Change My Stars - Week 5

Change My Stars - Week 5 

The weeks are winding down and the kids have progressed so much. They have learned many english words and some great life skills. They have developed more into mature people that treat each other with respect as well as themselves. I have noticed through the weeks that their dreams for themselves are higher and their determination to make the dreams become a reality have deepened. One sweet girl, Jenny, told us she wants to be a doctor, with her studying skills and determination I believe she can do that! 
Week five's theme was my world, my community. We wanted to include how we should take care of our environment as well as our bodies by good hygiene. We had a hand washing station and also informed the children on where garbage should go. Because we changed the routine of things many of the children didn't know what was going on, so the first two days of camp went a little rough. After we had a meeting with Caitlin everything was smoothed out and we were able to teach english in addition to sharing knowledge of how to keep our world clean and safe. 
I was so proud of the little guys, some of the volunteers thought they would have been too young to understand the lessons about hygiene, but we taught them and they responded with enthusiasm. I was surprised after asking the little ones, why we should was our hands frequently, one girl, Esmiley, said because she doesn't want to get "gripa" or a cold.  Now after the first two sessions of the day everyone washes their hands and then has a snack. 
Overall, this week was great. The kids really responded well to the new lessons we added and now work together to keep the area around them clean. With  the lesson of washing hands and picking up trash alone, it will cut down the risk of people getting sick or spreading germs. 

Week Four - Animals

This week in camp we focused on animals, the places they live and other related vocabulary.  We also talked a lot about pronouns.  It was great to see how many of the students were using the following pronouns correctly by the end of the week:  he, she, it, I, and, they.  We used some dialogue to practice English pronunciation.  Additionally, the students in the oldest group stood up in front of the class and were able to introduce themselves in English. 

Also, we were excited to welcome a new volunteer to camp this week, Elba.  Elba suggested we work a little on empowering the students by teaching them phrases like, “I am intelligent,” “I am strong,” “I can change my stars.”  It was so exciting to see, on Wednesday, the youngest groups of students shouting these empowering statements really loud (the entire neighborhood could probably hear them). 

We want these beautiful children to know that they are smart and capable enough to change their stars. I think we all concluded that, the children need know where they came from and what a strong group people, in order to go even further in making something for themselves. So some of the class time has been used to teach such moving Haitian history. 

We are all looking forward to welcoming EM and Jamira to camp next week and seeing what amazing things the students learn this upcoming week!

Change My Stars...Week 3

Week 2 - Classroom

Change My Stars... Week 2

Week two has come to a close and it was such a positive move forward. This week's theme was the classroom and all the items found in a classroom. Unfortunately, one of our volunteers, Chloe, became sick with Dengue fever, but praise God is good to go for next week. Fortunately, Cole a returning, AMAZING, volunteer came just in time and has been a great addition with her many skills. Through the small changes the kids stayed focused and learned many of the vocabulary words. This week was fun to teach because the vocabulary words were being put to use every day. "Hand me the scissors, please." "Glue this together" These words were learned quickly because the children were hearing the word, seeing it written out, and using each item.

The favorite game this week was "Rock, Paper, Scissors." It was such an easy game to teach and a huge hit! Plus, the game pushed the kids to say a couple of the vocabulary words and in turn learn them. This week was also filled with really great crafts! The first craft was having the kids make name tags with paper, markers, glitter, and glue, they were able to get really creative and learn the English words at the same time. Another really fun craft was finger puppets, we did this to review week one. Each camper made their family out of paper and glued it all on popsicle sticks, they were so cute! Finally, the last day we made books of all the vocab, each camper wrote the word and then made an illustration for the word. The younger kids were a little confused but the books still came out really great and were a fun keepsake!

This week was a blast, there is such a great bond between the teachers and campers. We really try and focus on loving each kid and showing them we care, it is something that will go even farther then any vocabulary word they might learn. The campers are so bright and are so eager to learn! Its so encouraging to know that the kids see the value of coming everyday and learning a new language that will give them the advantage to do something great, to be someone even greater than they already are.