CAMBODIA CHILDCARE VOLUNTEERS
As a childcare volunteer in Cambodia with PMGY, you will educate and work with children between the ages of 4-7 years at a time before they begin formal schooling. International volunteers with children in Cambodia help to brighten up the lives of young children in Takeo Province. As a childcare volunteer in Cambodia organise educational activities and games that will positively promote stimulation and productiveness in young ones.
Background to the Childcare Program
The first few years of a child’s life are fundamentally important. This time is critical for forming the foundation that helps shape their future health, happiness and learning achievement. As a childcare volunteer in Cambodia, you’ll have the opportunity to think and act creatively. As a consequence, you have the chance to make a positive impact on the lives of young ones within the local community.
Tourism in Cambodia contributes a tremendous amount to the economy. This means those who are able to converse in English with foreigners have far more prospects than those who do not. Exposure to the English language at a young age helps initiate the development of this life-long skill of multilingualism. Engagement with native English speakers, therefore, provides a great starting point for this. Our PMGY childcare project in Cambodia helps local children develop skills that they will benefit from for the rest of their lives. This includes an introduction to the fundamentals of the English language, assistance with social integration and the development of motor skills.
Each day on this childcare volunteer abroad program in Cambodia is different and you will get out of the project what you put in. It is a good idea to join the project well prepared with lots of ideas for activities so that you can get stuck in as soon as possible. Volunteers with children in Cambodia will have the opportunity to think and act creatively. As a consequence, they make a positive impact on the lives of young ones within the local community.
Childcare Project Example
Hope School – Our main program in Cambodia is based in Takeo Province, south of the country’s capital city, Phnom Penh. The kids attending the childcare program are from villages nearby. The childcare centre is located on the same campus as our team’s teaching English program for older children and teenagers. It is hoped that the younger children will continue their journey with our team in the future. The childcare project, therefore, aims to also help with this eventual transition and integration.
Our team’s community education program was established in 2010. The aim was to provide accessible English classes to children in underprivileged villages. The opportunity to learn and develop English is so low in this rural area that children are prepared to travel 7km each way for a one hour lesson each day. The school usually has over 150 children attending each day.
As a volunteer with children in Cambodia, you will be based within a classroom setting. This responsible volunteering project focuses on developing core English skills, promoting social interaction and routines from a young age. Our international participants will work to advocate all of these aspects through itineraries set by the local staff. For volunteer work in Cambodia, there is an office of resources and textbooks that you can use to assist you. A volunteer with children in Cambodia is encouraged to introduce creative and engaging ways to manage the class.
Your Volunteer Role & Typical Childcare Day
As a childcare volunteer in Cambodia, you will be required to prepare, deliver and lead activities and basic English lessons to support local children. Volunteers with children in Cambodia can expect to spend 3-4 hours on the project each day. The typical hours of work as a childcare volunteer in Cambodia are 1-4pm. Time on the Cambodia volunteer work will include various roles and tasks for the participants.
Days will usually begin with a lively and energetic first hour of songs, games and basic hygiene tasks like teeth brushing. After burning off any excess energy, approximately 1 hour will be dedicated to learning. This may include activities such as learning and recognising the alphabet, understanding phonics and the coaching of basic greetings. Combined, these tasks help to familiarise the children with this foreign language. Furthermore, it advances their learning ability for other subjects in the future. The day will usually end with various activities that focus on practising fine motor skills and dexterity, perhaps through arts and crafts or group games.
Participants and coordinators have also introduced a Fun Friday aspect to the program. For this, fellow participants can come together to organise entertaining activities for the children. Sometimes participants will organise and fund an afternoon trip outside of the program for the children. Participants usually contribute a small expense to facilitate this, but contributing and participating in Fun Fridays are by no means compulsory.
When you volunteer in Cambodia, you should spend time planning for each day. This will allow them to get the most out of their project time. This also provides focussed learning activities for the children. As a childcare volunteer in Cambodia, you will also have the opportunity to assist or lead an older class on our English Teaching project. However, this is optional and not a mandatory requirement of the program.
The project is located on the same grounds as the house for participants on our volunteering programs in Cambodia. Participants therefore only have a short walk to project each day. Free time can be used to prepare sessions, chill in the Volunteer House or explore the nearby villages.
CAMBODIA ENGLISH TEACHING VOLUNTEERS
As a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia with PMGY, you will encourage students to develop a skill that will help them achieve their future goals. Conversing with fluent, native English speakers greatly improves their language skills, essential for future employment. This project, therefore, provides the perfect opportunity for a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia to put their leadership skills into practice and make a profound impact in a teaching position.
