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Queridos padres,
We have a fantastic
staff from four Spanish-speaking countries this summer –
A look at the
horario
shows you that your child is
involved in learning español throughout the day in a variety of
ways. Las comidas (meals) are
a highlight of the day. Our
kitchen staff is spoiling us with delicious, culturally authentic food
from all over the Spanish-speaking world.
We learn a lot of Spanish as we eat with our
casa and our familias.
Throughout the
day,
aldeanos
participate in a variety of encuentros led by different
consejeros. The goal of
each encuentro is to learn Spanish, though the means for achieving that
goal are different. The encuentros
are either lingüísticos,
deportivos, or
elegidos. The
encuentros deportivos
we are offering include sports such as
boxeo, fútbol, juegos nuevos,
and juegos deportivos.
Talleres
are more cultural, and
villagers will rotate through each
taller,
such as arte, culinaria, and
drama.
A new addition this session is
encuentros elegidos.
We offer four activities a day and villagers sign up after
breakfast for the one in which they wish to participate.
These differ from the
encuentros deportivos
and the talleres because they are
only for one day rather than for three.
Encuentros elegidos
give aldeanos a chance to try
many different things throughout the session.
These have included
presentación de comida,
baile,
canto,
and
arte de la
naturaleza.
The two themes that we are
working with during this session are,
Relaciones Interpersonales (Interpersonal Relations) and
Vida en el Campo y la Ciudad (Country and City Life).
Through these themes, we will explore our role in El Lago del
Bosque and in our global community.
In the evening, aldeanos gather before la cena
to watch the telenovela
(soap opera), La Aventura
(The Adventure).
We will see and hear more about our session themes as we follow
Panfilo, a young man from the country.
Panfilo´s closest friends are animals with whom he is able to
communicate. He meets two
young women and they get to know each other and become friends.
La telenovela
is an exciting way to bring the village curriculum to life for the
aldeanos.
Every night after la cena,
the entire aldea gathers to participate
in cultural and village-wide
programas de noche. This
is a time for “learnful play”, an expression coined by Patty “Murasaki”
Thornton, Director of Summer Youth Programs for Concordia Language
Villages. Some of this
session’s programas de noche
include games like Búsqueda de Tesoro y Cluedo, cultural simulations,
team work sessions, Show de Talentos,
bailes típicos, restaurante
and banquete.
The staff and I are excited to learn, reach, grow, and reflect
with your young people for two weeks as we strive to achieve the mission
of Concordia Language Villages: “to prepare young people for responsible
citizenship in our global community.” We at Concordia Language Villages
are working on becoming even more green as a community this summer.
We are doing simulations, engaging in discussions and seeking
villager input on how we can be better stewards of our resources.
This fits in beautifully with the summer theme “Imagine.” This
session we will challenge ourselves to imagine a better world and then
we will do our part to create that world. These are important steps on
our journey toward creating responsible citizens in our global
community.
Again this summer your villager will use the Concordia Language
Visa to track his/her language journey here at the Villages.
Please be sure to ask to see your villager’s Visa once s/he gets
home. I know you’ll be
impressed by all that s/he is capable of in the language.
In addition to the Concordia Language Visa, at El Lago del
Bosque, Marine on St. Croix “Wilder” we continue to use our
pasaporte.
The pasaporte and the visa together take the place of the
traditional portafolios that villagers have worked on in the
past. The pasaporte
offers the villager a wide range of activities to choose from that suit
his/her interests and practice the skills of listening, speaking,
reading, and writing, as well as those that deal with culture.
The pasaporte and visa together will give the villager
lots of ways to demonstrate what s/he is capable of in the language,
while at the same time allowing for choice and self reflection.
This is a brief overview of what we are doing every day and every
evening in El Lago del Bosque.
I hope that you will be able to
join us for el programa para
padres on sábado, el 21 de junio at 10:00 a.m.
We invite you to experience the
El Lago Kerisa “Kika”
Baedke, Dean El Lago del Bosque
– Marine on |
