Preschool News

The last month has been an exciting one at our school.  I have been working directly with the preschool teachers to make some BIG changes in their classrooms.

The Kenyan schools are on a year round school system. The school year is January-December. There are 3 one month breaks. Each break is about 3-4 weeks long. We had our first break in April.

The first week after the closing of school the teachers have scheming week. They come and do their planning for the next term.  Andrew and I met with the teachers that week and did a lot of training with them for our big changes.  We came up with an overall theme with all the points we are wanting to address in the next year. Here is the outline of the things we want to cover.

Changing the Fundamental Dynamics of the Classroom

1. Classroom Structure (Layout and Schedule)

2. Behavior Management

3. Teaching Methods

4. Communication

5. Assessment

We actually only made it through point 2 in our outline, but the rest of the things will come with time.

We spent the first two days of scheming week doing training on numbers 1 and 2 from above.  How to create a system in the classroom with discipline and positive reinforcement, and how that affects every moment the teacher has with the students. We talked about setting high expectations for the students, and how the students can meet those expectations. How to set up a classroom that is appealing for the students and having a schedule that is age appropriate for the kids from morning until afternoon.

We introduced sticker charts. We put up classroom rules and consequences in each room.  We completely changed their daily schedule. The lessons used to be an hour long and we shortened them to no longer than 30 minutes.  There are labels on everything in the classrooms now. The desks have been rearranged into groups instead of facing forward. We introduced circle time each morning. And the most exciting is that we started centers each day. We bought a lot of toys for the classes and the kids get 45 minutes each day to play. Puzzles, play-doh, crayons, cars, manipulatives, blocks, building materials, books, and even more. The kids are LOVING it!

The whole scheming week was spent preparing the teachers for how to make these changes. They worked hard completely clearing their classes to make room for the new materials. We put nametags on each students desk. We made backpack hangers for more organization. The teachers organized for the outside wall to be painted. I cannot tell you how impressed and proud of these teachers I am. They have never had any training before on how to teach this way. I know that they are stepping WAY out of their comfort zones by making these changes.

The way these preschool classes were before we did this training was much different. The students were all in their desks while listening to the standard lecture teaching method. I’m not saying this is wrong; it’s the way most Kenyan schools are running. And these are 3-5 year olds. We are not trying to Americanize these classes, but just make changes to better suit their ages. It is extremely hard for a 3 year old to sit in a desk for even 5 minutes, much less 8 hours!

School started on Tuesday this past week. We have been using our new schedule and materials for 4 days now. I could not be happier. There are definitely some challenges we are facing that will take some time, but overall things are going awesome!  The teachers are happy and the kids are beside themselves with excitement.

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Gripping my Green Thumb

I am surrounded by family that loves to garden and plant! My father-in-law is an awesome gardener; if you know anything about him you know that! You name it, he’s got it! My mom too, she loves plants! When I was younger she had a vegetable garden, but now she is more into plants and flowers. Her yard is beautiful.

I’ve been trying to grip this green thumb for years now. When Andrew and I first got married I bought a tomato plant (that was already big with one tomato on it). It was dead within a month. When we first moved to Kenya, I planted a very small herb garden. It was also dead within a few months.

But….this time I’m determined! I have recently planted a HUGE vegetable garden. I planted 21 different things. From lettuce to cucumbers to onions to melons. I planted all the seeds almost 2 months ago. And now things are starting to grow!

But I’ll let you in on my little secret. Its not at all that my green thumb is present. Its that Kenyans are awesome gardeners! And I have help! A teacher at our school lives on our compound with us and she has been my lifesaver. She helped me plant, she goes out in the evening and waters it for me (I do too, but she beats me to it sometimes!), basically she helps hold me accountable.  A friend of ours who does our yard work has also been a huge help. And my biggest problem is weeds. I can’t tell what’s weeds and what’s not. So they have been a great help with that too.  There have already been times I’ve wanted to give up (it’s a big project!), but I’m too embarrassed with all these friends helping me. Is that a good reason?    

Hoping to eat from it soon! Come on over and I’ll share.

 

 

We’re back!!

Well, its been a while since we have written a blog post.

But we are excited to say that we are back in Kenya, where our home and ministry are!

We left Miami, Florida at 5:30pm last Wednesday evening. We arrived in Nairobi somewhere in the late hours of Thursday night, and got to the place we were staying at 1am. The flights went really well. I always get nervous travelling with Adalyn but she was awesome! We thank everyone for your prayers, and especially God for his grace. It was a very tiring 24 hours, but we arrived safely and got all 13 pieces of checked luggage with us!

Since getting here, we have been staying with a friend in Nairobi, recovering from jet lag. The first 2 nights Adalyn’s day and nights have been way off, as we have been having “play-time” from around 11pm-3am. But thank goodness last night she did sleep without thinking it was daytime! We are all feeling mostly rested now. Andrew spent most of today in the government office getting Adalyn’s dependent pass and renewing our drivers licenses. Thank goodness for a wonderful husband who will go spend a whole day in such long lines and patiently deal with people who make a simple task take hours to do!

We are excited to say that we are heading home to Nanyuki tomorrow morning! We are ready unpack our bags and start getting settled into our home, as well as see all our friends there!

On our way to the airport. Thanks to our good friend Scott Kellerman for driving us to Miami, and his parents for letting us borrow their mini-bus to fit all our stuff!

 

This picture doesn’t do it justice, but  here is most our luggage. We were the people you don’t want to get stuck behind in the check-in line.

Now that we are back, we are committed to and excited about blogging more often! Thanks for your prayers and interest in our ministry!