On top of a small mountain called Dry Summit. I love being out in nature and was thrilled to join a couple friends on a hike to the top of this winter wonderland!
In First Level English Class, we've started our new theme "At the Sea." The kids have been so excited to add vocabulary to their big pictures and practicing using the new words with a variety of games. For the past couple weeks, we have been working specifically on ocean animals. We have had a lot of fun running away from the "sharks" and singing about a really hungry whale! Last week, we added a seagull to our pictures and practicing the word "bird," however, I had one little girl continue to say "mine, mine, mine!" when referring to the seagull as the seagulls say in the movie Finding Nemo! I love to see how excited these kids are to try out their English!
(1) Playing battleship with new vocabulary - island, sea, beach, lighthouse, etc. (2) Painting our big picture backgrounds for the new theme!
I currently have 19 students in my English Classes, and a couple weeks I learned that 9 of the 19 students are homeschooled! Homeschooling isn't common in Czech culture. A couple years before, I had four homeschooled students, and that was already a big percentage! I think that many parents realized after being in lockdown for so long that they were able to teach their children and formed homeschool groups with other families in their neighborhoods. It is a huge honor for me to be this group's English teacher knowing that for many of them, English Class is their only "classroom-like" experience.
Throughout Second Level English Class, we have been adding onto our understanding of English Grammar each week. We recently worked on identifying different questions (who, what, when, where, why, and how) as well as using our understanding of basic English words to decipher compound words. The students had a lot of fun moving around to different stations I had set up around the room to practice the compound words. One of the students even thought he could just start making up his own compound words to convey what he wanted to say! I applauded is efforts to use the English he has to share what he wanted to say, even though he was creating his own words.
Matching compound word socks
Bingo is always a favorite game... especially when we win Skittles!
This Little Linguists group is becoming familiar with our regular Hello & Bye-Bye songs and looking forward to friends who come regularly to class. It is so fun watching them curiously explore their world, and I am really enjoying creating Dramatic Play experiences for this group of active little toddlers! The moms and I have realized that it doesn't matter that the kids know they will be back next week, it is taking longer now to get the kids out the door at the end of the time together. The toddlers have banded together, and the moms and I are practicing our diplomacy skills with a variety of levels of consulting, bribing, discussing, and guiding. Every trick in the book has been played, and these Littles still don't want to leave, many telling their moms they will just stay with "Teta" (the Czech term for "Auntie" and how the kids refer to me)! Even though it can be a bit of a challenge, in some way, I am touched that the kids are having so much fun that they don't want to leave!
These little "besties"!
(1) Looking at the stars with flashlights in our Outer Space lesson. (2) "Ice Skating" on a plastic table cover and tossing coffee filters in the air like "snow".
(1) I made a little kitchen by taping a sink and stove on the Big Legos for the Fruit Theme. The kids had a lot of fun playing restaurant! (2) Making a Fruit Salad!
We are finally feeling that youth clubs are regular again! As we started this school year, sometimes clubs were much smaller than what we had been used to before all the lockdowns in some of our locations, and on other club locations, we would have huge numbers of kids coming to club as they were so excited to be out again. Now, we are noticing there are a good group of kids coming regularly to each club and bringing a couple new friends each week. It is so great to have a consistent group as we are able to plan games and activities for the students and really get to know them more to develop relationships.
Playing a new card game I got for Christmas - Letovice Club
The new basketball is being used often by all the club kids and leaders - Boskovice Club
These girls are so fun to spend time with :)
Foosball competitions are always a favorite - Velke Opatovice Club
Our group of Pirates is looking more and more like a real Pirate Crew each week at Bible Club! I brought back some little pirate hats from America and a parrot puppet who we named Opakovačka - Czech for someone who "cutely repeats". The kids have adopted this mascot very quickly and are so happy to hold the parrot and repeat the Bible Stories we read each week! We've been listening to a variety of Jesus' parables about treasure - a theme that we as Pirates know well! Then, we spend the time together encouraging each other and working together to locate treasure and finding how we each have skills that we need to find the treasure as a team.
Repeating the Bible Stories
Our Team of Pirates!
Youth Group has also been full these past couple weeks as we have more students excited to come after hearing about youth group at clubs. This group of kids naturally divides into three groups of friends - older boys, little boys, and the girls - and while we see the youth naturally split into these groups, we are encouraged that they are often working to organize group games with everyone!
Team Games at Youth Group
We divided the youth kids into their three groups to each take a part of the story of Gideon and then present it to the rest of the group. The little boys and I got the best part - the battle scene! As one summarized the story for the rest of the youth kids, the others in the group made sound effects to bring the story to life for the others in the youth group.
Last week, I was invited to a school to share about American Culture. Speaking at schools is something I am familiar with, and I always enjoy my time in a classroom, though this school was a different experience than any of the other schools I had taught at. This school is a two-room school house with 19 kids in the entire school from 1-5th grade! I absolutely loved it! I had all 19 kids in the class at one time and really got to know the students. (Since my English Class is also 19 kids divided into two groups from 1-5th, I felt completely in my comfort.) The teachers at this school are amazing and so connected with their students and giving them world experiences beyond the classroom walls. The kids were even telling me about the vegetable garden they plant when the weather is nice to have fresh foods at snack! Together, we worked together as "detectives" in an interactive lesson to find "America's Culture." I hope to visit this school sometime again.
Signing the detective badges we made in our American Culture lesson