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The importance of music in the classroom

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“There is no complete spiritual life without music, for the human soul has regions which can be illuminated only by music.” Zoltan Kondaly.

In 1951, Zoltán Kodaly (Kecskemét, 1882 – Budapest, 1967), Hungarian researcher and musical composer who introduced Hungarian schools to the music lessons period ampliation into a complete hour daily. Results were amazing, having an overall performance increase compared with the rest of the region’s schools; a remarkable point is that in order to dedicate a complete hour to music the rest of the lessons had their period’s time shortened.

Music influences in a great way the sensitivity development, creativity, discipline, and the human’s social behavior; These can be seen holistically reflected on the self’s development.

In Escuela Caracol, music is a basic tool used to holistically nurture our Caracolitos and Caracolitas. It begins during the first septennium (ages 0 – 7) with singing until reaching the melodic instruments such as the flute or the guitar during the second septennium (ages 7-14).

Students show such happiness every time they master any task related to this subject, such as tuning the guitar or interpreting a whole song, beyond that, its wonderful to see the way they share their achievements instead of falling into competitive or comparative conducts.

Once you know this, it’s no hard to understand why Escuela Caracol is the place where children are happy.

Become part of our community and help us continue nurturing Mayan children from the western region of Lake Atitlán; share our posts and newsletter with your friends and family, speak about Escuela Caracol with your workmates, sponsor a student, or make a one-time donation.

Click the link to donate https://escuelacaracol.org/make-a-one-time-donation/

First family meeting of the year

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Recently, we had the first family meeting of the 2020 school year.

We all got together to share a fun afternoon where we had the chance to learn about many different subjects regarding our school. We sang, danced, and wrote our most special wishes for the present year.

We want to share these pictures with you so you can experience in some way the bright vibes of that unforgettable journey. Let yourself go, enjoy the images  and become part of our community.

Desks and chairs for our new classroom!

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Escuela Caracol keeps a symbiotic relationship with its community, this supportive network has made many of the current achievements possible.

Hellen Dorff and her family during their visit in 2018.

In August of 2018, Hellen Dorff came along with her husband and daughters to visit our school. They brought a huge box of delicious fruit for our students and spent a few minutes walking the gardens and chatting with some of the school’s staff and teachers.

A connection was naturally built; Hellen, a Waldorf teacher back in Germany, felt identified with Escuela Caracol’s mission. Soon after the visit, Hellen sent the link to an article she published at a local newspaper where she mentioned her experience in Escuela Caracol. A few weeks later, she organized a fundraiser with her community on behalf of Escuela Caracol, they gathered enough funds to donate a whole set of classroom chairs and desks to be used in our new building.

During November’s last week, a representative of Hellen came to San Marcos la Laguna. He was Max Hesse, Hellen’s cousin and owner of the workshop where the donated desks and chairs were constructed. On that beautiful morning, Max came along with his family to deliver a wonderful and priceless donation, desks and chairs to be used in our new classroom.

Max Hesse and his family during the delivery of the donation.

Families, like the Dorff’s, are one of the main pillars of our community, and thanks to kind donations like this, Escuela Caracol can continue nurturing heads, hearts, and hands of Mayan children from the western region of Lake Atitlan within an environment of dignity, love, and respect.

If you, like Hellen and her family, are interested in becoming part of our community and support Escuela Caracol, follow the link below and donate now.

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