Erawan Nation Park Area

When we were near Erawan National Park, staying with a lovely lady named Won Pen I was able to talk to her about her three grandchildren as well as observe them in their daily life. On the last morning I was there I got the chance to visit the nearby school that they went to.

Talking to Won Pen I learned that while they do own a T.V., the children are only allowed to watch it after all their homework and studying is completed and even then only for a short period of time. While there the only time I saw them not running around being active was when they were doing homework, eating, or sitting with us and drawing. On one of the days we went out to explore the village and they all came with us. They led us all around showing us the town. At one point we were at the edge of pond and their was a fisherman setting up his poles, they went right up to him, and while I don't speak Thai, it looked like he was telling them and teaching them how it all worked. They are still naturally inquisitive children, learning from all around them.

When talking to Won Pen I learned that both her and her husband, Mr. Hay, teach the children everything they know. This includes cooking, farming, and about Buddhism, as well as many more everyday skills. In my observations of my cousins and their children as well as my childhood in America, the parents do teach a good bit to the children, but not nearly as extensively. It is mostly only what the child wants to learn and not everything that their parents could teach them. For example I was never very interested in cooking as a child, and am only now learning how to cook now that I am living on my own at college. But observing the grandchildren, they were learning how and observing their grandparents cook most days. If I had been as inquisitive, or if my parents had pushed me to learn, then this year would have been filled with much less pasta. But that was part of the privileged lifestyle I grew up in and I am catching up with my learning now.
As well as teaching the children, another way Won Pen and Mr. Hay help the children, is by earning enough money for them to stay in school. Since many families do not make enough money, those children stop school early to work. Won Pen has hopes for all her grandchildren to finish secondary school and then complete high school.

Most of the days that we were there, the nearby school was gone on a field trip, luckily though they were in session on my last morning there and I was able to talk to an English teacher at the school. I learned that while Thailand was never ruled by a western empire, their education system is similar to western education, or at least in that area of Thailand. They study eight subjects: English, Culture, Math, Art, Computer, P.E., Thai, and Social Studies. But they only have six classes a day. Grades 1-3 primary stay in the same class room all day long and primary 4- 3 medium move from class to class. The school day is a little longer here than at the schools I attend in Washington State. Here they start and 9am and end at 4pm, while at home I went from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm for elementary. Sadly I did not have time to observe a class, but when walking around the school I noticed that all classrooms had white boards and most had nice desks and chairs that did no look too worn, some had wooden stools and desks that looked like they had seen better days but were still usable.

Even though I didn't get to observe a classroom here, it was still useful to see a school campus, talk to a teacher as well as a grandparent and observe some of the children in their everyday life.