Country Day School

Today was our first day of school at Country Day, which is a Pre-K through 12th grade private school. This is an English only speaking school and if caught speaking Spanish in the classroom by a teacher they were told to stop. So, when it came to recess and lunch they were speaking only Spanish to each other. This is a very international school with a very interactive curriculum. All twelve of us were placed into different classrooms based on which one we were interested in watching. Then we were able to observe things like how the teachers run their classroom, what the discipline is like, how well they respect their teacher and what they were learning. Throughout the day many of us noticed how eager these little kids were to ask questions and learn while those in the high school noticed how disciplined and well behaved the kids were during class. Another thing we noticed was that as many similarities it has to American schools the methods they use are very different. For example, there is only one standardized for of assessment, allowing teachers to not have to worry about "teaching to the test." In a first grade classroom, the teacher had found songs to the tune of the macarana to help them learn their days of the week, months and counting by2's, 5'sand 10's in a way they will enjoy and look forward to doing. After a full day of school we returned to the hotel and had a group meeting to discuss the different aspects of the school, classrooms and curriculum that stood out to us. Overall, we had a really good time observing and interacting with the students and look forward to another day at Country Day!