We have successfully completed another wonderful year of school! When we returned from the States this winter (after an
amazing school situation with my Mom as Ella's second grade teacher and the Northwest Christian Homeschool Enrichment Program for all three kids), we were thankful to be greeted by the Blakers and their incredible servants' hearts for our family. They came all the way out to our village 3 days a week to intensively work with the girls and to pour into our family. It's quite remarkable how much they covered in such a short time and it really helped our family to seamlessly enter back into life here.
One day a month, the Blakers have a special day for all of the kids they teach, together. There are kids from 4 different countries, and it's very special for all of them!
On the days the Blakers helped another family with their schooling, I did unit studies with the kids. One of our unit studies was on popcorn. We planted this popcorn kernel, and look how much it's growing!
We also tried out fun new popcorn recipes that we shared with the people in our small group. =)
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| Ike's kindergarten class, eating breakfast |
We enrolled Ike in a local kindergarten, and he was there 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. While this wasn't always easy for him, it did wonders for his language acquisition, and this transferred over into his neighborhood friendships. Every time I popped into his class, he was happily playing with other kids.
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| A random picture I snapped of a spinning wheel in Ike's classroom |
Ike's school invited our family to participate in an event that involved 9 or 10 other schools in the area. On this day we were practicing our lesson with some kids from Ike's class.
When we were waiting to practice, the kids swarmed around Leif. So cute!
This picture is from our special presentation day. The Buryat language teacher spoke in Buryat and shared parts of Buryat culture. Ike's kindergarten teacher (middle) spoke in Russian and shared about Russian culture. And we shared in English about American culture. It was a neat experience for us all!
The Blakers went back to the States the last month of school for the birth of their grandson, and I became the girls' full-time teacher. They were real troopers, taking their schoolwork around town with me and being very flexible.
Our last unit study of the year was on dogs, which was very interesting, especially now that we have a dog ourselves!! I think the girls' favorite part was watching videos about the different types of breeds and making homemade dog treats.
We've continued to have art lessons, and often other kids join us.
Fun masks!
We are so proud of our Ike, who is now a kindergarten graduate! His graduation was a very big deal and followed the theme of the Oscars.
The kids sang and danced and had lines they recited.
They received their Oscar and walked the red carpet.
Ike's personalized Oscar, with his name on it.
Kindergarten graduation here is a very big deal. Because of the size of Ike's class (32 kids!) and size of the music room, they limited only parents to attending the graduation. Of course, Anneka and Ella were crushed, as they wanted to be a part of this important day of Ikes' life. This was hard on my mom-heart, as there was nothing I could do about it. We prayed about it, and then only a couple of days later, the director invited our family to "perform a number" at the graduation ceremony. I immediately accepted, as I knew this would mean the girls could be there for their brother's special day! Imagine their joy when I shared with them the news! We sang "Father of Lights" in English.
Ike with his family
I love these sweet kids so much!
After the graduation, the parents and kids went to an amazing new indoor playground. We had wanted to do something special for the kids anyways to commemorate the ending of a successful school year. We didn't even know this place existed, and all of the kids had SO much fun there!
It was great for both big and little kids.
There were so many climbing things that were made of colorful crocheted ropes. If I'd known, I would have packed clothes besides my dress! Leif went up with the kids. =)
... And then our kids had their annual end-of-school celebration with their church class. We went to a nearby village, and their teachers planned such fun games (in each continent of the world!)
Ike had to find a pair of shoes out of the pile with just a blindfold.
Kids had to dump water from a cup into a cup on Ella's stomach. She got soaked, but was such a good sport! =)
June 1st, which is National Kids Day, was a perfect ending to the school year and entrance into summer. (June 1st is considered the first day of summer here, too). We went to a park with friends.
The kids had a blast, and we did, too!
Happy Summer!!!
