November 2023

 English Class - Level 1 

The kids in Beginner English Class finally finished their theme about the circus!  We wrapped-up the last few weeks of vocabulary words with items in the circus and then a review lesson.  Total, the students have learned 36 practical vocabulary words throughout this theme.  As we reviewed the vocabulary, each student had a chance to show how many of the vocabulary words they were able to recall.  While a couple of the older students were able to remember all or most of the words, I was extremely pleased with the younger kids in the class as they were able to recite an average of 23 of the 36 words!  

These kids love playing games!  I have learned it is sometimes the simpler games that are the most fun for them.  In one of the final lessons, we learned the word "hoop" by threading a hula-hoop around the circle.  We learned "balloon" by tapping a balloon in the air, and we learned "ticket" by finding a partner who had the same "ticket stamp" on their card.  However, the favorite simple activity of the day was with the vocabulary word "snack" as we made trail-mixes and effectively practiced learning the word "snack!" 

As the kids knew I would be traveling back to the states for the holidays, I had a handful of students volunteer to travel in my suitcase with me to America!  After commenting that they ALL wouldn't fit in my suitcase, one of the smallest kids in English Class raised her hand and said, "You can fit me in your backpack!"  I thought of these kids as I examined my suitcase before I left for the airport... to make sure that I didn't have any stow-aways in my large luggage. 

English Class - Level 2

Level 2 English Class groups finished up their mini-theme about American Holidays with Thanksgiving and Christmas!  For Thanksgiving, we wrote about things we are thankful for, collected vegetable pairs in a game of Memory, enjoyed a snack while listening to finger-puppet performance of the First Thanksgiving, and looked at what food is traditionally eaten at this American holiday.

Finishing the 2023 year with a lesson about Christmas felt just right!  The student learned a simple Christmas carol, wrote about holiday items, found hidden Christmas cookies in a game of "Who has a Cookie from the Cookie Jar?", and put together a nativity scene as we talked about all the different characters who were at the birth of baby Jesus.  The final icing on the cake on this Christmas day was finalizing the decorations on their letters to American PenPals!  Each student received an American PenPal (who was at LetFest Summer Camp) at the beginning of the school year, and for 10 weeks, they have been working to write their letters for their PenPals so I can deliver them at Christmas.  It was so much fun finally getting to decorate the letters and the students are so excited to get responses in the New Year! 

As these students are quickly advancing in English, I had them pair off and reread one of our informational animal books that we had read as a class in the past 10 weeks.  They loved rereading the books with a partner and looking for their favorite animals in the stories!  "Can I have the puppy book?"  "What book had the bunnies?" "I want the one with the snake!  I wish there was one with only snakes."  So, I found an only-snake-informational book to bring back to Czech for a class of very silly boys who like to scare their English teacher with stories of jumping snakes!

Homeschool English Class

The homeschool group finished their theme about the house, and we talked about which family story we liked reading the most.  One said she liked the first family because she liked that they were pharmacists.  One of the boys said he liked the last family because the father was a soldier, and one of the girls said she liked the family who had the tragic story (these are the kids who like Shakespeare, I'm telling you).  We finished the lesson by solving a House Mystery (like Clue, but for kids) and the students excitedly worked in pairs to locate all the hidden items in each room of the house.  While the levels in this group seem more spread out, it is great that it is a smaller class so that I can help those who need more time and still continue to push all the students forward in learning.

Little Linguists

 

The Littles have been enjoying some very interactive themes with Under the Sea and Cookies!  There was lots to do in the Under the Sea lesson with magnet fishing, catching fish in the net, sea creature matching, and sorting games.  Of course, and Under the Sea lesson isn't complete without bubbles! 

As Christmas decorations start to appear in stores and homes begin preparing for holiday celebrations, there are always lots of treats to be baked!  Sometimes a toddler's hands get in the way of these preparations, but sometimes it's just the key to creating the best memories.  We had lots of fun with Christmas Cookie magnets, collecting cookies for the jar, and matching cookie cutters with their outlines.  I created a Christmas Cafe for the kids to practice serving their toy cookies, and, of course, the lesson was complete with a PlayDoh activity. 

If there is one thing these toddlers love to do, it is sing our Hello and Bye-Bye songs.  They think it is so special to greet their friends and be welcomed into the time together.  I absolutely adore seeing them greet new friends into our time together!

Kid's Club

One of my favorite parts about Kid's Club is watching the older youth students interact with the younger ones.  We have a few games on hand that are pretty equal playing field for all ages, so it makes for a great, competitive activity for a group of diverse ages.  As the older students get to develop their leadership skills and the younger students be filled and invested in, it is a win-win scenario that I am so happy every time I witness it. 

It is so fun to watch the kids' creativity!  I am especially impressed with the group of young boys who come to our youth club in Letovice.  They are incredibly creative in the games they create and the things they make.  I always like to have a few "boys art projects" on hand for this group.  We have enjoyed building model airplanes/cars, scratch art, and most recently, superhero masks!  Of course, the boys had developed a superhero game to go with the superhero masks too!

Youth Group & ELSA

Seeing the youth kids come together on Friday evenings after a long week of school and still desire to sit together and learn is one of the greatest things I get to witness in this ministry.  I had a chance to share one last lesson with the youth group before I left for a time stateside.  I decided to share about Thanksgiving, using a lesson I traditionally teach in the schools, but altered it to have discussion surrounding giving thanks to God in all circumstances.  Each student received a character card of someone who was really on the Mayflower and saw if they made it to the first Thanksgiving.  It was an impactful activity as the kids continued discussing their characters after the program completed.  When the kids asked if I wanted the character cards back, I told them they can keep them if they want.  One of my youth said he wanted to keep his as a reminder that he was not able to take care of the orphan who was in his care (as both had died before the first Thanksgiving).  It was clear to me that God is working in his heart as he was processing that he was responsible for someone else and felt he had let them down.

We had our first meeting with our Elim Leadership Academy (ELSA) students at the start of the month!  We are all very excited to be back together and beginning this next step of leadership learning together.  Many of these students are our half-leaders at youth clubs, leaders in youth group, and leaders at LetFest (our summer outreach), and I am so proud of all of them.

School Lecture

Due to time limitations and the fact that I have yet found a solution to clone myself, I haven't been visiting public schools as much as I had in the past years.  Since I have so many students of my own now, I want to be investing my time into those students and developing the leaders, though when a friend who teaches at the high school in Letovice asked if I could teach one lesson on Thanksgiving, I couldn't say no.  Thanksgiving is my favorite school lecture to teach, as I focus on the history of Thanksgiving and give the students "role play" cards as they "reenact" the journey on the Mayflower.  As the moderator of the activity, I always have a lot of fun, though it can depend how engaged the class is, and this class exceeded all expectations!  They were by far the most fun to share this lesson with and their excitement for the lesson must have equaled mine!

Home Assignment

Halfway through November, I arrived back in Minnesota to spend the holidays with my family and get some home assignment work done for ministry purposes.  I am surprised at how busy I can get being back home as I want to connect with everyone and share all about what is happening in Czech.  I always love sharing about all that is happening in the ministry and have been able to share with the youth group and a Bible study group as well as many individuals.

It really is a blessing to be filled by so many people, and even though these next few weeks look different than normal, I love that they are filled with lots of different activities.  The time is already going so fast, and I am hoping I use all the time wisely and have more time to meet with everyone! 

Here is a video recap of this Autumn season!