boards and displays, alphabets and number charts adorning all the walls:

The photo above is of Jupiter class, in which the pupils are aged 5-6. This is the class in which I've spent my time. Sapna is the main teacher although she's frequently occupied in the school office. That leaves Sveta is charge, with me and another assistant, Sharmila, helping out however we can.

The school year runs from May-April, so it was already nearly over when I arrived (graduation is tomorrow). From the maths point of view, the curriculum had already been covered, so there was no actual teaching to do. I was, however, put in charge of the maths lessons, which happen twice a week. It was all revision, mostly of addition and subtraction. The challenge for me was to think of ways to make it fun, fresh and interesting. I got off to some false starts, particularly when trying to explain things in a way that was familiar to me from teaching in England and Canada but went down like a lead balloon over here (the concept of the number-line, for instance). I also had a tough time keeping the class under control and getting them to listen to me. But eventually I broke through and by the end had devised a few good games which the kids enjoyed, whilst simultaneously practicing their number skills.

Other than maths, the kids also learn Nepali, practice their English reading and handwriting, do lots of drawing and painting, learn special topics (in the time I've been there they've covered the continents, land and water forms and food and nutrition), and have weekly music and occasional dance lessons. They also have plenty of time for play, both inside and outdoors. It's a small class but they're a mixed bag, from the quiet and studious ones to the real troublemakers, but I guess that's what you'd expect from a bunch of kids anywhere in the world.

There's one small annoyance. Because of Nepal's electricity problems, it's troublesome to get stuff photocopied. That means that every time I've wanted to create a worksheet, I've had to write the entire thing by hand 18 times! It's not that bad though. There's always plenty of time.

As you can probably tell from what I've written and the photos, MotherCare is completely the other end of the spectrum from OGN. The kids are all clean, well-fed and healthy. The school itself wouldn't be out of place in England or Canada. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to experience both. I've learnt a great deal from each.