Posts

Big Brothers & Sisters

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This year we have paired up our 6th graders with the entering 1st graders as “big brothers” and “big sisters.” The 6th graders have written decorated notes to their little brothers and sisters (which their teacher read for them), and each Monday afternoon they visit the 1st grade class to help with handwork projects. Their first project of the year was making fabric holders for their crayons. As you can see in the photos, it has been a success. At an age characterized by increasing hardness — in both bones and attitude — it is a joy to see these students being so tender and connecting with their own lingering childhood.

Sculpting Rocks in 6th Grade

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The sixth grade students at Escuela Caracol are not only learning about rocks in their Mineralogy block in main lesson, but in their handwork class they are also learning how to sculpt rocks. What better way to connect with stones than by learning how to bring a form to birth from them? Working in the tradition of local Maya stone carvers, our handwork teacher, Ignacio Porón, is immersing the sixth grade in this ancient art.

Mineralogy Studies in the Sixth Grade

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The students are starting the year with a three-week study of mineralogy — a subject that is particularly potent when you live in front of three volcanoes! The students have learned a little about the volcanic history of Atitlán, as well as about the rocks of fire, igneous rocks, which comprise almost all of the rocks one finds around Lake Atitlán. The class is also studying the rocks of water, sedimentary rocks, and since it is nearly impossible to observe these rocks around Lake Atitlán, they hope to make a sixth grade class trip to another part of Guatemala in order to see first hand limestone rock formations and experience a sedimentary rock landscape. The cost will be about $100 per student, and if you would like to help the local Maya students in the class with this expense, you can make a donation by clicking here. Just be sure to write in “class trip” as a blank field (like “fax”). Thanks!

Below is an image of blackboard art in the sixth grade class at Escuela Caracol.

Mineralogia

Central American Waldorf Kindergarten Teachers Gather at Caracol

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Escuela Caracol is proud to be hosting this week the fifth annual Conference of Central American Waldorf Kindergarten Teachers with over 40 participants. The guest lecturers this year are Inés Spittler, from Peru, and Tamara Chubarovsky, from Spain. Inés is presenting the principal seminar on the 12 senses and their development in early childhood, and she is also leading a workshop on doll-making. Tamara is leading the morning rhythm, speech and singing, as well as presenting a seminar on the art of the word (working with Rudolf Steiner’s formative speech).

In these photos you can see an assortment of images from the week thus far.

Advent Spiral 2013

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Since Escuela Caracol was founded in 2007, each year we have celebrated the Christmas season with the Advent Spiral. It is a special candle lighting ceremony for the younger children, ages 3-9. The day before the event, families and teachers come together to make and adorn the spiral, which is always a warm and special Saturday afternoon. Then on the first Sunday of Advent, parents, teachers and other friends and family come to watch in silence as the children find their way into the spiral (or “caracol”), light their own candle and make their way back out to the world again. Along the way each child chooses a special place to leave his or her candle, culminating in a beautiful spiral of candlelight. At this dark time of the year, when the days are shortest and the nights longest, this event gives us all courage to find the light within and share it with the world.

This year we were fortunate to have Terry Rubin, local San Marcos resident, accompanying the event with her enchanting collection of flutes. Thanks to all who contributed to make it a special evening in December.

 

Hasta Siempre, Juanmi

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Our good friend and the brother of our one our founding teachers, Juan Miguel Arrivillaga, ended his struggle with a brain tumor today at 5:16pm. He was a journalist, an activist, a graphic designer, a musician, a father of two boys, and a lover of Lake Atitlán.

Juanmi embodied a rare combination of passion and poise; he was idealistic and carried a profound sense of justice, and yet he was easy-going and a pleasure to be around. No matter the circumstances and perhaps differences of opinion, he always made a good impression with those who met him because he took a sincere interest in everyone he met. The sweetness and strength of his character was unforgettable. He was loved by so many and he will be missed dearly.

In honor of Juan Miguel, as well as his sister and our companion, Andrea, Escuela Caracol is canceling classes for Thursday, November 7.

¡Hasta siempre, Juanmi!  We will miss you.

 

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Teachers from Retalhuleu visit Escuela Caracol

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Yesterday we were visited by teachers of “Escuela Mixta Sinaí” from Retalhuleu in Guatemala. They received a workshop on Waldorf pedagogy, rhythmic movement in the classroom, and form drawing. As you can see in the following photographs, it was a sizable group that came to experience something of the Waldorf way. We are grateful to the Sinaí school or their interest in Escuela Caracol as an example of integral education.

Chalkboard Drawings

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If you walk into any Waldorf classroom in the grades, one of the first things to strike you is probably the chalkboard drawing. Chalkboard art has become a time-honored tradition in Waldorf schools. It is how the teacher brings to imaginative life the content of the lessons. In a day when dry erase wipe boards (and their fumes) have taken over, Waldorf schools remain a sort of classic throwback to the days of chalk and slate. Dry erase boards, however, simply do not lend themselves to the artistic sensibility and emotional range that bright colored chalk can bring to a classroom.

It is also an important part of how the teacher’s own artistic activity — his or her own development and activity — relates both directly and invisibly to the child. Children experience great anticipation of the teacher’s next awe-inspiring image, which they later have a chance to recreate in their own books, in their own way. The images connect to the curriculum content and take the child deeper into the experience, through his or her feelings.

Here you can see a few of our teacher’s recent chalkboard drawings at Escuela Caracol. We cannot get slate chalkboards here, so we have to make our own using plywood and homemade chalkboard paint. Sometimes the grain of the wood is a challenge for the teacher, but the overall experience in the classroom is worth it.

