June 2024

 English Class - Level 1

English Classes are all wrapped up for the year!  The younger two classes finished their theme about the Camp and did a review of all the vocabulary.  I was very impressed with how well even the youngest students were able to recall most of the words!  As the students were completing the individual assessments with the translators, I would jump between the assessments and the review activities to help in all the areas.  I noticed one of my younger students was having a hard time recalling the vocabulary words in the assessment, so I asked her if she was ready to be finished.  Before she could answer, the translator jumped in saying, "Of course not!  She definitely knows more.  At least half!  I'll wait with her and she'll remember them eventually."  He used everything - giving the first letter, patience, encouragement - and finally, the little girl was able to complete more than half the vocabulary words!  The translator looked like he had just completed a boxing match because he was so tired, but had a huge smile on his face, "She did it!  Over half!"  It was as much her victory as it was the translator's.

Showing all their hard work!  

The kids completed three themes during the year with a total of 100 new vocabulary words just from the themes!  Besides that, they practiced each week counting, weather, days of the week, months, replying & asking "how was your weekend?", and understanding basic questions and responses "what do you like?" in addition to some of our favorite catch-phrases in the storybooks we read! 

(1) a sweet little buddy (2) told the boys to turn around to see the whiteboard... they said "you didn't clarify what WAY to turn around!"  I told them as long as they can read upside down, then they are just fine.

For our final lesson together, the kids and I had an end-of-the-year party! We decorated our class pictures with lots of stickers and played some of our favorite games.  One game they always like is to jump between the colored mats and when the music stops, the translator calls out a color in English and the students on that colored mat win the round.  While we have many "storybook mascots" in the little kids' class, their favorite mascot is by far our love-able repeating parrot, Opakovacka!  The kids were sad to say goodbye to Opakovacka (though they were very curious what she has planned for the summer!), so the kids made parrots to bring home to remember Okaovacka and all the words they learned over the school year.  We had a great end to this year, and I am so proud of all these students.

English Class - Level 2

The older English Class groups finished their theme about Vacation!  We played Pictionary to review vocabulary words, which is always comical with speedy 10-year-olds artwork.  The kids then completed a short assessment with the vocabulary words they had learned to see how many they are able to recall.  Throughout the whole theme, each student had been creating a Gerald and Piggie Adventure with our two favorite storybook characters.  They were so proud of their completed stories and making a collage picture on their adventures! 

(1) Drawing the word "cliff" for pictionary (complete with a jumper into the water!) (2) One of the projects the kids have been working on is a special letter writing project.  This student was so committed to the project that for the last couple months, she arrived nearly an hour early to class each week to complete her goal!  I love her dedication!

Like the little kids, on the last day of English Class, we had a little party.  We decorated pictures with many stickers and signed a class picture with our names as well as playing some of our favorite games, like BINGO.  The kids had such a fun time, we hardly noticed it was time for the lesson to end!  I had a really wonderful year with these classes. 

Homeschool English Class

As promised, the homeschool group students received ice cream on our last day as their reward for completing their homework assignments throughout the year.  Since I am friends with the people at the ice cream place and there was no line this morning, their last English adventure was to order their ice cream in English.  It was my hope that throughout the year they would learn words and phrases they could use in their everyday conversations, especially as English tends to used in surrounding countries when traveling.  I was very proud to see them using their English with someone besides me - and I can rest assured if they are ever in a foreign country, they will at least be able to order ice cream! 

Stopped for a quick visit at the park on our walk.

Little Linguists

The Little Linguist group had their final weeks of the school year too!  Though one of the other programs on a different day of the week went a couple weeks longer, and I loved stopping by to say hello as I continued to my office in the back of the building.  As the weather has been really nice outside now, I also see many of the toddlers in the city with their parents and love their little shouts of "Kendla!" and their hugs.  Our themes for the final weeks were Ocean and Zoo as we sang about lots of animals - under the water and at the zoo.  The toddlers went crazy when we brought out the bubbles.  It really looked like we must have been underwater with all the moms blowing bubbles and a big underwater backdrop with many sea creatures behind the kids.  Anywhere the kids turned, there were more bubbles to pop!

