Green School

Henry's Classroom

The boys seem to be enjoying school.  Henry is in Pre K and he goes 3 full days a week.  The school day is from 8:15-3:15, a long day for him so we decided to just do 3 days a week.  This also gives us 2 days with just him which are rare and we have been enjoying.  After his first day, he said that he gave it 103 million thumbs up.  There are about 15-18 kids in his class with about 3 teachers and an intern or two. It is a play based program with different areas set up around the class.  They also have music time, library time, green studies and maybe more.  Time will tell and we are still learning.  He told me that he traced his body, went to the library and that his class will soon have their own offering boxes for the daily offerings that are made in Bali.

The swings made out of old tires with Henry's class in the background

Owen's class. They have garden beds in front of their class,
lemongrass growing along the walkway and it is open air.

All the furniture is bamboo and the whiteboard is a car window

Owen is in Grade 2B.  There are a lot of second graders so there are 2 second grades.  He is in the class that is boy heavy, currently with 8 boys and 3 girls but 2 twin girls will be coming in February and one other girl may be returning while we are here, but they just found out that the mom has lung cancer so they may stay in Australia for medical care.  Initially, I was bummed that he ended up in this class given that Owen tends to connect with girls more, but he has made friends and likes his teacher a lot.  When I asked what he thought of his class after the first day, he said, "Ibu Sara (his new teacher) is great".  They just started a unit on "Saints and Sages" that is built around fictional stories and the lives of a selected number of saints and sages taken from Christian and Hindu traditions.  The intended learning will be around the values these people lived by that made them such respected and honorable citizens. 

The Honey Pot, the circle time area of the classroom

 

 

All of the classes at the Green School have at least one Indonesian teacher and one other head teacher that may or may not be Indonesian.  In addition, there is a large specialist staff for PE, Green Studies, Performing Arts, Indonesian Studies, Music, Outdoor Games, Computer Lab, Library and Visual Arts.  

The rice paddy that Owen's class is in charge of.  They haven't
harvested the rice that was planted last semester.

Green School Warung

After dropping the boys off at their classrooms, we usually hang out for a bit at the Green School Warung (cafe) and get a coffee and a snack and socialize with other parents.  Some parents seem to hang out here much of the day using the wifi and socializing.  The older kids also come here at snack time to buy a snack if they have been given some money.  Owen insists that we give him 10-20K rupiah (1-2$) a day so he can get snack.  The pre K class stays at their classroom and eating area for both snack and lunch. 

In the foreground is the 4th grade and a bathroom, in the middle
are the solar panels and in the background is the Heart of School
building that houses the library, a couple high school classes,
the administrative offices and the lunch area.