After consulting with some language schools and language teachers in Bangkok I decided upon Oxford University Press materials. (See here for more details.) As well as the program at the kindergarten schools I am also running an after school program for the older children who live at the Mercy Centre itself. These children are often those whose parents have died, are in prison or cannot look after their children for whatever reason. The Mercy Centre looks after the children and tries to help support the family to get back on its feet if that's a possibility. For the after school program I am using English Time for the 10-12 year old children, Get Ahead for the teenagers and later stages of Let's Go for the 7-9 year old children.
In the kindergarten schools I am using Let's Go. It's a very popular program with great resources. It follows a clear progression and the teachers books make it easy for an intelligent person confident in English to follow. The vast majority of the volunteers on the program are not qualified teachers. Let's Go has very clear instructions, a detailed philosophy and lots of drills and games to supplement the detailed lesson plans. When a new volunteer starts I take them to the school myself and teach the first lesson or two until they feel confident enough with the materials and environment to go out on their own. I visit the volunteers regularly to ensure they are happy with their teaching and that the children are learning. I have instigated a system of peer observations to help the volunteers support one another, and some volunteers teach in pairs. I have been looking at training options for the volunteers and may well soon be organising a website with video resources. If anyone has any input or suggestions please comment below.
The volunteers have been great. They have taken ownership of the program and work really hard, making their own resources and going out of their way to provide the best learning opportunities they can for the children. I have a number of volunteers recruited from social media groups and volunteers already here at the Mercy Centre. There are currently 4 full time volunteers from Norway and 1 from Austria who are here on programs developed between the Mercy Centre and their home countries. Other volunteers are living here in Bangkok with a little free time to spare. The volunteers who teach the after school program are all qualified teachers who I have worked with before.
Since the last school I worked at (for money!) was an IB (International Baccalaureate) school I have managed to talk the CAS* students, via the CAS coordinator, into volunteering in the kindergarten schools as well. I am lucky enough to have a friend and ex work colleague who used to be head of early learners at the British Council here in Bangkok. As such he has trained countless teachers to teach English as an additional language. He has very kindly volunteered to give the CAS students some training before they come to the schools. The students will also observe me teach and will be teaching in pairs.
Volunteers come and go and I am always looking for more. If you are available any time Monday to Friday for an hour or two between 9 and 12 please email me.
*Creativity, Action, Service - a mandatory module of the IB that teaches the students about social responsibility.
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