We Have Curriculum!

Thursday, 27 January 2005

Never thought I would be so happy about curriculum, but yes, we have curriculum now (Well, at least we have it ordered.). Today, Ajarn Kansinee and Ajarn Ong-Ard asked us to come to the other campus to view curriculum books. It took several hours (Ajarn Ong-Ard later treated us to a late lunch at the hospital across the street since we missed one teaching period and our lunch.) A vendor had come to our school with an assortment of textbooks in Reading, Math, Science, Health, Social Studies, Art, etc. from American publishers we were familiar with as well as those from Singapore that we already use in our English Program. As the days fly by here and we keep busy with day to day lesson planning and teaching, Christy and I were both feeling the pressure of our responsiblities which have extended not only to daily teaching (and the 10 hours we spend with the students everyday) but also to finding new teachers and the curriculum, making the curriculum map, lesson plans, etc. I had been looking online, emailing colleagues in Seattle, and had been wondering how in the world we were going to order all the curriculum from America and expect it to come on time to Thailand by the start of the new school year in May. But, today, the vendor had everything we needed, and although it will be expensive (the school pays upfront, but the parents and families are expected to pay for their child's curriculum out of their own pocket, outside of tuition costs), we selected good titles that are user-friendly for teachers who may not have much teaching experience and background. It will alleviate the many hours spent choosing clip art and making our own assessments and worksheets. Some of that will still have to be done, but at least we have already done some of it since we've been here. We selected new English books for the regular Thai English program as well, so that the students are better prepared in Kindergarten 1, Kindergarten 2, and Kindergarten 3 (In Thailand, there are 3 classes of Kindergarten - the first two are like preschool) before they reach us for the Grade 1 English Immersion Program. We've got what we need for our Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 classes this May, and we'll have to re-evaluate at the end of next year.