The closest American counterpart to the Bulgarian Yasli would probably be what we call preschool, though there are also elements of a nursery in there. The children’s ages range from 1 to 4 (though most are 2-3). This short span is a time during which many complex and important developmental goals are accomplished, making the Yasli a pretty important place. The difference between the Bulgarian preschool and the American version, like so many other places here, lies in the staff’s interactions with the children. Here, there is a much more hands-off policy when working with children, and the Yasli is no different. In my first few days I observed that that the staff’s role was mainly physical care of the children (feeding, changing diapers, etc.), while there were little to no coordinated activities. The children are mainly just given a pile of toys, and left alone for a while.
The first thing I figured I would try to do was to get more one on one interaction with the kids, since the simple act of even speaking to children at this age can be a valuable developmental tool. For example, the simplest babbling is a sign that the child is trying to distinguish the correct sounds and rules of language for use later. With the younger kids, what I’ve been doing is simply playing with the children and looking for signs of emerging language and trying to encourage it. I reply with actual Bulgarian, and they try to repeat it, and the cycle continues until they get distracted or bored. With the children who can speak already I've been trying to encourage longer conversations and counting. I also help out with the discipline side of things, and also with first aid if needed. I figure this is about the extent to which I can go at this point, but even so it’s better than nothing.
People who work with children here in Bulgaria have very skeptical views about the abilities of the children they work with. Whereas we in America are raised with a very “can do” spirit, and early development is encouraged (i.e. learning numbers and pushing literacy), it seems that people here in Bulgaria figure that children cannot learn anything until they are enrolled in school. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and from what we are taught seems quite backwards. I asked if maybe I could make a circle with the kids at the Yasli and try teaching numbers or letters, or at least basic sounds. I was basically laughed at and told that they don’t know anything yet. After that, I was informed that children here don’t learn the alphabet until first grade, which was a bit shocking to me. It is this lack of confidence in children that has continually been the bane of my existence here in Bulgaria, and is a constant source of frustration in both of my places of work. At the Yasli, there is no confidence that children can learn anything at such a young age. At the orphanage, there is no confidence that the children can rise out of their at-risk state and eventually do something great with their lives. Without an emphasis in strengthening the abilities of your children, what kind of investment are you making in the future of your country?
Then again, that’s one of the things that the Peace Corps is here to address. Again, it seems after reading this post again that I sound pretty negative, but I really am pretty hopeful that I can do something here… at least begin to start to instill some confidence in these children, and emphasize the importance of this early and critical stage of life. The staff is very friendly and open to me in both places, and they are great people with a lot of heart. However, the challenge comes in working with the culture - suggesting without criticizing and observing without looking down upon. I am, after all, a "very young boy" myself, as my coworkers tell me almost every day...
Perhaps eventually I’ll be able to get some more coordinated activities with the kids there, but, as with the orphanage, I am still trying to gain the trust and respect of the staff at this point. When my Bulgarian gets a bit better, I hope to also maybe get a parent’s group together. Though I don’t have any parenting experience, it might be good to coordinate some kind of forum where they can get together and talk. Things are still hazy on that front right now. Just wanted to share a bit of a different side of what I do here in Preslav with you all.
Until next time…
1 comment:
You are right that children do learn at early ages, and hopefully you can instill that idea into the hearts of the workers over there! There are lots of activities you could do with them. Maybe you could do a story circle with picture books (I am sure you could find some inexpensive ones or do they have something like an American public library system there where you could check out books?) Also, there are lots of games to play that teach counting, etc. There are things you could do that are arts and crafts, too, with the 2 and 3 year olds. The site I sent you, Read Write Think, has some stuff you might try also.
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