Written on My Heart

The students in my Kids Class are so active that I find it impossible to get them all together for any kind of picture, so I have resorted to pausing videos to be able to share some of what we do with you!  
Two weeks ago we studied basic geography terms (forest, mountain, hill, lake, etc.) and everyone went home wishing English Class could be longer!  We looked through travel magazine pictures to find the different vocabulary terms, and then went through an obstacle course as if we were traveling through forests and under mountains (and all the other terms).  Finally, we played Geography BattleShip and the students excitedly searched for their partner's treasure!  As the parents lined up at the door to pick up the kids, I also wished we had time for another game.

Crawling Under the Mountain in the Obstacle Course

A Successful Win at Geography BattleShip

I try to give the students more ways to learn new vocabulary and become familiar with reading and listening to English.  To do this, we have many repeated activities that we do each Monday like counting on the calendar, singing the days of week, identifying the weather and temperature, and reciting a goodbye poem at the end of class.  I recently added another daily activity that has quickly become a favorite.  When the students arrive to class, they go to the whiteboard and move their magnetic picture to answer a question or statement about themselves.  Many of the students will stay near the board to help translate or see where their classmates put their pictures.  Of course, the whiteboard questions intentionally include the vocabulary and theme for the day, so the students are already becoming familiar with the English before the lesson officially begins!

Magnet Picture Charting

Each week, I also teach a Teen Class at our club in Boskovice.  A group of usually 5-8 teens come and we spend the time talking and working on different activities to encourage their English.  I am using social media to lead the lessons as Facebook encourages speaking in first-person, Instagram is great for finding the perfect words to describe a picture, and Pinterest allows the students to compare and contrast easily.  For what I have noticed when working with teens, they are usually pretty shy to try English because they are concerned about using the perfect grammar and vocabulary.  I am beginning to see how these students are becomign more confident in their English and aren't so afraid to make mistakes; which is exactly the kind of lessons I like to teach.

Teen Class

There is never the same group each week at Adult Class.  New people continue to come to the class and some people are finding the difficulty of balancing another activitiy into their already busy schedule.  With the class always fluctuating, it seems impossible to study English systematically through a theme; however, the class and I have been studying English while simmultaneously studying American history and culture.  We "toured" the Midwest and have moved into the Northeast in our study.  It seems this class could in a sense lead itself without a topic as the adults come each week with their own questions about English vocabulary and slang!  Recently, they have been interested in Fairy Tales and the differences in Czech and American folklore, which has caused them to bring Czech storybooks and cartoons to the class for me to read - who knew it would be the students giving the teacher homework!

Adult Class

The Littles have become familiar with the routine of Little Linguists class and are now very comfortable with the other moms, kids, and with me.  At the beginning of each class, the Littles sit on their moms' laps and we sing a "Hello Song" together.  One of the Littles enjoys the song so much that she will come to the circle before anyone else with a babydoll in her lap and start singing by herself!  I have so much fun with these kids as they are learning to explore their world and beginning to recognize some basic English words.  They are also great at helping me practice my Czech!

Autumn Trees with Leaves

Collecting "Fallen Leaves" into the Basket

I taped the crayons to the back of the cars and the students "drove" the colors over their page and used street sign stickers to embellish the art. :)

Clubs have been full of activities this past week!  We had two "special clubs" during the week.  In Boskovice Club, we organized an obstacle course for the kids in a "Ninja Warrior" competition.  The kids ran and tumbled through the obstacle course as they crawed under tables, jumped over sofas, and weaved around stools.  While it was fun watching the kids race to beat their own times, what was most fun was watching some of the kids take it upon themselves to help the leaders reset the course between each competitor.  It is fun seeing these kids develop their leadership skills!  

Watch a short video clip about Ninja Warrior!

