Week 7

Only a few photos this week - I think some weeks I get so caught up in the daily routine that I forget to stop and take photos of all the things that we are working on.

We started Monday with some shaving cream fun. It is amazing how much fun a four dollar can of men's shaving cream can provide. The kids managed to keep most of it on the table and the sinks just around the corner from our class are now open which made clean up a bit easier. Thanks to Miss Sally for taking the table outside and washing it down with a bucket and rag - the easy clean-up of a plastic table :) We ended up with a 'picnic' snack on the carpet because there were not enough seats at the tables (with the one being cleaned) which turned to be a favorite with the kids - they asked to do the same thing several times during the week.

The Bible story this week moves along in Genesis with Adam and Eve having left the garden and starting their family. The focus was on family with Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel being the first family. We had fun drawing pictures of our own families and then later making thank you cards for our parents that we decorated with drawings and stickers. Next week we will be talking about Noah and how he obeyed God.

On Friday we had another school Spirit Day - 'What I want to be when I grow up.' In Preschool we had a Max as a dragon, Luke as Superman, Josh as an England football player and Miss Elizabeth as a zookeeper.

Looking forward to October, there will be an Academy Open House on Friday, 1 October.
Everyone is invited to come and see the classrooms, walk around the Academy and try out some of the activities going on. 5 October will find the preschool and elementary classes headed out to the rock pools and Natal Shark Board for some tidal pool and shark discovery.

Week 4.5, 5.5 and 6: Arrival, Moving and Settling In

The last several weeks in Preschool have been very busy. In the span of three weeks, we have arrived in South Africa, moved our school off ship about 2 hours inland and begun to settle in with a full week of school after two weeks of broken classes while everything was getting set up.

Our new school has been a blessing with more space than we could have asked for. I think the classroom we have now is at least twice the size of what we have on the ship. We had to do some heavy cleaning before opening up as the space had not been used in years, but God has really blessed us. There is also space for recess, a gym and playing field.

In other news, we have been having fun with Miss Sally who has been coming in to help over the sail and while in Appelsbosch since things are a bit more spread out here and it helps to have a second pair of hands. Everyone's new favorite songs also come from Miss Sally, Sleeping Bunnies and Dingle, Dangle Scarecrow. Emma has also started to visit with her mom for the last hour of the day and seems to be having fun exploring the new toys and singing songs at the end of the day.
The Bible lesson over the last three weeks covered the seven days of Creation and then the story of Adam, Eve and the snake. It is so interesting to tell these stories to children in a real way and listen to the questions that come up: 'Why is Satan bad?' 'Why does Satan want us to make bad choices?' 'Is Satan a person?' We briefly talked about the Bible verse from Romans 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' and how this means we all have made bad choices and are not as good as God. The seven days of Creation was fun, completed with putting together the pages we had been working on to make a book.
We had a fun Spirit/Dress Up day during the sail with the theme of 'Ocean'. In our class we had a shark, a ship, a Nemo fish, a swimmer and a pirate. This week we will be having another day with the theme of 'What I Want to Be When I Grow Up'. Hopefully some good pictures to follow for next week :)

Some pictures of us enjoying our new room: