B.Y.O.B.

 

Yesterday we had a wonderful celebration at Twana Little School.  The teachers thought it would be a great idea to gather all the children and parents together and have a party to recognize all that God has blessed us with this year.  We invited the families of each of the children and had over 200 people at the school for the event.  B.Y.O.B. will hopefully be an annual celebration for the school, where the children and families Bring Your Own Buns and we provided the tea in order to finish out the year with good community fellowship.

                        

The children and their families had free range to go inside the school or play outside.  It took some motivation and encouragement to get the parents up and moving around, but once they did, I couldn’t get them to sit back down. 

 

After some free time, we gathered the crowds to form lines and get their tea, then sit down with their families and eat their buns.  The children were so happy to be having tea and buns, some of the mother’s didn’t come prepared, but they quickly ran to a shop to buy some buns for their children to participate.  It was a beautiful site seeing the smiles on the children’s faces showing off their space to their siblings, moms and dads, having a special treat at their school.

After we cleaned up the tea party, the children got ready to show off their stuff.  The older classes prepared a few songs and then a play.  We sang two English songs and one Tonga song where we all got to dance and get loose.  We even had the parents join in helping us sing and encourage the children in the dancing moments!!  After the songs, the THF class wrote a story about going to the moon.  In the previous weeks, the children worked hard on making space suits, a moon, a rocket, and working out the parts in the story.  They had the most amazing glow in their faces as they were prancing around the outside space acting out their story of going to the moon.

 

The other class, MWF, wrote a story about going on a holiday to America.  They decided the cast of the family, the pilots of airplane, built an airplane, created a zoo, tall skyscrapers in a city, and an American treat of pizza for their lunch.  When they told their story, they were a little shy, but once they got on the airplane, their confidence soared and they finished the play with pride.  Unfortunately it was hard for all the parents to hear with the younger children getting restless and a lack of microphones, but the children had so much fun, which was really what counted!! 

At the very end of the night, we gave the children and their parents a folder with almost all of their artwork from the year.  It was a wonderful moment for a teacher to see the children pull out their drawings, paintings, and other creations, showing them off to their parents with a smile on their face.  To my surprise, the moms offered much praise to their children, returning their joyful glee!!

 

“Clap your hands, all peoples!

Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” 

Psalm 47:1

 

Leaps and Bounds

 

As we approach the final weeks of school, I am beginning to notice how much the children seemed to have learned and picked up this year.  I am certain the learning process has been going on the whole time, but recently it is just hitting me at how far so many of these children have come.  Looking back to the first weeks of school when so many of the children were shy, quiet, uncertain of myself and the other teachers, missing moms, only sticking to one area in the classroom, not sure what to make of all the things inside the classroom, and so much more…I would never guess these children we have running around the school are the same ones.  Every single child is walking tall to and from school, proud to be attending the Twana Little School.  They are very confident (some overly so…hehe) in themselves and their ability to make it through each day.  They are picking up English at a rapid rate, some more than others, but understanding the daily routine with ease and excitement.

When the children came to the school, very few had been exposed to letters, numbers, books, balls, writing, not to mention all the other areas of the school the children participated in throughout the year.  At the end of the year, most of the older children know ALL of their letters, all the children can look at a letter and read it in a book or on paper, the younger children are beginning to remember some letters and are doing a great job hearing the sound and relating it to words they already have in their vocabulary.  They are able to count up to 30 without much help and read numbers and letters left to right.  Hoping and praying that their grade 1 teachers will encourage them to pick up reading rather quickly, since these little ones have worked so hard at mastering the foundations!! 

In other areas, outside none of the children were able to jump rope properly, they had a hard time catching balls, they were very subtle in their play, and didn’t interact with one another much.  Now with the blessing of a playground, the children are crazy as ever.  I can’t get them to sit still for one moment when we are having outside play.  Children seem to reach out to other children they don’t usually play with outside of school, and they are just running around, playing in the slide, see saw, with balls, jump ropes, and anything else they can get their hands on.  So many of the children can jump rope now with great confidence and some even have mastered the hula hoop.  They run around with joy and laughter, not for one minute being shy or self conscience. 

Inside the classroom, the children have also taken large strides in their play.  When they first came to us, very few of them seem to do imaginative play, or really do much other than move things around from place to place.  Now, I can hardly keep them sitting at morning meeting as they are racing to choice time before they are even dismissed.  They are interacting with one another in dress up, with blocks, animals, and all sorts of other things around the room.  They will often wonder to math or science centers in pairs and work together to discover what is there for the to do.  I am so impressed with how they jump in and make believe with all the items in the classroom!  They are so much fun to watch…

 

I am just in awe of everything God blessed us with, the doors that He opened to make of this possible, and the strength and faith He gave us to make this year a success.  These children have benefited so much and I pray that they feel the love their Heavenly Father has for them, more than anything else they take away this year.  Thank you to everyone who was a part of this, who was used by God to make such a difference in each of these children's lives; a difference that cannot be measured! 

 

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it  and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings,which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

                                             2 Timothy 3:14-15

Outdoor Additions…

 

Sooooo as I have been keeping you all up to date on the progress of the playground, I want to announce that we are very close to finishing up the whole outdoor space for the preschool.  Here are pictures and descriptions of the old and the new items we have available for the children to utilize during “outside play”. 

 

 

Jungle Gym

(with Homemade Shade over the Slide)

 

Swing Set

 

Sand Pit

(At the end of this week we hope to have the bottom lined with plastic, the concrete walls formed, and sand filled up to the top for the children to play with at the beginning of next week.)

 

Monkey Bars

 

 

See Saw

 

Climbing Dome

 

Tether Ball

 

Wood Working Table

(Here the children are given the opportunity to work with wood, hammers, screw drivers measuring tapes, screws, nails, and glue.  They can construct things that they have thought about before coming to school or just hammer nails into the boards at random.)

 

Music Area

(We will be adding logs across these polls and then dangling pots, pans, a wash board, metal pipes, plastic pipes, wooden pieces, etc. from each of the logs so that the children can use different tools to explore and discover sounds of the various materials.)

 

Outdoor Easel

(With this wonderful addition to our outdoor space, the children are able to manipulate different textured materials on this surface, such as shaving cream, soap and water, paint, dry erase markers, etc.  They are able to draw pictures, write letters or numbers, or just get messy while being outside.)

 

 

Thank you to everyone who has generously given specifically for this project and also to me…a lot of the monthly support has been used for the many facets of the outdoor area!!  May the children enjoy this space for years to come and may it withstand weather, termites, and children…hehe!!

 

 

 

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory…”

Ephesians 3:20