Lions and Tigers and (Brown) Bears, Oh My!

The last two days in Bakpa Avedo have been incredible.  Children have come out of the woodwork to join our happy community.  Record numbers of children have come to Kindergarten where the last child count reported 70 children.  The regular teacher of Kindergarten says she has never seen some of these children!  Yesterday when Yao Amekor came to visit the school, he said he was amazed.  He said, "Usually when I visit the school there are children everywhere in the village.  Today when I drove up, I saw no children in the village.  They were all in school!" 


School children have been learning the parts of nonfiction text:  table of contents,labels, glossary, captions, and how to use an index.  This learning will help them be stronger readers in any texts long after we leave.  Two grades have been studying weather.  Today they learned about tornadoes and made waterbottle tornado model.  Older grades have concentrating on writing their observations and questions about physical science using the English language.First, second, and third combined today to make lion masks, read connected books, and go on a Lion Hunt  (adapted from the children's favorite Going on a Bear Hunt).

Art continues to enrich our days.  Today children in the upper grades created Wax Resist Batik with crayons and mud.  If you can imagine how much Alabama clay stains boy's socks and multiply it by 100, you can imagine how well this art project worked.

We took supplies to the Three Kings School for the Blind today, including textured puzzles and alphabet cards and battery-powered page magnifier.  When we arrived, the children sat under a shady arbor practicing braille with frame brailers.  For us they brought out a typewriter brailler to show.  The typewriter brailler is much faster to work with, but the school only has 3 to share between 40 students.

Tonight we celebrated Becca's 21st birthday and Yoa's 33rd birthday by enjoying the sunset over the Volta River from Ciscneros. 

During tonights reflection, one of our students was relating a classroom experience.  One of the children remarked that it must feel good to have FINISHED learning to be a teacher. He hoped one day to finish learning and become the president. Our BSC student responded, " No, we are all students.  I am still learning to be a teacher in the same way you are still learning to become the president."