We concluded Little Linguists with our theme at the Zoo, complete with many animal costumes and lots of toys and puzzles that encouraged sorting animals.  The kids enjoyed sorting the animals by patterns, creating little zoos with all the toys, and acting out the animals in a song. 

Our group picture at the last Little Linguists Class!

Kid's Club - Letovice

We have been enjoying lots of active games with many of these active little boys and girls at kid's club in Letovice recently.  While there are still a good handful of teens who come from to just hang out relaxin on the couch, these youngsters keep us moving between activities as we play BINGO, table games, Just Dance, baseball, ping-pong, and even hide-and-seek!  In our clubroom without many places to hide, we have to get rather creative, especially to beat these little kids who can sedge themselves in little spaces a bit easier, but sometimes our creativity in finding unique places gives them a run for their money.

We recently celebrated our 1000 Day of club being open in Letovice.  As I look back at all the pictures and memories of all the kids who have come through our doors, I am humbled by the way God has used all of us leaders in the stories of these children's lives.  I know clubs have helped many of them through difficult and awkward teenage years, created childhood memories, life-lasting friendships, and has given them hope that they can always count on. 

We ended this school year full of smiles and memories, and we are looking forward to seeing many of the kids again at LetFest (our summer outreach event) and again in the new school year! 

Kid's Club - Boskovice

At youth club in Boskovice, I am often outside with the kids on their scooters and skateboards (as I also bring my skateboard and ride around the ramps taking videos and pictures of their jumps for them).  I always enjoy seeing them get better at their tricks and encourage their perseverance to continue trying.  It was definitely an energetic year with this group, and we are looking forward to seeing them all again when the new school year starts in September. 

Youth Group

While out on a walk with one youth student, we stopped at a little corner market for some cold drinks since it was a really hot day.  As we were checking out, the youth student decided to buy a pudding snack for the walk.  As we got outside, I said curiously, "I am looking forward to seeing how you will eat that." The youth student pulled out a mini-spoon from her wallet saying, "With my wallet-spoon, of course!" "Why do you carry a spoon in your wallet?!" "For pudding emergencies... obviously." 

To end the school year, we had a youth group garden campfire at my place with another co-leader! Many of the students were out celebrating the ending of the school year with family, but the handful of us had a really great, relaxing time together.

Outreach 

As summer starts, so do all the festival events!  I always enjoy visiting these little festivals because I often know many of the kids and families and find myself helping out at the different activities.  At one of the village festivals, there was a presentation of different pinecones one man had collected from around the world!  The girls and I were looking in awe at one of the pinecones that was bigger than our heads!  Two of the girls commented, "Wow! That is so cool!" A third girl just said, "... I'd hate to have that fall on my head if I was walking through the forest."

At another festival at the Catholic Church, a friend of mine was leading a harness-swing activity for the kids.  I jumped in to help (as I always loved swinging from trees as a kid too!  I just relived my childhood through the giggles of all these kids swinging from the tree!).  The kids kept coming back again and again and finally began saying they were going to stay swinging until the night.  I chimed in and said, "Well, sure, you can, but after sunset, you have to swing upside down by your feet so the bats think you are one of them and leave you alone."  The kids said maybe they are okay just swinging in daylight.  One of the little girls would flap her arms and "peep" like a little bird saying that if she would swing high enough into the branches she'd make a nest and stay there!  

Summer Fun

This first week of summer was already a busy one with a friend's wedding and a river boating adventure!  When I received the invitation to the wedding, I was ecstatically excited!  This friend and I had been incredibly close for many years and as life at university pulled her to a different city, we realized it would be harder to meet, though we were always happy to reconnect when it was possible and have so many great memories together.  The wedding was perfect, exactly how I would have expected her to have it.  It was fun for me to think back to years ago when we had went on a girls weekend to the spa and she first told me how she had met someone just a few weeks before.  It was so much fun to be standing at their wedding now years later and thinking back to when it all first started. 

For the last four years, I have been adopted by my Scouts friends on river rafting experiences!  Each year, I have been able to try a different river, and we like to recall how different they all are.  This one was pretty easy (though we were all pretty tired afterwards as there were just four of us this year), and we were surprised by how many ducks were on the river!  A couple times in the summer, if the water level is good, they release the water from the dam and many people arrive to go rafting, canoeing, and kayaking down the river.  I always enjoy seeing the nature and spending the time with friends.