a grateful heart

I have received my teacher manuals for homeschooling the Livesay bunch, and, I must say, the pictures are hilarious. Really.

I keep forgetting to throw my extra bonnets into my suitcase. Write that down, Viv.

A woman from my church, Kim, works for this company, Cranium Kids. CK works with preschoolers and school-age kids with technology and how to use it to increase understanding of material and general intelligence. They have programs starting with 2 yr olds (Tech Tots... how cute is that?) and go up from there. The results are amazing. Kids are constantly surrounded by computers these days, and learning at an early age with help them forever. WAY TO GO KIM AND NATALEE.

Anyway, they asked me to work one of their camps, and I learned how to do claymation and teach kids how to do it. If you know me well/at all, I'm not the most technology-savvy young woman out there. It was a funny sight for sure. Well, Natalee (the founder of CK) discovers that I'm working to take money with me to Haiti and why I'm moving down there. She asks about the kids and their ages and the subjects I'm going to be teaching them, etc. Natalee then donates software to help them understand basic subjects in a fun way... like Arthur's Reading Race (that super cute aardvark) and I Spy, Jr. and Dr. Seuss' Fun with Numbers. And she is giving me some games for the younger Livesays: Phoebe, Lydia, Annie and Noah, who aren't even my responsibility! I didn't even ask for them. She just told me during lunch that she was going to give me a gift before I finished on Thursday and that it was something she really wanted to do.

God is good. He knew (of course) that the only thing I was nervous about was being a good enough teacher for these awesome kids. I mean, seriously, the Livesays are trusting me with their kids' education here. Insane right? Well, just when I have the lowest self-confidence ever, here comes a swift kick to the butt to remind who is in control. Ahh. He is terrific.

So, thanks to Natalee and Kim for two great weeks and for all the brilliant software that will help me be a better teacher. Isaac and Hope will thank them too, I'm sure... although Paige might be sad she didn't get any fun games. I will have to figure something else out for a freshman! :)