Teaching at "Etoile Royale"

Am able to start a little volunteer work after all at Etoile Royale, a grade school which has classes up to Level Six. I began yesterday, teaching French and English to the two upper grades and will continue next week until their spring holiday begins on April 1st. Even after the break, I should still be able to work for a couple of more weeks before returning to the US. Grade Five has 21 students - 10 girls, 11 boys and Grade Six has 20 - 4 girls, 16 boys. The Director of the school has emphasized the importance of basic polite conversation needing to be learned and re-enforced with the students. Ghanaians, by nature, are extremely courteous in their actions. However, possibly because the local language of Dagbani (or that of another tribe if the family happens to come from a different area) might be spoken at home, many children are not proficient in expressing themselves with a full English sentence. So, in addition to certain grammatical fundamentals in reading and writing, an immediate goal is to develop some good speaking skills both in English and in French. That should keep me busy for a while - not only with actual classroom time but with preparation of materials.