After-school Program

The school day is only four hours long in Guatemala and the majority of primary age children attend school in the morning. That is why most of the activity at Open Windows takes place in the afternoon.

 Historically, the after-school program focused on helping children complete the homework the schools assigned them. In 2023, as we began to focus increasingly on measuring how much the children were learning, we discovered that the children were not learning the things required by the curriculum developed by the Ministry of Education. In effect, the schools were not teaching what the government had decided was appropriate for each grade level and, not coincidentally, what mirrors what children learn in other countries. So, in focusing our efforts on assisting with homework that was not aimed at meeting national standards, we were also missing an opportunity to help the children progress.

 So, we changed our focus. Open Windows’ teachers now develop and utilize lesson plans for every class, focused primarily on math and language skills, and those lesson plans are based on the expectations of the national curriculum. That has resulted in a slight decrease in attendance at the after-school sessions, with some parents interested solely in getting their children to progress in their school status, not so much in their actual knowledge. Over time, we expect that trend to get reversed, as students who come regularly to Open Windows begin to exhibit skills far in advance of those of their peers.