As our website says, MPI takes a holistic
approach to community development. But often we get set in a
certain way of doing things and it takes a fresh set of eyes to see a new approach. In this way we are fortunate to have new people coming in
each
year and even throughout the year to see new opportunities to make our efforts towards community development truly holistic.
The following is from 2006-2007 Program Director Claire Hecht:
"When I came to Nicaragua,
I was very impressed with all of the programs that Manna had started in Cedro
Galan. However, I noticed that most of them focused on language skills -
learning English, reading, and writing - and while all of these are
extremely important, I believe that the skills acquired in a math class are
equally valuable. Therefore, with the help of Neil, Brandy, and Dan, I
organized a math class for students to attend twice a week. The goal of the
class is to supplement what the kids are learning in school and to relate the
material to the real world, so that they will develop strong problem-solving
skills in general. I also want the students to enjoy math, so we devote the last part of
class to playing
math-related games, such as multiplication bingo. The games seem to work
- the kids are always really excited - and I am sure that's
because of all the math they're learning, not the candy prizes
they're winning."
A recent update on the math program from current Nicaragua Program Director Erin
Duncan:
"The math program at El Farito has boomed these past two months, with
attendance between 15-20 students every Monday and Wednesday. While last month we had mostly 8 to 10 year olds, Catechism classes have
taken a chunk out of that population for the time being (silver lining:
I've been invited to several first communions!), but hopefully Jarvin,
Daniel, Fatima and some others will be back in November. Currently we
split the gap between several first and second graders and a group of
older third and fourth graders. We periodically give students 'entradas' (exams) to document their progress and determine if they
should move up in level.'
"Slowly but surely, we've seen some improvement. Little steps
become great victories, as Mayqueline counted to 60 with me on
Wednesday and Kati helped Daniela with her multiplication tables. Since
Matt was in Texas with Med School interviews, Dayana and Idalia helped
us with the younger children, going through worksheets with them and
leading Bingo. It makes my heart glad to see these girls already acting
as leaders in the community, and I hope that classes like math will
continue to give them the confidence to do so."
Dr. Alfred S. Posamentier, Dean of the School of Education at The
City College of New York-C.U.N.Y. points out the importance of mathematical education:
"In this rapidly progressing technological
era competence in mathematics is becoming ever more essential,
not as a vehicle to be able to do arithmetic computations
more quickly (for that we have the ubiquitous calculator),
rather to understand mathematical concepts, reasoning, and
above all genuine problems-solving skills."
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