End of the School Year

 

     Anneka celebrated her last day of school with her classmates, teachers, and families by having a fun party.  The kids played outside on the playground.

... and we all went out for pizza.  Her teachers, the Blakers, headed back to the States for the summer (three of their grown kids are getting married this summer!), so it was special to have this time with them before they left.  We are so thankful for how they invest in our kids.  They do a great job with teaching them!


          Since the Blakers left on the early side for the summer, I'm now homeschooling Anneka for this last month of the spring.  It's so nice because my mom skypes with her and listens to her as she reads books from her reading list.  Mom has copies of the books, too (from the library and elsewhere) to be able to know the stories ahead of time and to help if there are words Anneka doesn't know.  It's a special time for the two of them and helps us out, too!


      As I'm homeschooling, I've tried to have fun things for the little ones to be involved with, too. (art projects, science experiments).  Here's Ella and her duck.






 ... and Ike with his ladybug, moments before he submerged her under water in the sink.

 
     I've found that it's been challenging to be able to give Anneka focused attention with Ella and Ike having needs for attention, too.  I'm so thankful that Anneka is motivated and diligent.  This helps A LOT!!

 

     We also had our last English Club of the school year.  We did hangman with a few Bible verses.


     It's been a good year for English Club, with new faces, deeper connections, and good discussions.

     Ike still has a few weeks left of preschool, but he had his very first program last week, commemorating Victory Day (70 years after the end of WWII). 

     This is a very big holiday here, and veterans are highly honored.  One lady in our church is 80, so she was only 10 when the war ended.  But even she had metals, as kids were called to work and serve their country.  She took a half hour at church on Sunday to share thoughts and memories on this special holiday.  The kids at the preschool are all taught about Victory Day.  I think it's important to remember these things.

     Ella's class also celebrated Victory Day.  The funny thing is that I didn't know she was going to be at the square, so when I went to pick her up, the door to her room was locked.  Thankfully, I had remembered reading something about a celebration a couple of days prior, and Anneka had seen her old teacher walking with some students when we were running errands, so we tracked them down.  =)  It was a beautiful sunny day and very festive in the square!