Make your own colored pasta!

And that's exactly what we did today! I found this idea on Pinterest and it was a perfect way to transition into our new sensory tub. Every child got one zip lock bag and I added some dry pasta, a few squirts of hand sanitizer with alcohol and the food coloring of their choice. Then we shook it all up and squished it all around! Once the noodles were colored, we let them dry in the sun. We added them to our sensory tub and each child got to take some of their colored pasta home.

Magic Wands

I have a class full of little girls who love to pretend they are princesses! I read Cinderella every day for a week and I think I can recite the entire book by memory now. I got the idea to make magic wands one day when we were outside reading Cinderella. When I read about the Fairy Godmother, I picked up a stick to use as the magic wand. The girls went crazy! They loved it. Last week we made our very own magic wands. Even the two boys in the class loved it (but they quickly turned theirs into swords)! We went outside and picked up sticks off the ground, painted them, added glitter and wrapped pipe cleaner around them. It was a hit!

Our new school sign!

Week 2 of the new year

First day of Interactive Writing.

Behavior apples and worms.

Isaac!

Keza at the block center.

Sensory tub. Using clothespins to pick up puffy balls and organize them by color.

Painting

Back to school!

Welcome to First Impressions!

Awesome tree made from fabric and little birds Jamie left in Rwanda.

Zebra painting made from elephant poop.

Parents board.

Reading tent in the 3 year old class.

Fabric scraps!

The book nook!

Yesterday was the first day of school. Onawa and I spent hours upon hours over the weekend fixing up the school. We organized, decorated and crafted like crazy! We are so proud of our work and parents and kids certainly noticed today. It's amazing what you can do with African fabric, a hammer and nails, glue and cardboard boxes! We are so excited for this new year and we have tons of sweet new students starting at the Preschool.

Just another day

When I first moved over here to teach I tried to google, "How to teach in Africa". haha I wanted ideas and ways to be creative with little to no materials. Well, I've made it over that hump and now I'm turning into a creative machine (thanks to Onawa Linden, Jamie Ankenbrandt, Pinterest, The Crafty Crow and many other great websites)!!! I have used a lot of my own "Western" classroom ideas and made them amazing works of art in the middle of Africa.

I am going to try to post a lot of pictures of what we are doing at school. I figure it will be great for future teachers in developing countries as well as teachers in American who are on a budget!

I will, of course, throw in some pictures of the cute kiddos I work with! I sure can't leave them out. =)

Daniella came to school with a teddy bear tied on her back!

Our school of fish-paper, scissors and crayons!

Hannah playing at the Pattern Center-pocket chart from America and anything can be used to make patterns.

Countdown to the last day of school-paper, crayons.

Sink of Float?

What sinks and what floats? We used a leaf, foam letter, bead, rock, foam dice, sticker, crayon, and paper clip

Field Trip!

Field Trip to Kigali Museum of Natural History