Meet My Kindergarten Class! :)
1st up: Mayerli. (Pronounced My-air-lee) No, this isn't the typical Monroy school uniform; she was dressed up here for the class' take on Pinocchio. Mayerli's a little sweetheart, but she's also got a bit of spunk to her. She's also not the most task-orientated kindergartner, so there was often sounds of, "Mayerli, sigue trabajando por favor." "Mayerli, keep working please." Perhaps it's because she's too task orientated. Everything was ultra-carefully done, to the point where she worked painfully slow. But she also got distracted easily, so that could have been some of the problem. Occasionally too focused on the work of her table-mates. Slow working and distractions aside, this little girl has a smile that will melt your heart. You'll probably be seeing me say that, oh about 9 more times this post. :)
Next up: Carlitos. Carlitos is my little mono, my monkey. The kid can do the monkey bars for sure better than the rest of the kindergarteners, and probably better than most of the kids in the school. He is absolutely adorable, but he can't sit still for anything. He's the kid that is running around, doing a million and one things the entire recess time. While some of my kids are cuddlers, Carlitos typically isn't one of those, mostly because he has the attention span of a goldfish. But you can chase him and try to atrapar trap him all day and he'll be perfectly content. Carlitos is smart, but he's an instigator. He typically knew all the answers, but would be the one hiding his folder saying, "¡yo no tengo!" "I don't have one!" He's also 100% indigenous, and is one of the few that is still fluent in Kaqchikel. He was too shy to teach me any though...
Thirdly, let me present to you: Lynzi. Lynzi is one of the smartest of my class of ten. She could catch on to the English words quickly, and usually knew the right one to assign with the picture. She's clearly a leader in the group. What Lynzi says, everyone else faithfully repeats, because she probably knows what's up. She's got a lot of spunk and fire, which I love. You can also see from this picture, she's another instigator. Chasing the boys, keeping everyone in line, making her presence known...she's got a lot of personality. Perhaps a bit too much sometimes. :) Lynzi is a hard worker too, as are her two older siblings. Their mom makes sure they are working for the education they are receiving, something that not all the parents in the school do. I was always impressed with how much she knew, even if she was sometimes a bit too vocal with her knowledge!
Next, I would like to introduce: Andre. Andre is your classic case of a kid being in his own world. All the time. He knew the answers...most of the time. But he was often too focused on who even knows what to realize that it was his turn. And then when he realized it, there would be this little look of panic, and a mad scramble to figure out what we were studying. :) Andre is a runner. At recess that's all he does. You can hardly get him to sit still long enough to eat all of his snack. He runs, he falls, and he bounces back up and keeps going. He's not a troublemaker though, his mom being the 3rd/4th grade teacher makes sure of that. Just full of energy, and always in his own little world. But he's a doll, and again just melts my heart when he smiles!
And here we have Abi. Abi is one of the most precious little girls I've ever seen. She's quite and a touch shy, but once you've won her heart, you've got it forever. She's a snuggler. Recess, snack, work time, you name it...she's content to sit in your lap, or hold your hand, or just be close to you. I'm a physical touch person, so I love it. :) She doesn't say a ton, but she'll give you the sweetest little smile and then take your hand to take you wherever it is she wanted to go. Abi's smart, but she's not as vocal as Lynzi (hard to be...). She's got a more inner intelligence and smartness. When you call on her, out comes that little smile, and a quiet response, followed by a huge smile when she gets it right. Which is typically the case. Then she'll proudly march back to her seat as if she's saying, "Yep. I did know that answer." Going to miss cuddling with this little sweetheart!
Next up: Alejandra. Alejandra was another one of those I always had to remind to keep working. "Alejandra, guarda sus cosas por favor." "Alejandra, put away your things, please." She was always playing with something, and rarely focused on what the rest of the class was doing. Alejandra loved the monkey bars, but always needed help with them. "¡Seño, ayudame pasar los manos!" "Help me do the monkey bars!" A sometimes cuddler, always follower, and always in need of a reminder to keep working, but a sweetheart none the less.
This here is Darlyn. She fills the leadership roll when Lynzi isn't around, or when she doesn't know the answer. When that's the case, Darlyn's quick to step up and fill the roll. She typically knew the answers, though pronunciation was usually a problem. Rectangle usually came out something like septimo (seventh). But she was enthusiastic at least! Fascinated with our cameras she loved to take pictures, see pictures of herself, and direct where we should take pictures next.
Eighth up: Ixi. (Pronounced ih-shi) Ixi, when she was paying attention, knew the answers. But most of the time she wasn't. It was clearly much more interesting to see what Andre was doing, or what Alejandra was doing, or what she could do with her box of crayons, or any number of other things. When you call on her she stares at you for awhile saying, "Es que..." "It's like, um..." And then she'll just wait till you give her the answer. She's a bit sassy, and liked to wear black shoes (part of the uniform) with just a teensy heel. :)
This is Jonathan. Doesn't he just have the best eyes? He's a smarty-pants, though he's not rude about it. But he almost always knew the answer and would be one of the first to shout it out. He always seemed wise to me. Not smart, though like I said, he was. But wise. Like he could see more than just what was going on in front of him. He could sit there quietly and take it all in, and you knew there was a lot going on in that brain of his, just working out problems to himself. I think he's going to be an engineer someday.
Last, but not least, is my little Fernando! Fernando is an absolute doll. He's smart and works hard, always knows the answer when called on. Well usually. :) He's another quiet strength one. While he usually joins in playing at recess, he also will just sit there and take in everything around him. When he isn't playing, he'll occasionally come and snuggle up with me. I just love it! He doesn't like pictures though, so it was a bit of a struggle to get a good one with him! While it hasn't been set in stone yet, I'm pretty sure I'm going to sponsor this little guy, which will provide for his education for a long time! I'm really excited about it, but again it hasn't been set in stone yet. (If you'd like information of sponsorship, let me know! I can get you in touch with those in charge of the program!)
love them.
