Pre-kinder fun!

Pre-kinder has been loving learning about creation. Here are some of our fun activities the past few weeks!

This kiddo decided to be "super moon" and made his own costume :)

Learning about the sun, moon and stars!

Our mural keeps growing- this is after day 4!

Practicing our reading!

Painting bird-watching binoculars!

Painting is so much fun!!

Bird watching at it's cutest!

Our kiddos decided the jump rope was a great phone!

This kid spent a lot of time painting his binoculars.

Black and white day block building!

Creation week #2

Pre-kinder is up and running! We've had a great few weeks getting to know our new students and introducing them to their new school and jumping into our unit on creation.

This week we learned about day 2 of creation- when God created water. We looked at water above (weather) and water below (oceans and seas). Here are some of the fun activities of this week:

In art class we made kites for our windy weather!

Some of the girls realized if they tied the kites to the swings it would fly.

Finger painting with blue- our color the week- was a little messy :)

Friday was "blue day" and we played with blue balloons

Taking advantage of a moment of sun, we headed outside to draw with chalk

These boys made a big tic-tac-toe game

Drawing with chalk can be a little messy!

For other posts from our creation unit check out  Days 1 and 3 or days 5,6, and 7 from last year

Pre-Kinder classroom set up!

One of my favorite things about being an elementary teacher- and more specifically a PK teacher is creating a classroom environment that students love to be in! The beginning of the year is filled with thinking through what goes in my classroom, how do I arrange it, and what will be best for their learning.

I am so pleased this year with my set up. Over the past 2 years I have slowly changed furniture, payed attention to what classroom decorations will go on the wall so that students utilize the resources, and read up on what is best for a PK room. My room is not quite finished (the awesome maintenance staff at our school still need to install a few things) but here is some of what PKers will be living in this year! Behold the classroom tour!

Block area with a smaller car carpet

When finished, each of the students will have a section to hang their best work from the week.

Our calendar routine is now bilingual as we are focusing on growing in both languages.

This chart assigns each kiddo a number that is where they line up, sit on the carpet and whatever else I need. It changes about once a month so we can adjust for learning needs (such as sitting in front or separating certain students.)

My Teacher aide did an AWESOME job decorating our door. Each of the leaves and flowers has student names on them.

A permanent display board in the hallway that can have student work on display

Our mail box system for storing student agendas and papers.

Our home/kitchen center

Books!

Teacher work area. We were able to update our desks and move the classroom computer over.

The view outside of our classroom- clearly the school is under construction. So far the noise hasn't been too bad.

Art supplies with small group baskets on top

The sensory table that our awesome workers made last year.

Benditos!

God is so good. So faithful. So wonderful.

We arrive back in Bogota early this morning so blessed! It's a series of small, rather quiet thing, but has been God's gentle way of saying "I love you" and "I will take care of you". Here's the list of the last 48 hours:

1- Financial support- Friday we received news that all of our one-time financial needs have been met! And more than met- exceeded! Fund raising for a living is a nerve racking, yet faith building experience. One that tickles the back of the mind saying "is it really going to happen?" "is this really worth the effort?". But then God provides and BAM- doubts are gone and God is working!

2- Travel Vouchers- Saturday morning we headed to the airport in Portland. As we were waiting at the gate, the gate agent offered $300 in vouchers is anyone would like to take a different flight. Since we had a really long lay over in LAX, we figured it would be an easy way to save some money for future airline purchases. We headed to the gate and within a few minutes we were booked for a later flight- still giving us time in LAX for our connection with $600 in airline vouchers in our hands. Thank you Lord for providing a little extra boost towards our next trip.

3. Flight connection- Our middle flight (LAX to Houston) was scheduled to arrive just in time for us to make our connection. Unfortunately we left LAX late and delayed our arrival time. This is my least favorite thing about flying- tight connections. While I went to the back to go to the bathroom I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the flight attendant if there was any way we could be sure to make our connection. She said that the flight would know we are coming and wait for us, but she would be willing to ask passengers to stay in their seats to let us off the plane quickly. I thanked her and calmed a little. Turns out we landed at our scheduled time (!!) and the fligth attendant did make the announcement and many people let us through. Turns out there were a few other people making the same connection as well. We exited the plane to search for our next gate. Turns out is was right across the hall. Literally. It was only 2 numbers apart! We didn't have to run and it was easy. I breathed a sigh of relief! Praise God for the little things!

4. A ride home- We arrived in Bogota early and were shuffled through immigration fast. It helps that it was 5 in the morning and the immigration officer looked like he could use some coffee. Our luggage was first on the carousel (another benefit of a tight layover!) and we headed through the door with no problem. I called the family who volunteered to pick us up and they were just around the corner so within 20 minutes of landing we were in the car heading towards our apartment. I am so grateful to live and work in a community that helps each other out. I didn't have to bargain in Spanish for a taxi or wait for traffic.

Again, I am feeling blessed this morning! And with this view outside my window I leave you...

Northern Bogota on a Sunday morning

Summer update 2014

It amazes me that our time in the States is drawing to a close. We have been so blessed to share at churches, meet up with friends and family and enjoy the great beauty of the State of Oregon.

