Boomers Abroad

Description

Volunteer and teach a variety of subjects to poor children in India. Day to day activities will always be changing and stay exciting! Teach English or IT and combine with Art and Crafts, Drama, French, German, Maths and Sport. This is a completely flexible project; we place you in the most suitable school depending on your specifications and interests. You can choose the age range, what subject you would like to combine with English or IT and ultimately what you want to gain from the project! Immerse yourself in an Indian classroom and volunteer in this rewarding an exciting project.

Project Overview:
Our teaching projects are based in either primary or secondary schools in Madurai, mainly 'Matriculation' schools where it is compulsory that all lessons are taught in English. You will be introduced to the Principal on your first day who will discuss your teaching programme with you and will try to incorporate your own interests and specialities into your teaching schedule. All the children will be waiting to meet you with wide smiles!

Our schools in Madurai are desperate for your help and are overwhelmingly appreciative and grateful to all volunteers. Not only will you be giving invaluable teaching and education to the school, your involvement with the children will bring immense satisfaction and enjoyment!

Work Content:
You will assist a teacher for the first week and once you gain confidence and feel comfortable in the classroom, you will be able to become involved in lesson planning and take different classes. We provide you with a Teaching Guide and suggestions on inexpensive resources to take with you.

Children are always fascinated with volunteers and want to learn as much as possible about you. They love to hear stories about you and where you are from so it is ideal to take pictures, maps, magazine articles and even photos of your family and friends with you. You can also use these as excellent resources for a lesson to promote discussion and interest.

You don't need any qualifications to participate on a teaching project but a great way to become more confident in the classroom is to take part in a weekend TEFL course! Not only will this help you with how to go about lesson planning, it will also give you an introduction about teaching abroad as well as ways to get the children inspired and eager to learn!

You will be reminded of fantastic children's games, tips on how to remember everyone's names as well as an opportunity to look through all the latest teaching books. Even if you have had experience in a classroom before, it's always reassuring to take part in one of our courses to help you prepare for teaching overseas.

School Holidays in the South of India (Approx):
Please keep in mind that school holidays can change unexpectedly with very little notice given. Although at times this can be quite inconvenient, most of our volunteers use the opportunity to travel around and explore the country.

First Term Vacation: 1st to 5th October
Pooja Holiday: 8th to 9th October
Diwali Holiday: 25th to 28th October
Winter Holiday: 21st December to 3rd January
Second Term Vacation: 24th December to 1st January
Pongal Holiday: 13th to 15th January
Summer Vacation: 1st April to 1st June

Summer Camps:
During the summer holidays many of the schools offer "Summer Camps" to the students. Teaching of conversational English during this holiday to is available to approximately 60 to 80 students who attend the camp. These camps normally take place on the school grounds and are an opportunity to give more informal lessons and they can be combined with playing sports or putting together a play. Therefore the camps are much more relaxed and not quite so structured.

Teaching is not available during the other holiday periods, so please take the above dates into account when planning your placement. On the other hand if a holiday falls during your proposed placement, you could use this time to do any independent travelling and sightseeing.

Teaching Arts, Drama, Sport and Other Subjects in India:
If you have some know-how, some initiative and lots of enthusiasm, you can also get involved with teaching Drama, and Arts & Crafts lessons.

Teaching arts subjects is an excellent way of engaging children's imaginations and encourages them to communicate with few constraints. What's more, it is very satisfying to watch their confidence grow as they learn and develop new skills.

At some of our schools in our other destinations, volunteers and pupils together have produced plays and concerts, and performances have been put on in the evenings for parents, students and visitors. Because the schools are poor, the volunteers and children have had to be very creative in putting together costumes and sets, but all productions have been a resounding success!

Volunteers have found that producing short plays written by the children that address local social issues has been a successful means in educating the children on issues such as AIDS awareness, cultural relationships, peer pressures and bullying. It gives the children an informal forum and a means of sharing their concerns and learning to deal with issues.

You can combine one or all of these subjects with teaching conversational English.
You may also have the opportunity to teach sport for an hour each day at one of our larger schools. The sports on offer are badminton, volleyball and throw ball. Please state your interest at the time of booking and we will try our best to accommodate you.

What You'll Gain from Doing this Project:
--> An exciting, never-to-be-forgotten adventure into beautiful India and it's fascinating culture.
--> The enormous satisfaction of helping disadvantaged children and knowing that you made a difference to them.
--> New skills, more confidence, a greater understanding of a different culture, invaluable personal and professional development.
--> An entry on your CV or resume that will put you head and shoulders above most others in the job market
--> And best of all ... an unforgettable experience!

Travellers' placements are very flexible and you can combine this project with any other Travellers project, either in the same country or in different countries.

Our users say...
"I am gaining immeasurable amounts of experience over a whole spectrum of issues and primarily, excellent experience of teaching which will aid my PGCE application. I feel that I am gaining experience of another culture first hand, experience of life and learning a lot about myself too.

The placement in India has challenged me in so many ways. I have a much deeper sense of gratitude for my life at home now. It is very unique to live in another country for a protracted period and embrace a different way of life. After all, you don't learn about a country just through a textbook!

The best thing about the about the placement is the children, their enthusiasm and energy has been delightful. I would most definitely recommend this placement. I abhor cliches but this really is an experience of a lifetime, miss at your peril!" Catherine Williams

Additional Activities to Do While on Your Project:
Add to your travel experience in India by doing some additional exciting optional extra activities.
--> Yoga and Meditation Classes: Learn or improve your Yoga skills. Kick-start your days with Yoga followed by Meditation, it'll set you up for the day!
--> 2-Hour Basic Tamil Language Course (only GBP7): You'll learn some basic phrases to kick-start your placement
--> 4-Week Tamil Language Course: (GBP49) taken at the same time as doing your main project.

Lessons are by a retired Professor of Tamil. You'll appreciate the benefits of having some Tamil during your placement.. and the locals will love you for trying to speak their language.

This project can also be combined with any of our other projects in India, such as Sports or Work Experience or Teaching, giving you a varied and broad experience of life in India.