Teaching



Today was the first day of real teaching.  Beverly has pretty much organized the summer school program.  The main goal is to give the students practice with English, and they are broken into three groups not necessarily by age, but by English language abilities.  We had the "first grade" class from 8-10 this morning.  These kids are anywhere from first to third grade levels, but have a common English language ability.  Keeping in mind that this is a group of orphans and a few local kids from one of the poorest cities in one of the poorest countries in the world, I was amazed to see how many similarities they shared with kids in New Hampshire!  They had fun, forgot to raise their hands, had difficulty focusing, bickered with each other, helped each other, and did pretty much the same things that we see in our American first grades.  One big contrast to New Hampshire was the hot cement classroom we worked in today.  We also had the Haitian cooks come in to serve the students breakfast and lunch.  The "second grade" came from 10-12.  They were more advanced in their English and had also developed more school-smarts and reminded me strongly of my fourth graders in New Hamsphire.  After a lunch break we had the "big kids" which was basically any ages from 12-17.  This groups was a lot of fun!  Beverly has assigned them a essay in English about the field trip we are taking tomorrow- to an elevator at the big grocery store.  The students did a wonderful job writing about their feelings and concerns about this new experience.  It is times like this that I remember that I am in a very different world!  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures as I'm sure this will be a memorable experience!

The following are a few pictures of the kids at play today.  Summer vacation is the same for Haitian kids, and once class is over they certainly know how to have fun!  Thank you for your continued prayers and support with this trip! In Christ, Jessie