With everything going on around the world right now, it took me a little longer to get this post rolling, but now that I have unlimited home-office hours, reflecting on the past couple of weeks is helping me beat out cabin fever. (Fun fact - here in Czech, they say "submarine fever"! Though I can relate to a "cabin" more than a "submarine".) It is my hope that you will also enjoy taking the time to read and breathe as I know you are bravely scrolling through all the social media reports about the worldwide virus, and there are some of you who are still combating the US National Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020. While I might not have much to share in the upcoming weeks - as Czech government has wisely closed all schools & sport gatherings & stores (except pharmacies and grocery stores) and has limited gatherings to under 30 people - I am grateful to be able to share with you about the past couple weeks before all the restrictions began. I pray for you, readers, for your health, safety, and confidence in our Lord during this season of uncertainty. Take a moment away from all the worries and enjoy the following stories! 
There is often a waiting line for games at the foosball table! Between the constant rounds of ping-pong, foosball, table games, musical chairs, computer games, and just chatting, there is always something for the kids to jump into!
One of our club kids comes from music lessons to club during the week and brings along her guitar. She willingly shares it with others at club who also play the instrument. We were all sitting around together and the one friend asked if we wanted to sing something. All the kids said "sure". He said, "you guys know 'Blessed Be Your Name'?" In front of all his friends, this student shared his favorite piece of worship. Even though many of his friends didn't know the words, he was willing to sing solo. I was happy to jump in and we had a "kumbaya circle" in the middle of the craziness of club.
Circle Time at Little Linguists
I have one Little in Little Linguists who adores singing. For the hour and half of class she is constantly saying "again!" or suggesting that we sing "hello" and "bye-bye". The Little's mother records the songs on her phone claiming that her daughter requests the songs on repeat during the week. I overheard this mother telling the other mothers, "I think I just need Kendra to come home with me!" Second mother, "My son looks forward to coming to see Kendra each week." Third mother, "This morning, my son stood by the door and told me at 8am that he was ready to go. It was hard to convince him to wait another hour before leaving for Little Linguists!" Truth is, I love these littles just as much as they love coming to class, and these mothers are really amazing. The past couple of weeks, we did lessons about "Trains" and "In the Sky". "Trains" is a lesson that I could have every week and a couple students in my class would be the happiest toddlers on earth! For this reason, I try to bring back our Train theme more frequently. "In the Sky" is, for the most part, a calm lesson as we move like things in the sky starting with faster things (airplanes & helicopters) and moving to slower things (hot air balloons & clouds). We threw white scarves in the air to make clouds, and a couple of the toddlers grabbed many of the scarves and threw them on top of each other declaring "I made a storm fall on you!"... maybe it wasn't as calm as I had thought it would be.
(1) Lining up to make a train! (2) Lots of different train tracks to explore.
Drawing raindrops on the clouds to make "stormy skies"
Little: "I'm going to be a paramedic. You go fall over and call for help."
Me: *falls over* "oh! somebody help me! doctor!"
Little: *jumps off motorcycle* "What's the problem?"
Me: "I fell down. My leg hurts."
Little: "Let me check your ear."
Me: ...
Little: "You're okay. You can handle it."
Me: ...
Little: "maybe a shot?"
Me: "actually, I think I'm okay."
We've moved from themes surrounding "The House" to "The City" and now the Beginners Class is focusing on "The World." We started with simple vocabulary of names of the seven continents since the names are very similar in Czech and English, though for 5-9year olds, that was already some new information. The students enjoyed tossing around the globe beachball and painting their world maps. The following week, we looked at a dozen different animals around the world and played many guessing games - animals on foreheads and charades - as the kids practiced their English. Mush to their disappointment, we finished our final Elephant and Piggie book last week, and even though I have tried to persuade the students that I have many other exciting stories, they were distraught to finish the books with characters that had become like friends to them. (I need to grab the last couple of books when I come to America again!) To help the situation, my translators began "fake crying" and I was able to convince my compassionate little students that we needed to be strong for our translators as we read new books! I'm looking forward to sharing other stories with them, and I know they will love them as well!
(1) Tossing the Earth ball to learn continents and "ocean". (2) Playing "Guess Which Animal"
Guessing which animal they are.
Gluing animals onto their maps
Beyond blessed with these three amazing translators! After the restrictions came out and we had to cancel class, one of my translators wrote me and said "the thing I look most forward to is English Class." Another translator wrote, "I already miss you and all the students!"
Next Step Class has been continuing our theme "Across America," as we look at different landmarks and national monuments in the West. After reading about a place in America, we work on different vocabulary and grammar activities. The students described seasons using weather terms and discussed how the seasons sometimes shared similar weather. We also used paper dolls to dress for all kinds weather and seasons. Last week, the students worked on contractions. I had six different activity stations for the students to practice matching, creating, and sorting contractions. While some of the students enjoyed the partner work, there were a couple who asked if they could try the activities on their own (and a couple asked if they could be partners with our stuffed animal mascot, Gerald!). I was so proud of the kids for trying the activities on their own and really focusing on completing the contraction games!
(1) matching the contraction in the sentence to the words it represents. (2) dressing their doll for "rainy weather" - these girls made an impromptu umbrella with a pen and paper hat!
Showing their contraction matching skills to our translator.
At Connect Club, we are working our way through the life of Jesus and learning about miracles, teachings, and parables. We tried our first parable with the girls a couple weeks ago - the sower and the seeds. I gave the girls a picture of a garden with the different places mentioned in the parable (path, rocks, weeds, and good soil). I then gave the girls a packet of chocolates (like M&Ms) to scatter over the picture. As we read and discussed the story, the chocolates that fell on that part of the picture were eaten until all that was left was the "good soil." We talked about what it is like to have a relationship with Jesus that is growing and what it looks like in our lives. While some of the girls said that they sometimes feel stuck, like in the weeds, many shared they are growing in "good soil" and excited with all they are learning about Jesus' love for them.
(1) amazing leaders made waffles for snack! (2) chocolate "seeds" on the picture.
Lots of giggles with Musical Chairs
Our Youth Group Students are AMAZING. We were planning a cleaning morning of our old building as many things had yet to be moved to our new location and asked the youth students if they would be able to come 8am on a Saturday. The Friday before, we were at youth group until after midnight, and still a handful of these youth kids came to help on Saturday morning! (Two of them even arrived earlier to make us all coffee before starting!) When we applauded one of the students saying we were impressed he came to help so early on a Saturday even after getting little sleep last night, he just shrugged saying "I told you I'd be here. I keep my word."
Helping pack the trailer.
Playing Badminton (tried it for the first time and started getting the hang of it!)
Evening games and worship in the youth room
Fun at the Cafe