m is for the m in mobile creches

sooo there are two groups of kids that we're working with at our placement, the three to five year olds and the seven to twelve year olds. apparently the grammar schools here work in shifts; the morning shift for girls and the afternoon shift for boys. as a result of that system, the boys who went to day care at mobile creches as tiny tots come back in the morning before going to school.
for the first hour we're there one of us goes to review english and math lessons with the boys while the other two play with the twenty-ish pookers. then all three of us work with the big kids until noon when we're picked up for lunch. they already know the alphabet and some basic phrases so we're there to reinforce what they've learned and to help build up their vocabulary. with the toddlers we'll be doing a lot of educational games and arts&crafts-y activities, which my costa rica experience has definitely prepared me for. i feel a lot less secure about my ability to control 15 rowdy boys, so we'll see how that goes...
they haven't yet given us permission to take pictures there, so i won't be able to show you how unbelievably adorable these kids are until they do. it's winter here (comparable to a mild fall in chicago) and they're in a cement building all day, so the teeny tiny little kids are all bundled up and just precious.
promise i'll post some good pictures just as soon as i take them!