 

You can also see the video of one of the most famous Waldorf Teacher Brian Wolfe in action With Some chalk.

Escuela Caracol in the newspaper “Prensa Libre”

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The national newspaper Prensa Libre recently published an article about Escuela Caracol and our pedagogic method.

We reproduce the text below. You can also read the entire article here.

Escuela utiliza sistema pedagógico Waldorf

Helen Estrella Celeste Porón Cuc, de 8 años, sale temprano de su casa, en San Pablo La Laguna, Sololá, para ir a la escuela Caracol, donde cursa segundo primaria. Camina hacia el establecimiento, a un kilómetro de su vivienda, en San Marcos La Laguna. Como las clases empiezan a las 8 horas, la niña toma mototaxi si va retrasada, ya que no le gusta faltar ni llegar tarde.

En la escuela Caracol, Celeste Porón comparte clases con 48 niños de comunidades de varios municipios de Sololá, que hablan kaqchikel, tz’utujil o k’iche’, y con hijos de extranjeros de Estados Unidos, Francia, Alemania, España y otros países de Europa que radican en Sololá.

La pluriculturalidad que se vive en la escuela Caracol no es su única peculiaridad, algo que la distingue del resto de establecimientos del país es también que es la única donde se práctica el sistema pedagógico Waldorf, que al contrario del sistema educativo tradicional, no es jerárquico, dirigista ni competitivo.

Sistema novedoso

El sistema Waldorf estimula la libertad, creatividad y el conocimiento desde una perspectiva integral y holística. Los niños relacionan lo aprendido con la propia experiencia, para lo que utilizan cabeza, corazón y manos.

El director de la escuela Caracol, el estadounidense Joshua Wilson, detalló que el sistema que utilizan es diferente: “Vivimos en una era de información. Todas las respuestas están a unos clics de distancia. Saber la respuesta correcta no es lo importante. La pregunta importante no es ¿qué sabes? Lo importante es ¿quién eres?”.

Wilson indicó que el sistema se enfoca en las preguntas: “¿Eres una persona que sabe manejar la información, cómo aplicarla de manera efectiva y responsable?”.

Según Wilson, otros cuestionamientos que deben responderse son: “¿Eres una persona con confianza en sí misma para manejar la vida con la voluntad de hacer algo, de producir algo? ¿Eres una persona que puede ver varios lados de un problema? ¿Una persona que puede seguir aprendiendo? ¿Eres una persona que se siente responsable al mundo, que cree en un mundo mejor, que puede imaginar un mundo mejor, y que se siente que puede tomar un papel en este mundo?”.

El maestro Erbin Samuel Quiacaín Sajvín contó que cada docente hace su propio currículum, y los niños elaboran sus propios libros, de acuerdo con la necesidad en el aula.

Las evaluaciones se llevan a cabo de manera técnica y con métodos de observación, para determinar el desarrollo del niño en su manera de expresión, aprendizaje, forma de actuar y relación con los demás.

La maestra Sandra Pérez, maestra cakchiquel, indicó que son ocho docentes y a los niños de primaria se les imparte danza, música, arte, jardinería, educación física, matemáticas y los idiomas inglés, español y kaqchikel.

Los alumnos locales son becados hasta en 97 por ciento, mientras que los extranjeros pagan colegiatura completa.

La administradora Mercedes Franco comentó que los padres de familia interactúan con sus hijos. “No solo vienen a inscribir a sus hijos, sino deben mantenerse cerca para participar en el desarrollo estudiantil”.

Manuel Tuch Sancoy, padre de familia, expuso que la educación que recibe su hijo es distinta a la que él recibió y tiene más enfoque en la naturaleza.

Trayectoria

Siete años  

La escuela Caracol está aprobada por el Ministerio de Educación y  es una de las más de 900 que   utilizan la pedagogía Waldorf   en 83 países, la cual   fue promovida por el austriaco Rudolf Steiner.

El director   Joshua Wilson  recuerda que la  escuela fue establecida en Guatemala en el 2007 por él y su esposa, Corina,  con el apoyo de  Nicolás Sacach Mendoza, albañil;  Amarilis Sancoy, cocinera, y Andrea Arrivillaga, quien este año se gradúa como la primera  maestra guatemalteca Waldorf. Para más información consultar el sitio www.escuelacaracol.org 

Noviembre es Barriletes – November is Kites

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November is the month of kites at Lake Atitlán. Each year at Escuela Caracol the children look forward to making and flying their kites all over the town. They make them using a reed that grows naturally in the mountains and crate paper of different colors. Sometimes they even cook jocotes (our local fruit) and then use their pulp as a glue. Kite making helps to develop their sense of symmetry (without which the kites won’t fly!) as well as skills in practical geometry.

Kites are a long-standing and treasured tradition in Guatemala. Many places even hold kite festivals where groups come together to make and fly kites that approximate the size of a small plane! It is also a tradition with deep spiritual roots.
The tradition of flying kites in the cemeteries of Guatemala on the Day of the Dead dates back at least 111 years. During this special time of year, when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead is believed to be most porous, people attach hand-written messages to the tails of the kites. These messages are intended to reach the heavenly spirits when the kites ascend to the sky, letting them know that they are wanted and guiding them on their journey from heaven to earth. The kites test the winds and signal the spirits until four in the afternoon, when they are lowered and families gather at home to await the arrival of the souls.

http://www.grupoquepasa.com/the-kites-of-santiago-sacatepequez/