Childcare & Development Helper

The program

This wonderful teaching project in Costa Rica was created with the goal of helping to improve the English speaking abilities of students in Ciudad Cortés. Costa Rican schools often lack sufficient resources and quality teachers are in short supply resulting in overcrowded classrooms and inadequate student support. International volunteers provide much needed assistance to local teachers and the opportunity for students to practice English conversational skills. Children, teenagers and young adults in the Ciudad Cortés community are eager to learn and enjoy engaging with international volunteers!  

English language skills open vocational pathways, particularly in the ever growing tourism sector, and improve higher education prospects. 

Placements are tailored to the needs of the community with varied opportunities available in local schools, community centres, tutoring programs and childcare centres.  

Goals of this Project:

• Provide free English language classes to students in Ciudad Cortés 
• Improve the future prospects of the children of Costa Rica
• Expose non-English speakers to native English speakers in order to improve pronunciation and conversational skills
• Enable inter-cultural exchange which benefits both students and international volunteers alike.

How you can help

Volunteers play an integral role in achieving the goals of this project, greatly assisting students to learn the English language. They provide a valid and effective means of English language tuition and allow students to learn directly off native English language speakers – a major benefit for learners of the language.

Placements take place in a range of classroom settings including schools, community centres, tutoring programs, special needs facilities and childcare centres.  Participants are matched with a best fit project and may be involved in tutoring to local students, taking small workshops or assisting local teachers.

During school holidays (December, January and July) participants will help with workshops for young adults or in childcare centres for pre-school children. 

• Assist local teachers with planned classroom activities
• Help with lesson planning and arranging educational activities
• Converse with students in English to improve fluency
• Improve students English grammar

A volunteer’s work day on this project will generally last between 4 and 6 hours and while we ask all volunteers to be flexible in this regard, a typical daily schedule is likely to go something like this:

8:00am Breakfast at the host family accommodation

8:30am Walk or bus to project site

9:00am Pre-start meeting with project supervisor

9:15am VOLUNTEERING DUTIES START

A tea break and lunch break will be fitted in during the day, but often the timing of breaks will change based on the needs of the local staff and number of volunteers on hand.

3:00pm VOLUNTEERING DUTIES END

3:15pm Debrief with project supervisor

3:30pm Walk or bus back to host family accommodation

Evenings Free time to relax and have dinner with your host family or explore the sights and sounds of the real Costa Rica!

This wonderful program is based in the town of Ciudad Cortes in the Osa canton, Puntarenas. The domestic airport at Palmar Sur is a short 15min drive away.  

Osa is a stunning area of Costa Rica, often overlooked by the masses. Located on the Central Pacific coast and encompassing the Osa Peninsula, this remote location offers an insight into Costa Rica's past. Humpback Whales and dolphins migrate into the waters to calve, mate and rest and the many National parks offer the visitor a varied array of unspoilt beaches, mountains, waterfalls and rainforests as well as evidence of past gold mining operations and the mysterious 'bolas de piedra', ancient stone spheres that continue to confound archeologists. 

A gem of a location in which to spend time connecting with Costa Rican communities and enjoying the natural beauty of the region.