Autumn weather in Letovice includes many foggy mornings with sprinkles of rain and frosted dew glittering the ground. Once the fog starts cleaning up a bit, it makes the horizon look like a watercolor picture as it comes into focus. The invisible spiderwebs lose its mystery as they are all revealed; but this dreary weather is not a good representation of the events throughout the week as the days are here are never dull.
Morning Fog and Spiderwebs
A good friend recently asked me if I could see myself teaching in a Czech public school in the next year. Even though I am occasionally invited to the public schools for lectures and English conversation with the students, I confidently responded to my friend, "I wouldn't teach in the public school if it meant giving up all this; my students learn English differently. We are running, playing games, and working as a team. I get to know them not just as a teacher, but also as their friend."
All 18 students came to class last week!
These brilliant students have moved beyond the basic English topics of colors and shapes, and we advanced in our vocabulary, such as learning words surrounding the topic of "occupations." The students enjoyed voting on their dream occupations and acting out the occupations for their classmates to guess in Charades. What impresses me the most is how comfortable the students are in the class and with their classmates! Even the littlest students aren't afraid to be a game leader or try the English vocabulary in front of the class. I only wish my time with them was more frequent than once a week; however, I look forward to my limited time with them on Mondays!
Outside Game Time
... because "learning" doesn't necessarily mean "sitting."
You wouldn't know that one of these girls just moved here! Already best friends :)
The exciting activities in Kid's Class not only attracts the elementary kids, but one mom told me her four-year old son asked if he could go to English Class with his big sister because he hears all about the fun things she gets to do in the class and wants to do something too! I told the mom about the Little Linguist class I teach each week, so now she brings the little son to the class.
After Kid's Class last week, my translator asked how the little boy knew me when he came with his mom to pick up his sister and greeted me with a hug.
"He comes to my Little's class."
"So you teach both the kids?! Cool!" Then he jokingly stated, "you should teach the mom in your adult class too!"
"She does come. Actually, I have two families who have parents, kids, and toddlers participating in all three classes."
"Kendra... you basically teach 'Family English'!"
Little Linguists class is growing more each week! These toddlers love all the hands-on activities and especially enjoy the time with their moms and little friends. I am also beginning to see more of the kids interact with me during the group time (sometimes they can be pretty shy; not straying far from mom's lap). During our "Bye-Bye Song" last week, one of the toddlers voluntarily came and sat on my lap, while another student climbed up into my arms to not be left out! Each week, I am reminded of how God prepared me for this group by studying Preprimary Education at my university and spending hours in practicums at different toddler/preschool centers.
"Little Mouse, Little Mouse, are you in the (red) house?" Looking for the hiding mouse under the houses! The moms and Littles took turns hiding the mouse and practicing colors.
Turned the dollhouse into a barn with farm animals that hid behind hay bales. Then, we would make the animal noise and reveal the hidden animal!
Rainy, dreary days encourage the kids to find some fun activities to do indoors. Many times, the kids will play a car racing computer game together or play dodgeball in our big room, but lately there have been some other activities that have grabbed the interest of the kids - such as Twister, beaded bracelets and perler (ironing) beads, braided hair, elaborate dominos set up, and saving a lonely cat from the rain. While the weather might be gloomy, days at club are never dull!
This cat is getting LOTS of love and attention from these seven girls!
Twister
Working on creating an elaborate Dominos track!
Kid's Bible Class is also growing as more parents volunteered to help and little siblings are joining in the class activities. While recently we have been going through the story of Jonah, one leader introduced a new idea - every month, we will have one day designated to "Lego Club"! The idea is that the kids will be encouraged to invite their friends and neighbors to join in with the Lego building and reach out to other kids in the community. I love the idea of having a time where these kids can invite their friends to come and feel included in this activity. Legos is one of those great activities that is enjoyed by both boys and girls of all ages. I am excited to see how God will use these kids as they invite their friends to join the Lego club!
Lego Creations
Last week, we celebrated the 100th day of club in Boskovice! The day happened to be on a free day from school, so we invited all the kids for a sleepover club. We split the group into four teams led by the half-leaders and then played all their favorite games in a competition style between the teams! Of course, the games were upgraded so dodgeball was "bracket style" with teams competing to be first. Hide-n-Seek was played in the dark, but instead of looking for their peers, the teams looked for hidden pieces of five flashlights. Once they assembled a flashlight in the dark so that it would shine, they received a point for their team. My favorite game that they played was a four-way Nerf War! As the teams would defeat another team, they would take over their bunkers to advance on the remaining teams. It was wonderful watching them all work together as a team and encourage their team members throughout the different competitions.
Sleepover Group Picture
Leader and Half-Leader Meeting
One way the sleepover club is different from a regular club is that we take a short pause in the activities to share about our faith. At this sleepover, the youth pastor invited his brother-in-law to come and share his testimony with the kids. His story was captivating as he talked about God's love and Jesus' sacrifice. After the program, I noticed many of the younger kids, who were for the first time at the sleepover club, were sitting with the speaker and asking him questions. I pray that God is able to use this message and the conversations as the kids learn more about Him.
Listening to the Speaker