It is also overwhelming. Oregon is no longer our home. While here we live out of suit cases and our car constantly looks like we are moving. We gorge on delicious food, and yet still have to make sure to eat our vegetables. We have conversations with people but leave with a lingering "hope to see you next time we're around". Its a strange unsettled pace of life.

I ran across a blog post about 2 weeks ago that sums up the challenges living the missionary life. Here's a link. You can read it or not. Personally I have felt all of the points at one time or another. Communication with supporters is hard, but also a great way to constantly tell to the stories of God working. Asking for support is awkward, but a tangible way of seeing God work and provide. Loneliness is true and comes and goes in season.

That part though that hit me was:

7. “GOING HOME” IS A LOT OF WORK.

WHAT THEY SAY
It’s great to be back home.

WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY
Please understand, I now have two homes. When I’m at one, I’m away from the other, and there is a lot of emotion involved in that. On top of that, my life is absolutely crazy when I go “home.” I have to see relatives and friends, visit with partner churches, and take care of any number of issues that have arisen with my health, my electronic devices, and my government paperwork. Whether it’s a few weeks or a few months, I spend my time living out of suitcases and hustling from one appointment to the next. Is it good to be home? Sure. But when I get on that plane to go to my other home, I breathe a sigh of relief that life is almost back to “normal.”

My, oh, my- I know!

So, friends- our summer update is this: we love seeing you! We love that we live in a day and age where going "home" for just a month is possible. We love catching up on your life and seeing God work. We love visiting churches and worshiping in English. We are blessed. We are happy. AND we need grace extended upon us as it wears at our bodies and our minds. Understand it is good, but it is hard.

I will leave you with this: I am convinced Oregon is one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world. Not sure you believe me... check these out! (plus be ready for a full blog post upon our return to Bogota)

World Cup!

4 years ago I had just finished college and was on my way to Mali. I remember hearing "world cup" thrown around and I even realized some countries I had visited qualified and were play. Little did I know, 4 years later, I would be surrounded by world cup fever and celebrating along!

One of the joys of living overseas and working in an international context, is my view of the world is so much bigger than it used to be. As I watch parts of games and check in on scores, I realize with well over half the countries I have a personal connection. I know students from Ghana. I lived in Uruguay and have driven past the stadium where the first world cup was held. I felt bitter sweet when Spain wasn't going to the next round because of my many memories there. It's not just a list of countries to me- it's faces, places, and an international community in peaceful celebration.

That being said- I am rooting for Colombia!

Colombia has gone crazy celebrating the World Cup. For the first time in 16 years, Colombia qualified to play in this world-wide sporting event and it has been so fun being in the country as they play. It is hard to describe just how much these games affect daily life here- for example on Tuesday during the game against Ivory Coast I took a bus home and was the ONLY person the bus. The street were deserted as everyone was in their home or at their work watching the game. With every point that was scored, cheers, horns and very loud celebration erupted through out the city. I wasn't even able to watch the game and yet I felt so a part of the joy and fun!

After they won- it was madness outside. I snuck out with my camera and snapped a few shots:

After the win- everyone ran onto the street screaming, blowing horns, and just being excited!

Even taxi decorations now have Colombian flags.

CELEBRATION!

This clip is just a little taste of what the city is like after a game. And we are on the outskirts- I can only imagine down town!

Moment of joy #8.. why I do what I do

This week and next I get to spend some extra time with my students during elementary day camp. This is a time for them to have some extra practice in English and some structure during the vacation time.

This week our theme has been “pizza” and we’ve had a lot of fun making pizzas and talking about our favorite toppings. As part of our lesson today we asked the question “is there pizza in the Bible?”. One of my students answers was actually quite clever- “no- because they didn’t have pizza during those times”. Probably true.

I then asked my students if there was ever food in the Bible. They thought of communion and when Jesus multiplied bread and fish to feed large crowds. I then proceeded to share the story of God providing quail and manna in the desert. We then talked about how God provided for the needs of his people. I then posed the question: “How does God take care of our needs?” and here are my students responses:

Student 1- He gave us Jesus

Student 2- Jesus died on the cross

Student 3- Jesus washes away our sins

They get it!!! They understand that our need is to be close to God and we can’t do that on our own. They realize that Jesus is not only the answer but the provider of this salvation.

I was blown away!

I was expecting answers of God’s provision to be “God gives us food” “God gives us family” “God gives us a home”. Oh, those are all true- but there is so much more than our physical needs and BOY did my kids hit the nail on the head!

There are times when I struggle with teaching in a Christian school. I believe in the transformational power of the gospel. I believe that God longs for us to train His children to know him and love him. But sometimes I doubt that Christians schools really help students understand Christ.

Today I was proved wrong. All year we have been teaching the kids about who God is and His plan for the world. We looked at creation and the beautiful perfect world God created. We saw the fall of man with Adam and Eve. We rejoiced with the birth of the savior. We cried at his painful death for our sake. And we hope in his return. All year we have taught our students these truths. All year we prayed over them and waited on the Lord to work in their hearts. And today I saw these truths rooted in their lives- not by my words or teaching but because they know Jesus. They understand and they believe!

 

Here are some fun pizza activities from this week!

Pizza restaurant dramatic play!

Pizza puzzles

Drawing our favorite pizza and who we eat it with (apparently the dog is hungry too)

Taking my order

Making a yummy pizza!

Painting our paper mache pizzas