Costa Rica - Teaching: Reach Out to Children at Low-Resourced Schools

  Costa Rica

• North Western Region: 
Samara

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months, 7-12 months, 1-2 years and over 2 years
Typical Duration of Program: 2-4 weeks
Dates: Throughout the Year: Every Monday

Description: Project Summary

The teaching projects available in Costa Rica are for those volunteers who are interested in working with children and teaching basic English, sports, and arts classes. Teaching projects are available in the Guanacaste province, north west of San Jose. The schools in this area are severely under-funded and lack the staff or finances to provide an adequate education.

The majority of the schools in this area lack teachers and qualified staff. Therefore, students never graduate beyond basic English skills. Although there are teachers who specialize in these subjects at some of the schools, they are often poorly resourced and welcome the support of assistant volunteer teachers in order to provide better opportunities for advancement to their students. Many schools also lack the financial resources to hire full-time staff so volunteers play a crucial role in filling out vacant positions. time staff so volunteers play a crucial role in filling out vacant positions.

Your Role as a Volunteer

You will have the choice of either leading your own class or assisting another teacher in their daily lessons. Your placement is completely dependent upon your level of comfort within the classroom. Depending on your level of Spanish and educational background, you may also be asked to teach other subjects such as Sports, Math, History, Science, Music and Art.
Please keep in mind that Costa Rican holidays and school meetings might cause your placement to be cancelled temporarily.

Project Location

The teaching projects are based in schools in Samara and the in rural communities that surround the town. Playa Samara is considered to be one of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches. The town is located on the edge of 7km stretch of pristine white sand beach.

The town's life revolves around the soccer field that lies in the middle of Samara, which is how traditional Costa Rican towns are typically laid out. The Guanacaste province is home to farming communities and villages that have managed to escape over-development and retain traditional Costa Rican culture and traditions. As a result, Guanacaste is one of best the places to be if you want to experience traditional Costa Rica's culture first-hand.

Highlights: Special Offers

Share your experience with friends or family and receive a $100 off your program fee.

Here's how:

1. Find a friend(s) or family member to join you on your adventure.
2. He/she applies to the program and simply mentions your name in the questions/comments section of the application.
3. Submit your application with your friends or family members name in questions/comments section and apply for any project in any country and any date of your choice.
4. You will automatically receive $100 off your project placement in our payment confirmation page.

Join a Volunteer Visions adventure with 4 or more of your friends or family and qualify for a free 4-week placement.

Here's How:

1. Get 4 or more people to apply and mention your name in the questions and comments section of the application form.
2. Choose any 4 week volunteer placement in your country of choice.
3. After we receive the program fees from each member of your party, we will send confirmation of their payment to you.
4. You receive a fully paid 4 week placement in your chosen project and country. If you wish to extend your placement beyond 4 weeks, just take the difference between the program fees for the extended period of time and the 4-week fee and pay the difference.

Sign up for a project in Costa Rica between now and June 30th and qualify for a 10% off your total program fee.

Qualifications: Volunteers participating in the teaching projects should enjoy working with children. They should also be creative and self-motivated as even the most basic resources can be limited and require you to use your imagination to compensate for the lack of materials.

Suggested Language Level

If you are participating in one of our teaching or community development projects, we recommend that you have an intermediate level of Spanish language proficiency. If you have little or no Spanish language skills, you must enroll in our Spanish language and cultural immersion program during the first week of your placement. This program includes 20 hours of Spanish language classes as well as cultural immersion activities such as group excursions, latin dance classes, cooking lessons, yoga, and classes in art.

This comprehensive package of classes and activities is available at an extra cost of $190 per week, which is paid in addition to your program fee. During the week long language program, the cultural activities and assignments set by the language program will occupy most of your time, but after the first week, if you choose it will be possible to combine additional language classes along with your volunteer placement. Otherwise your volunteer program will commence on the second week of your placement. If you would like to continue with your Spanish language classes during your stay, Volunteer Visions will gladly arrange additional classes on your behalf at a substantially discounted rate.

Minimum Education: High School

Cost in US$: Starting at $650

Experience Required: no

Age Range: 18-80

This Program is open to World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Costa Rica Independently Or in Groups

Typically Participants Work Independently Or in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Volunteer Visions's Mission Statement: Volunteer Visions was founded with a simple idea in mind; that volunteering should be affordable and available to everyone.