September 11

It is Friday, and we gather once again around the conference room of the Red Cross office. The children are quiet, their heads diligently bent over their worksheets. Colored pencils and crayons are scattered haphazardly on the tables, and the children quietly exchange colors, attempting to complete part one of the worksheet with maximum color and speed. “Match the words with ‘oo’ and color them the same,” one of the older girls patiently explains. The younger children quickly follow her instructions, filling the boxes with brilliant hues of red, yellow, and green.

The second part of the worksheet is slightly more complicated, and the volunteers hurry around the room fielding questions: after reading a story, the children must look at a list of words and decide which words were included in the story. Some of the children had to re-read the story a couple of times, but ultimately all were able to move on to part three—spelling! One of the boys giggles, “‘loock’ is not the proper way” he exclaims. He marks the correct word “look” on the page, and proceeds to the next word pair.

While English comprehension varies from child to child, it becomes obvious while glancing around the room that they are all equally committed to learning. The recent school break seems to have renewed their focus, and the volunteers patiently clarify instructions and give guidance when necessary. After diligently pasting their completed worksheets in their journals, the cool drinks and cookies are distributed, thus bringing to a close another great class!

Until next time… Uhara nawa!

Holiday

Metaha,

For the next three weeks the children are on holiday. While the children are away the volunteers will be working together to plan some more classes. Can't wait to see what their great minds come up with.

For now, Uhara Nawa

2+4=FUN! X 2

Metaha,

In light of the success of last week’s class, the volunteers decided that the kids could benefit from further math instruction. They broke out the workbooks and abacuses once again, and kicked off our second week of math fun. The children were eager to get to work and learn, and this was reflected in their level of participation. At the end of the class we decided to do a question and answer game on the white board. The children love to show off their skills and this was a great time for everyone to help each other. When the class was finished the children were very pleased with the new math skills they had learned.

Couple boys working on some calculations.

Using the Abacus is better than your fingers!

Answering some in class math questions.

Using the white board to do a full class activity.

(pic 1) - Youngest learner getting help from Blaundina.

(pic 2) The problem 13-5=____

(pic 3) Still working!

(pic 4) Final Result! 13-5=8!!

For now, Uhara Nawa.

2+4=FUN!

Metaha,

The last two weeks classes have been very productive. The children have been on time and excited to learn. The volunteers have been rising to the challenge of taking on more responsibility each week and the class is progressing nicely.

Two weeks ago we took a small break from the curriculum and surprised the children with much-needed gifts. Thanks to some wonderful donations, we were able to provide the children with warm clothes for the cold winter nights, as well as some basic toiletries. The hostel where most of the children stay has been undergoing some major renovations, which has left them without regular access to bathroom facilities. The children were very happy to receive the toiletries, as they can be put to good use now that the hostile upgrades are almost complete and they will be able to bathe once again!

Gabriel posing with a soccer ball.

The process of giving!

Children showing off their new items!

Last week was another big step for the Omapitiro Weyuva Class. I was out of the office all week and could not supervise the class, which meant that the volunteers were fully in control. We had a meeting before my departure so that we could discuss some of the activities for the class, and upon my return I discovered that they not only carried out the class flawlessly, but they also had some amazing pictures to show for it! The lesson of the week was mathematics, which was taken from the books we purchased through donations. We made copies of the sections so that each of the children had their own "worksheets" which they were free to write on. The children really enjoyed the way the books taught the math and can't wait to continue the lesson this coming Friday.

Children working with the abacus to learn math easier.

Children going through their math notebooks with help from volunteer.

For now, Uhara Nawa

Learning Makes The Wheels Go Round.

Metaha,

20 degrees and sunny; the perfect weather to learn how to ride a bike. The volunteers brought in their own personal bikes for this class period and the class provided the helmets. You could see the children’s smiles grow as the volunteers explained what the next two hours were going to consist of. Even though most children were very excited to learn how to ride a bike still others needed to be convinced, by watching a few riders, about the safety of the bikes. After the first few children took a couple laps around the parking lot the children formed a never ending line.

Blaundina helping Urimeke balance as she learns.

