June 22. Today was a good day. Thanks to God for His help in the school family day program.
We got up before six this morning because there was laundry to do before our trip to town tomorrow. Even though we didn’t get a whole lot of sun today, we did get wind to dry the clothes. We had .1” rain last night and a few sprinkles off and on today. It has turned quite cold this evening, and Daddy has a fire going.
After hanging out clothes, I filled the little cups with peanuts for refreshments. Made the bed; finished quiet time; got things ready for the day. We didn’t do any schoolwork today. Practiced a littled bit again for the family day program. Then we played a game. The kids lined up a certain distance from the table. I put the empty trash basket near the table. We had a stuffed frog which they had to throw in turn and try to get it into the basket. If they got it in, they could pick a card, which told them something to do, such as quote a verse, add some numbers, spell a word, answer a question, etc. If they missed they had to go to the end of the line. Or if they missed the question, they had to go to the end of the line. If they got the question right, the number of points written on the card was written under their name on the chalkboard. The girls actually did better than the boys in getting the frog in the basket. In the end, Bethuel and Manila tied with 21 points, and Bonita came in close second with 19 points.
After a little break, we had story time. First I explained to them how to care for books and how to put them away properly to help keep them in good condition. I told them if they found broken books to let me know so I can mend them. Some of the books are old so get broken easily. We all sat on the floor, and I read them several books — in English. They all really seemed to enjoy that. As I read, they all repeated the sentences after me.
Then it was recess time. I got the table covers on the table and counter, and cups set out for water. Called the children first so they could wash their hands. Then I had Rebecca call the parents in. There were about 48 family members there — papas, mamas, sisters and brothers. I welcomed the families and asked Ben to open in prayer. Then we started the program.
I had all the children come up front. Tania led the Bible verse part. Rebecca, Bonita, Jonas, Frina, and Ephraim each said verses, and we sang all the verses. Then we sang “No Inap Hait long God” (“You Cannot Hide From God”) to the tune of “I Have the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy.” After that I asked them Bible questions from this term’s lessons. Then Lilian came and had them spell words, or she spelled words and they had to tell what they were.
Then I had the students all sit down, and I wrote Owena words on the chalkboard for them to read. They were all words that they had not read before so it was a challenge. But they did well. Ephraim amazed me. He read several of the words.
Then Mailin came and led the children in math and English parts. Graham said the 5 add family, Jocelyn the 6 add family, and Bethuel the 7 add family. Sosthenes counted by 5’s to 100. Then Ephraim said the days of the week. Manila and Stephanas each said an English monologue they had memorized, and Graham and Sosthenes said a dialogue. They did a really good job today. I was really “proud” of them. After that, we gave out report cards and had refreshments. Then I dismissed the students and talked to the parents for a few minutes. They didn’t have any questions today so Daddy closed in prayer, and we bid them good-bye.
The students came back in and Graham cleaned the chalkboard. Ephraim offered to sweep the floor, but next thing I knew, Tania was sweeping. The three teachers helped with most of the clean-up. Then they came and borrowed more books out of the library in the office.
Made fish patties for lunch again today. Serah had cut up pumpkin yesterday afternoon, and I cooked it last night, but the lid must not have been on right and not sealed. I warmed the pumpkin up for dinner, but as soon as I took some out of the pan to put on my plate, I could smell that it was spoiled. So we had to throw it all out. Boo hoo! Well, we did get filled up on the fish patties. I just missed the vegetables.
George spent all morning cutting firewood and filled up the bin to overflowing. So we will have plenty of firewood to start out with when we come back from town although we are using some this evening. This is the first time we have had to have a fire in the evening for a long time.
Most of the afternoon and part of the evening was spent packing. I also spent some time working on a little booklet in tokples so the kids can start reading in school. It seems like they are ready for something to read.