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Teaching and Assisting in Schools in Costa Rica logo

Teaching and Assisting in Schools in Costa Rica

by: Love Volunteers

4 (1)Verified

This vital project was created to improve the English-speaking abilities of children in Jaco Beach, on Costa Rica's stunning Pacific Coast. Volunteers take on the role of Teacher Assistants, generally working up to 4 hours daily, Mondays to Fridays, depending on the school's current needs. They provide much-needed support in classrooms with many students yet inadequate resources. They help plan cr...

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Program Highlights

Provide free English language classes to the children of Jaco Beach.

Make a real, lasting difference in the lives of children through English learning.

Improve the future of local children in Costa Rica.

Expose non-English speakers to native speakers to improve pronunciation and conversational skills.

Enable intercultural exchange that benefits both students and international volunteers.

Quick Details

Locations
  • Jaco, Costa Rica
Availability
Year(s) OfferedYear RoundDuration:
  • 1-2 Weeks
  • 2-4 Weeks
  • 5-8 Weeks
  • 9-12 Weeks
Cost Per Week$300-600
Age Requirement:Varies
Types & Subjects:
  • English Teaching
  • Teaching
Guidelines:
  • American
  • European
  • Canadian
  • Australian
  • South African
See all program details

Awards

Program Reviews

Hear what past participants have to say about the programs

Overall Rating

4

Total Reviews

1

Not what you expect from the programme description!

November 02, 2022by: Katharina Pfaff - GermanyProgram: Teaching and Assisting in Schools in Costa Rica
4

Hi, I just finished my time volunteering with LV in Costa Rica and wanted to share my experience, as I mostly only could find reviews for African or Asian countries on the internet before my trip. I was in Jaco Beach and joined the Educational Support programme by LV. Unfortunately I would absolutely not recommend this programme. I was supposed to stay for 6 weeks but left after just 1.5 weeks. I think that because Love Volunteers is such a huge organization who have programmes all over the world, they don’t really know what’s going on at every project location. I had so many struggles arriving before even volunteering. The circumstances of the project don’t allow volunteers to actually help and make a difference. The programme description on the website was very different and while you expected to actually make a difference here and feel like you could make an impact on the children life, you were just disappointed. I was supposed to go into schools and help the children learn English. Firstly, we were at a public school, where they desperately needed our help with English but unfortunately the school was super unstructured (which is of course normal that the circumstances are not the best) and the English teacher was barely there (the English teacher had personal issues and was barely coming to school to teach). The children were just missing out in their opportunity to learn English. We weren’t allowed to teach a class ourselves, so we were just assigned random cleaning tasks around the school. Because we were upset about not giving the chance to help the children (while also only being in school for an hour daily) they managed to assign us to a different school. The new school: A private bilingual school, teachers from the US, students fluent in English…no help needed. Now that sadly wasn’t the intention of the programme at all anymore. Those kids at the public school needed the help but sadly the school and programme managers couldn’t make it accessible to them. This of course is just a single experience, but I think that the situation at the school has been like that for a while. Which LV should’ve known about and in my opinion shouldn’t have offered this programme anymore. Also, which for me is also a part of volunteering, that I expected was to be in a community of other volunteers who are helping out as well. If you’re looking for a fun experience with other volunteers who share the same passion for helping as you, then definitely don’t join this programme. When I arrived there was one more guy here, who before me was alone for a few weeks. If you’re planning to stay long term than you should maybe consider that. If I had know about it before, I would’ve thought twice about it. Of course this is also only because I’m a young student taking a gap year and wanna have fun experiences while volunteering. Overall, I think that other locations might be a better option if you rlly wanna make a difference and volunteer. But what I rlly appreciate is that LV tried to better my experience here and look for alternatives. They also rlly just weren’t aware of the situation here and tried to adjust it.

Love Volunteers logo
Love Volunteers responded to this reviewAugust 29, 2023

Thanks for your honest account, Katharina. I worked with you through the issues and agree completely with your summary: that the public school needs the assistance but finds it hard to provide support to volunteers. The private school supports volunteers well; but is well resourced with teachers. This conundrum is one that we face on many programs. It is a shame that we were not able to resolve the issues at the public school before you left. We do try to spread volunteers out between programs, to provide the best benefit and I agree that, if you are looking for a group travel trip which is focused on fun, this is not the right program for you.

Program Details

Learn all the nitty gritty details you need to know

Locations

  • Jaco, Costa Rica

Types and Subjects

  • Causes
  • English Teaching
  • Teaching

Availability

Years Offered: Year Round

Duration:
  • 1-2 Weeks
  • 2-4 Weeks
  • 5-8 Weeks

Age Requirement

Age Requirement Varies

Guidelines

  • American
  • European
  • Canadian
  • Australian

Cost per week

$300-600

Program Cost Includes

  • Accommodation / Housing for Program Duration
  • Wifi Costs
  • Some Meals / Partial Meal Plan
  • Airport Transfer (Pick-Up)

Accommodation Options

  • Dormitory
  • Group living
  • Guest House
  • Home-stays

Qualifications & Experience

    Language Skills Required

  • English
  • Spanish

    Accepted Education Levels

  • Any/All Education Levels Accepted

Application Procedures

  • Resume
  • Online Application
  • Other
Love Volunteers

Love Volunteers

4Verified

Ready to Learn More?

This vital project was created to improve the English-speaking abilities of children in Jaco Beach, on Costa Rica's stunning Pacific Coast. Volunteers take on the role of Teacher Assistants, generally working up to 4 hours daily, Mondays to Fridays, depending on the school's current needs. They provide much-needed support in classrooms with many students yet inadequate resources. They help plan creative lessons and lead games and activities for children. Teaching local kids English and improving their language skills propel them to higher education and greater chances of employment, especially in the tourism sector. This project is ideal for volunteers with qualifications and/or experience in childhood development and education. Individuals who simply wish to explore their interests in t...

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