Background to the Teaching Program
The reign of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s devastated the education system in Cambodia. Since then, the Cambodian government has invested a lot of time and money into rebuilding its education system. However, change is slow and Cambodia still has one of the poorest literacy rates in Asia, especially amongst women. High dropout rates, lack of qualified teachers and classroom overcrowding are all significant factors that negatively impact the country’s education system.
Cambodia’s economy is shifting from that of traditional sustenance farming to an economy driven by industry and service. This economic change has further enhanced social inequality within the country. This follows the drive of less educated and economically poorer members of society into lower-paid jobs, that rarely offer career development. The demand for skilled labour calls for a greater need for children to develop English language proficiency. This is particularly true within the service sector, to keep up with Cambodia’s growing tourism industry.
For many children living in rural villages, learning English is seen as the only way to progress in life. This is since it helps individuals achieve better jobs in Cambodia. Individuals often desire to source jobs in accounting and hotel work, to bring an overall higher standard of living for themselves. As a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia, you’ll help to provide free English lessons to children from low-income families in the region. The children will still attend public school in the mornings. However, in the afternoon, they continue their education at our English education program. Our team’s project provides a key focus on English language development. During your time as a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia, it is important to maintain energy, enthusiasm and creativity. Many of the students will benefit from having someone who is fluent in the English language teaching them in Cambodia.
Teaching Volunteer Placement Example
Hope School – On this volunteer teaching English abroad program in Cambodia, you will be based at a community education program, established by our local team in 2010. The aim of the school was to provide accessible English classes to children in underprivileged villages. The opportunity to learn and develop English is so low in this rural area that children are prepared to travel 7km each way for a one hour lesson each day. The school usually has over 150 children attending each day.
Volunteers teaching English in Cambodia are required to prepare, deliver and lead lessons and learning activities for the children. Classes are divided based on ability and age range and the size can vary from 5-30 children. The children’s ages range from 7-18 years. Younger children tend to come at the start of the afternoon and the older children come late afternoon. There are ten classrooms in total across both school sites. You will usually be based at one of the school sites only during your time.
As a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia, you will teach a variety of different classes throughout the day. When each class finishes, the children from that lesson will return to their nearby village. Your next class with different students will then begin. Typically, volunteer work in Cambodia involves teaching four classes per day. Participants may also choose to work one-on-one with students during their 1.5 hour break.
Teaching the same classes daily within the same time slots allows you to ingrain structure and build rapport with the children. Furthermore, this enables you to witness the development of the children, from the start of your program to its end. Even after the lessons, you will find a lot of the students stay at the school, to socialise and play games. Some pupils will undertake one-to-one tuition with participants.
As a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia, you are encouraged to make your lessons fun and engaging. This may include storytelling, singing songs and arts and crafts activities. There is plenty of outdoor space at the project. Here, participants can take the class out to enjoy some playtime at the end of a lesson. If you have a specific skill as a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia, you are welcome to teach this to students too. There is an office of resources and textbooks that you can use to assist you. A volunteer with children in Cambodia is encouraged to introduce creative and engaging ways to manage the class.
To successfully teach as a volunteer teaching in English in Cambodia, you should spend time planning for each day. This will allow you to get the most out of the project time and will provide focussed learning activity for the children. Ultimately, the more time spent planning, the easier classes will be to run. You can use the mornings before the project or your afternoon break as preparation time. This project is particularly significant when it comes to long-term impact and is therefore recommended for long term volunteers.
Your Volunteer Role & Typical Teaching Day
As a teaching volunteer in Cambodia, you are required to prepare, deliver and lead lessons for students in Cambodia. The typical working hours are 1pm-6:30pm Monday to Friday. Volunteers will usually teach 1 hour lessons across this period with a 1.5 hour break in between to rest. As a volunteer teaching English in Cambodia, you will also need to dedicate time to plan your lessons in advance.
The village school is based on the same grounds as the Volunteer House. International volunteers here, therefore, have a short walk to the project. Free time can be used to prepare sessions, chill in the Volunteer House or explore the nearby villages.
Participants and coordinators have also introduced a Fun Friday aspect to the program. For this, fellow participants can come together to organise entertaining activities for the children. Sometimes participants will organise and fund an afternoon trip outside of the program for the children. Participants usually contribute a small expense to facilitate this, but contributing and participating in Fun Fridays are by no means compulsory.
