42 kiddos!

today for class we had 42 kids! 
I love that we keep growing & the kids are enjoying themselves! 
everyday I learn something new about teaching/running an after school program.

if you didn't know, they still have corporal punishment in Grenada. 
spanking, hands whacked with a ruler, etc.
so they are pretty strict at the school.
and they come to us right after school. right after several hours of sitting in a classroom & being forced (threatened?) to behave
it's probably pretty tough to come to an after school program and be expected to sit still again!

lets cut the kids some slack shall we?

today was a great day! no major behavior issues, I never raised my voice, and I only blew my whistle once!

we gathered all the kids up & went over the rules (which we do allllll the time. they need reminded)
Limes Rules
1. no fighting, cuffing (hitting in grenada lingo) or even play wrestling
2. no pelting stones - kids lingo again
3. no cussing
4. no picking up broken glass
5. and no talking when Miss Kelsey or another teacher is talking to the group

after a very successful review session I handed out some worksheets I made with questions about them, their favorites, what they do daily, wishes, etc.
the kids were so well behaved & answered the questions very thoughtfully
after about 15-20 minutes of working on their papers & discussing their answers I turned them loose in the field with 3 soccer balls & let the girls have blank paper and crayons to draw.

and they were so good & I got to enjoy their company and cuteness without feeling stressed out


another thing we tried out this week (which we need multiple volunteers to do, today we only had 4) was stations.  a talking/question circle time station, homework/worksheets station, craft/drawing station, and a games station.  we split the kids up by their ages & rotated them through the 4 different groups every 15-20 minutes.  It worked great when we had 8 people!  1-2 people per group, plus a couple floaters to walk around and make sure everything is going smoothly. 
stations is my goal. please volunteer at limes with us!!!!

& while we did "get" the building back. we have not actually gained access. the owner hasn't left a key with anyone & is never there..... but maybe next week! say a prayer for us!

here are some pictures from this week!