World Map Day - the good kind

I wait for my new student on the corner. 

She walks up with her cousin and immediately breaks into a big smile. 
"I remember you from the play.  You came to my school," she beams. 

We walk down the street together and begin our first class at my house.
We play games and the teenage cousin (who dropped out of high school) feels included. 
She puts away her phone and starts asking questions.

"How do you say.....?"

They notice the world map on my wall. 
"Where's the US?" I ask.

They respond that the whole thing is the US. 

"No, this is the world.... the US is here. Where's Costa Rica?"

We find it together. 
"Wow.... so small."

"Where's Panama?"
One indicates all of South America.
"No, that's Panama.  It's small, too."

I think these girls learned more than English in this class. 

Later, when I talked to the mom she told me how her daughter made the family play the English games she had learned in class.  A little teacher. 

And, the adolescent who isn't going to school is enjoying learning....
Strike the imagination, as we learned in Montessori training. 

Traditional school isn't for everyone, but it doesn't mean they can't be excited to learn.