The second special club we had last week was a Bike Tournament for the kids in Letovice.  They all arrived on their bikes to the club, and we made a course around the outside grounds for the kids to race on their bikes.  They straped on their helmets and raced to beat the high scores.  It was great to be able to enjoy one of the last nice days outside before the weather begins getting cooler and the days get darker earlier.  I know all the kids also enjoyed the last few days of outside activities.

Watch a short video clip about the Bike Tournament!

With the weather starting to get cooler and sunlight being at a minimum in the evenings, the kids have been finding more ways to entertain themselves with indoor activities.  In the large space that we have at the club, we are able to play dodgeball or pile sofa matresses together for the kids to jump and tumble over; yet, occassionally the group of kids will set aside the active games and work on art projects or build with blocks.  They challenge themselves as they build towers and line blocks together in ellaborate Domino patterns.  After seeing some of the elaborate towers, I am conviced that some of these kids must be desitned to be architects! 

Building with Blocks

The Evolution of Dominos 

I fit into the Sunday School lesson perfectly this past week as the teacher shared about the Tower of Babel.  The teacher asked me to read the verses about building the tower in English and then he asked all the students if they understood.  They all shook their heads.  The teacher then went on to explain how the languages all changed with the Bible story.  Of course, when talking about the Tower of Babel, the lesson wouldn't be complete without a Lego tower!  Unlike the story in the Bible, it wasn't a confusion of language that limited the growth of the tower, but the eagarness of two-and-three-year-olds to watch the tower fall to pieces!

Building the Tower of Babel

Sitting in the church cafe on Sunday morning after service and and chatting with friends has become more than tradition, yet automatic for much of the "church family."  While sitting in the cafe on Sunday, a couple of my former host sisters came to take their usual spot on my lap.  As the 9 year old boosted herself onto my lap, I commented that this was a lot easier when I met her when she was 2 years old!  She looked at me and remarked, "You remember me when I was only 2?!"  God has certianly blessed me to know many of these kids for so long and be a part of their childhoods.  There was a time when both of the girls would have sat on my lap comfortably together... now it is more of a pile-up balacing act!

Living far away from my family can sometimes present its challenges, but it gives me so much joy to be able to spend countless hours with my church family!  Spending Sunday afternoons together have become so traditional that I frequently clear my weekend schedule in expectation for Sunday "family" time.  This past weekend, we celebrated one friend's brithday with lunch and then a trip to play Laser Tag!  With a group mixed of parents, young adults, teens, and kids, we definitely learned to use our own strengths to our advantages!  The adults would "stake out" in various corners of the arena while all the teens and young adults ran back and forth between barracades.  The kids were small enough to easily hide behind the half-walls and sneak around the corners without being visible.  When the Bible talks about the church being a family, this is definitley what I expected!

While talking with one of the half-leaders at our club last week, I noticed the necklace he was wearing.  He wears the necklace every day and I recognized it as a gift the Americans brought during the summer, but as I looked closer at the necklace, I realized that the words were barely visible!  So I asked him, "Why do you wear this necklace when you can't even read it?"
"But Kendra, I know what it says.  'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  Matthew 22:37'."
I was a little surprised - first that the half-leader knew the verse flawlessly, and then that he recited it in perfect English!  Then he said, "When I am bored in school, I just read it over and over.  Now I can't see the words, but I know what it says."
So, I asked my friend which American gave him this precious gift in hopes that I could tell the American who left it with him that he was still wearing the necklace and had memorized the verse.  My friend looked at me and replied, "Kendra, you did... maybe five years ago."  God certainly knows how to show me His plan for every action I do! I remembered then that there were still a couple dog-tag necklaces left from the Americans in our storage room, so I quickly grabbed the necklaces and my friend and I found two more with different verses.  He was so excited as he exclaimed, "Now I will have more verses to learn!"  As I was giving him the new necklaces, another half-leader came over and seemed interested also.  Now two teenage boys have verses decorating their necks, and I can see how even though the words fade on the necklace, they are being written on the hearts of these kids.  Praise God!