school experiences

1.       How do you feel about your teachers? What was your relationship with them?

I always enjoyed school growing up and had pretty good relationships with my teachers. I always asked them for help when I needed it and made sure that I understood everything before taking tests. Most of my teachers were pretty open and friendly so it was not an uncomfortable relationship.

2.       How does your school and teachers compare to other schools in the U.S.?

I don’t know about a lot of schools in the U.S but I have had friends tell me that they don’t like class and they didn’t like their teachers which is very different from what I am used to . I think if anything my school was more supportive of it’s students then most schools because most of the students had good relationships with the teachers and the teachers were always willing to help us out.

3.       How does it compare to schools and teachers in other countries?

Well after doing some readings it seems like the U.S has a different way of going about education then some other countries. I remember reading that in Russia the teacher and student relationship was supposed to be strict but I also think it depends on the school ad area in general not just the country.

4.       Would you like to attend school (or have your children attend school) in another country?

I did a study abroad in Spain for a summer and enjoyed going to school there very much! I would like to try the school experience in an Asian country to get a different experience. I think it is interesting how different countries go about schooling.

School Experiences

1.      When I was little my parents had a nanny come and take care of me and my two brothers. My parents would leave in the morning my mom would work a half day and come back around 2 pm so that she could be with my brothers and I while my dad would usually come home between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm.

2.      From what I can remember I really enjoyed my early educational experience. I pre-school and a young fives program before starting kindergarten.

3.      The preschool I went to was a lot of fun it was a small place with six classrooms and two young fives classrooms and two split play grounds for the younger children and the ones getting ready to go to kindergarten. I don’t exactly remember what we did in class but I do remember playing a lot of games and singing songs.

4.      I liked the fact that our parents were encouraged to participate at certain times and that we became close to the teacher and made some good family friends out of my classes. One thing I remember not enjoying was the snack time, there was set snacks because of children having allergies, so when they stopped allowing us to bring our own snacks I got fussy, but I got over it eventually and just did not eat if I did not like it.

Community

1.       I have spent two month in Cambodia and 4 months in Europe for school and although I enjoyed it I do not think I could live in another country unless that I had some close relatives nearby. If I were to live anywhere it would be Spain because I have close cousins who live there and would be available if I ever needed anything. I find family to be very important and I like to be close to them.

2.       I feel like compared to other countries my neighborhood is more laid back. I am not sure how safe other neighborhoods are in other communities or if people even know their neighbors but I had a lot of freedom as a kid to wonder around my neighborhood, go to their houses and play outside. I think my neighborhood would definitely be considered one of the more safe ones.

3.       Compared to other countries I am not sure how my neighborhood relates however when I was in Cambodia, we never knew our next door neighbors and kind of kept to family, but when I was in Spain visiting my cousins they were friendly with almost all their neighbors so it depends on the country. I would still say my neighborhood is more open than most. 

Education for children in different countries vary, there are different requirements for children across countries, child care in some countries is provided more by the family.

Community

1.       My childhood neighborhood was very quiet yet had a lot of other children my age on the same street. It was safe to play in the street and front yard and a lot of the time kids from across the street or next door came over or played in front of each other’s houses on a daily basis.

2.       The aspect I liked the most about where I grew up was the diversity of the people in our neighborhood and the fact that I could always go out and play because I knew everyone, which in turn made my mom and dad more comfortable as well.  One thing I did not like however was that because all the neighbors were so close, some of them got a little too nosey and wanted to be in everyone’s business which got out of hand sometimes because people misheard things and rumors were spread every once in awhile. 

3.       Everyone in my neighborhood was pretty close especially because the majority of the people around had children of the same age. Of course there were always neighbors that kept to themselves but even then we knew them on a first name basis. I usually knew what was going on in the neighborhood, and because my mom was friends with a lot of the other moms we were friendly with everyone and spent a lot of time hanging out with neighbors and doing activities with them. 

I learned that religion can have a big influence on how a child is brought up and that it can also influence the community and society that becomes a norm to a child. I also learned that across countries, gender roles are very different and  cultures expect different characteristics and actions that a child participates in  .