schools back for summer

school has been back in session for about a month now and life has gotten a bit busier around here. the two oldest kids that we have living with us have started attending the local school, Carolina in 3rd grade and Javier in 1st. so far, they've done really well with their schoolwork and have made a bunch of new friends 

from the community. 

monica, another volunteer here at Give Hope 2 Kids, and i have become the english teachers for the third through sixth grade classes at the school. we have so enjoyed getting to spend some extra time with the kids we already have formed relationships with and getting to meet a few new friends. we started with colors and numbers, playing bingo and teaching new songs. {dear seventh grade spanish teacher of mine, thanks for all the ridiculous songs you taught us to help us remember your material. i still remember them and now all the kids in a  village of rural honduras are singing them too.} for the older students we've started with simple verbs. they are so excited to learn and practice their english sentences with us. we've even given out a few quizzes already ;)

the kindergarden program at the school has been on hiatus for a while now. in light of that, the three 4-year-olds {the triplets we call them} don't have any form of schooling. to sort of fill in the gaps, we have started a small "kinder" program for these three on tuesdays and thursdays. Carlitos, Lilian, and Fernando have their own backpacks and notebooks to practice shapes, letters and coloring projects. we also spend some time playing games outside and reading all the wonderful books we have access to in our library. this has proved to be an awesome way to get them a bit of a head start so they will be more than ready when it comes time for grade school. 

since the library addition has been finished, our library program has been a bit revamped as well. we've got new books, a new computer teacher, new structuring and the discovery of a mountain of good resources for  all the students who come. 

there are about twenty students in the computer classes now. this has been an awesome program that supplements the computer class at the high school and helps prepare younger students earlier. the computer skills they are learning are so valuable for future job opportunities and furthering education.

after teaching up at the school and being part of library every week, we began to realize that some of the grade school kids had a lot of trouble reading. the problem is they tend to get passed from grade to grade without being taught how to read and they quickly run into problems. 

the positive part is, with all the resources we've been blessed with, there's opportunity to spend extra time with these kids and help them get a better grasp on getting through books and quizzes. i don't have to do much convincing for you to believe that knowing how to read changes the game academically as well as in ever aspect of life. 

just writing about some of the things we're doing with the kids here gets me so excited about their potential and opportunities. thanks again to all of you who have shown your support prayerfully and financially. it's been incredible to continue forming relationships with the kids and watch them learn and discover new things every day!