Important Poetry

We are currently having two English weeks at school. The German students are on vacation and it's just me and the English kiddos!
While we really miss having the German students and teachers around, it is really nice to spend some quality time with these kids. They are full of creative ideas, insightful thoughts, and lots of laughs! In addition, it is fun to have a small class of just 9 students for 8 days!

We started our poetry unit on Tuesday and we are writing and reading all different kinds of poetry.

Today we wrote "Important Poems" based off of, "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown. The students could pick something about themselves that they think is really important to write about. I told them they could do anything from "The important thing about me is I am a good friend" to "The important thing about me is that I love ice cream."

I was so impressed with their sincere and thoughtful poems. I wanted to share with you!

Student 1:
"The important thing about me is that I am a missionary.
I am honest,
and I am friendly,
and I trust,
but the most important thing about me is that I love Jesus with all of my heart!"

Student 2:
"The imporatnt thing about me is that God made me.
I am loved,
and I am watched over,
and I am special,
but the most important thing about me is God made me."

Student 3:
"The important thing about me is that I love Jesus.
Am imporant to Jesus,
and I am loving to Jesus,
and I know he died on the cross to wash away my sins,
but the most imporant thing about me is that I love him a lot!"

Student 4:
"The imporant thing about my mom is she cares about me a lot.
She is kind,
and she loves me,
and she is sweet,
but the most important thing about my mom is she cares about me."

How special to read about what is most important to these kids! They are each so unique and special.

Hike, Castle, Kids!

On Wednesday second grade went on another field trip! We first went for a hike on a journey to a neaby castle in Lörrach. On the way we had fun looking at beetles, spiders, and different kinds of leaves. It's amazing the bugs that seven and eight year olds will discover and pick up on the way!  We also sang songs, held hands, and enjoyed the short time that the sun came out!

Finally, we made it to the castle in time for our tour. Our tour guide showed us all the parts of the castle and didn't leave out any rooms or staircases. The kids were able to climb to the top of every tower with a great view of the surrounding area where you can even look into nearby Switzerland and France.



This is one of my favorite class pictures from the year!



Looking at the view!

After the tour of the caslte we invited all the parents and siblings of our class to join us at the castle for a cook out! We grilled our bratwurst on the fire and had a great time together. In the beginning of the picnic the students and families could roast bread dough on sticks over the fire. This is a traditional German treat! Then, after eating our dinner some of the American families brought along s'more supplies so that people could try an American treat. One of my favorite parts of the day was watching some of the German parents try the s'mores! They thought they were VERY sweet, but tasty! We love the bicultural expiences. So fun!

 

 

It was so nice for our class to make some wonderful memories together and to share some time with our parents and friends. It was an exhausting, but fun day!

 

World Missions Chapel

Time to catch up on some fun events and activities that have been happening here in Germany both at school and in life!

 

Two weeks ago, Katharina and I organized chapel for the school with the focus of "world missions". When we first began to brainstorm what we could do to encourage the student's awareness of sharing Jesus around the world, the task seemed overwhelming. Here we are teaching in a school where students at a young age have already lived in several countries. Many students have parents who have been missionaries for as long as they have known and have connections to places like Tajikistan, Laos, and Kenya. Many of the student's siblings just came back from BFA mission trips to various places around the world. And on the other hand, we have students at our school who are still understanding who Jesus is and why would we need or want to go tell others about him?

 

However, with prayer and great ideas our chapel time came together!

We invited the sisters of some of our second grade students to share about their mission trips over Spring break and the students interviewed them. One of our very own teachers from CSK was leaving the next week to begin a missionary journey in Tanzania and this was the perfect time for us as a school to pray for her and her husband and to send them with our love and support. We sang songs, learned a verse in German and English, and played a quiz game about Christianity around the world.

 

Our hope and prayer is that these children continue to understand the love that God has for the world and the important role we can have in sharing his love wherever we go!

All the grades come in to one room to worship together.

Many students are eager and willing to participate!

Singing songs

Playing a chapel game

When my hand is on my head, everyone is supposed to get quiet :)

Interviewing her sister about her trip to Kyrgyzstan

Interviewing her sister about her trip to Romania

Learning lots!

"God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
1 Timothy 2:4