Everyone helping others.

At the start of the class it was great to see the volunteers helping the children balance the bike while they were getting the hang of it. After a few of the children took their turn some of the other children, who already knew how to ride were also anxious to help their fellow classmates. The volunteers allowed this to happen and it turned out to be a great teaching moment for the children. This freed up the volunteers to write a few journal questions on the whiteboard. At the end of the class the children were given some time to draw themselves in their journals riding their bikes. I believe the class could have gone on for many hours if the children didn't have to head back to the hostel for dinner.

Children writing in their journals with the bike class in the background.

For now, Uhara Nawa

Leaps and Bounds

Metaha,

Our classes over the past two weeks have been filled with excitement. The children are eager to learn everything and anything the volunteers can teach, and the volunteers are rising to the challenge. With each passing week the volunteers are taking more initiative, assuming more responsibility, and developing their own unique styles of teaching.

Two weeks ago we took the children to the Ministry of Youth, where we rented the computer lab for a couple of hours. The excitement was palpable on the short walk from the Red Cross office; the children chattered away, and many ran ahead striving to be the first in line to enter the building. We arranged the groups so that older learners who had used a computer before were paired with the younger ones who had never touched one. First, we went over the parts of the computer and explained basic functions of the screen, mouse and keyboard. Then, we commenced with the first computer lesson on mouse skills!! The children took turns working with the mouse, clicking and double clicking on shapes of various sizes and positions. It was amazing to see the older children explain the process to the younger ones and then step aside so that the younger children could practice on their own; it was a perfect demonstration of experiential education! We spent over two hours in the lab, and all of the children made it up to level five of the Mouse Skills game. The children loved it and they can't wait to learn more computer skills.

The entire class working on the computers!

Children looking on waiting their turn at the mouse.

The older children teaching the younger ones on our donated laptop.

This past week was another great class. The volunteers asked the children what they would like to do and they came to a unanimous decision to finish the movie "Over the Hedge." The volunteers quickly wrote out some questions on the white board to help increase the children’s English comprehension and then started the film. The questions they came up with encouraged the children to think for themselves. For example, question no. 3 asked, “What is one word that you did not understand in the movie?” After the movie ended, each child came up one by one and wrote their answer on the whiteboard (You can see some of the answers in the picture below). Then, we took out the dictionaries and had the children find the definitions to each of the words. We concluded by allowing the children to draw and write in their journals. Overall it was a very entertaining and enjoyable learning experience, and we are all looking forward to our next class!

Watching the movie.

Three children writing in their journals.

Children writing on the white board.

For now, Uhara Nawa

Changes for the Better

Metaha,

The original plan for Friday’s class was to go to the Ministry of Youth for a computer course, but without notice our plans changed. Shortly before our activities were scheduled to begin, we were informed that the facilitator for the activity could not make it. We quickly formulated a new plan, which involved watching the movie “Over the Hedge” and answering questions as a method of increasing English comprehension. The volunteers hurriedly set up the television and DVD player and prepared some questions on the dry erase board. I am always impressed with the volunteers and their ability to adapt to changes.

The children watching the movie and answering the questions.

After watching about an hour of the movie, we went over the children’s responses as a group. Many of the questions were open ended, so it was very interesting to hear what the children came up with for answers. For instance, when asked the question “what did you learn from the movie,” one of the children proudly raised her hand and told the group that it is wrong to steal. Overall, it seems that the children took away excellent messages from the movie, and they also thoroughly enjoy the characters. The third question on the whiteboard was “what animals are in the movie,” and instead of having them write out their responses, we asked the children to draw pictures of their favorite characters in their journals. Some of the most popular characters were the turtle, the dog, and the skunk which pretends to be a cat.

Drawing the turtle.

Below is a series of pictures of one little boy named Titus Angula. When I mentioned to him that I wanted to portray his journal and drawings on the Internet blog he was very excited. I hope you enjoy!

Titus Angula is in the 3rd grade.

This is the front cover of Titus's journal.

His drawings of his favorite charicters in the movie.

Until Next Time, Uhara Nawa