The Children Are Coming

 

On October 1st and 15th, I had parents and children coming from villages all around us to register their children for the preschool program.  In Zambia, the school year runs from January-December and I plan to run the preschool program in accordance with their system.  This way, as the children graduate from the preschool program, they will pick up with Grade 1 as soon as holiday break is completed.  With the advice from others who run preschools in the bush, I have decided to delay opening until February 1, to have a couple extra weeks to prepare the program after the holidays.  I was anticipating having two classes, one M,W,F and one on T,R, running the program for half the day…this would free up the afternoons for planning and preparation, teacher training, and other community activities.  Well after my first day of registration, I knew I was going to have to change something, and fast.  I had over 50 children sign up on that first day between the ages of 3 and 6.  Quickly I decided to have and AM program and a PM program.  Since older children can learn better than younger children in the afternoons, I have the 3-4’s coming in the AM and the 5-6’ coming in the afternoons.  Setting the program up this way allows me to have 4 classes accommodating 20 children per class.  Not to my surprise, the program completely filled up within an hour of the second day of registration and there were still more parents waiting with their children.  So we had them fill out forms and ordered them according to their place in line putting them on a waiting list…if February comes and families don’t pay their school fees, or children do not show up, than I will be able to give out those spots to these families who really want in the program.  My heart broke when I had to turn people away, but I pray that God knows what he is doing and He will make a way for the children to be involved at some point before their formal education begins. 

 

 

Please begin praying for each of these children…that their parents are wise with their money so that they can pay the fees, that their parents will allow them to come everyday they have class, that they are open to new experiences, that the program will help them think for themselves and become confident in who God has made them to be, that they learn and experience the love of Christ while they are at school, and that they can just be kids and have fun with one another.