Volunteering in the classroom, by Meredith Follet

As someone who is looking to go into the education field, I try to spend as much time as I 

can volunteering in the classroom. The past three summers I have been a preschool teacher in my town in the United States. Coming abroad, I knew I wanted the opportunity to be in a school to 
gain experiences in a completely different school system. Since being here, two times a week I 
volunteer at a school that starts at the preschool level and up to the middle school ages. 
When comparing the two experiences with the kids there were some similarities and 
differences. One similarity is the personality of the children. I have had the same conversations 
with them about random topics about siblings and how old I am as well. They also make the 
same jokes and are obsessed with drawing things and their new cool necklaces. Additionally, 
there are ranges of skill levels, with kids helping each other. Some differences I noticed were the 
level of the work they were doing. The kids in Spain were covering more advanced topics like 
cursive and addition/subtraction. Additionally, the set up of the two classrooms. On the right is a 
photo from the US, showing how much space is left for play and emphasizing the importance of 
carpet time. This varies from the picture on the left which shows that Spain wanted work at 
desks. It was interesting when looking to the article I found because it outlined what goals are 
had for preschooler in Spain. They are similar to the ones outlined to me throughout the summer 
in the United States such as communication skills, how to interact with peers and families, the 
environment and society. It helped demonstrate that certain countries embrace different styles of 
learning, but are still able to come to the success in learning. It additionally reminded me of the 
videos we watched of the outdoor education classes for preschoolers as well, showing the range 
of ways to teach at that age.

Daycare and preschool in Spain. (n.d.). Expatica Spain. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from

https://www.expatica.com/es/living/family/preschool-spain-107654/