School and Tutoring

Most of my days here in Belize are very busy between volunteering at the school, then after school, travelling from one house to another to fit in 2-3 or more hours of tutoring.

I arrive at school at 8:40, and split my three hours there between the kindergartens, the grade 1 class and the grade 2 class. I usually pull the kids out of class and work one-on-one (in the storage room -- only room available) with them in a particular area of study that they are having trouble with. Usually reading or spelling.



Kenny's reading has improved dramatically over the last few months.

In the afternoon, I travel from one home to another tutoring students. Sometimes we do homework, but mostly I like to review important concepts like times tables, do some practice reading, and spelling. I have been trying to learn about different styles using those in my tutoring and volunteering.
For example, I ask the student to make the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12...and so on from the 3 times tables, out of play doe. I may then ask him questions such as "which number comes between 12 and 18?" or "Which number comes after 33?". This for of questioning also him to spend extra time looking at the sequencing. We then say the numbers forwards and backwards. Everytime we finish a sequence, we take one number away. Then we say them forwards and backwards again. In the end, he will say them about 12 times in that short period of time (forwards and backwards), the last time without having any of the numbers in front of him. Using the play doe seems to help him as he gets to spend extra time, in a creative fashion, working with the numbers -- rather than just writing them out. If you can count by 3s, you can do the 3 times tables. Next week: the four times tables.

(See the play doe in the picture?)

I also lead chapel this last week. My puppet Marty and I were playing "catch" in a museum where this crazy statue holding a banana was on display. It seems that the banana was already but even though it had not been peeled. Hard to believe. We equated it to a Bible story in which Doubting Thomas would not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead unless he saw it with his own eyes. At the end of the show, you find out that the statue (who comes to life) is very hungry and eats the banana. Low an behold!! The banana was indeed already cut even before he peeled it! In fact, the banana pieces fell all over the place. And later another teacher stepped on it!

The school science fair happened a week or so ago. I took special pleasure in asking the kids I work with to show me their projects. Some unique and challenging projects were presented, including Mikaylas discovery how friction effects the speed of a car.

Wesley's demonstration of a water wheel.


And these boys showed how an egg will be sucked into a bottle when the fire is looking for oxygen.
I asked this student's mom if I could teach him over Christmas holidays since 2-3 weeks off was such a long time, especially when we had just started a new reading program. The first time he came over was hard for him (after all, he is on holidays). However, after that first time, he has loved coming over. He now asks his mom, of his own volition, if he can come. And his mom looks at me and says, "what do you have at your house that he likes?" A lamb! Yes, a little bribery seems to work wonders. He comes and reads and then gets to feed the lamb. Now what will I do that Lily the Lamb has been weaned?


Another student, I asked her mom the same question, if I could teach her daughter over Christmas. As this German mother saw me working with her daughter, she asked it I would teacher her too! So now, I also spend about 2-3 hours a week with the mom, helping her gain better reading skills, and at the same time explaining what these English words mean. As an added bonus I have been teaching her how to help her children with their school work. The children do not get much homework at these young grade levels and yet there are certain areas they may be struggling in. I have been showing her how she can do things at home to help. I never fully realized before how much the parents need even this type of training, especially when the parents are all German, and their kids are attending an all English school. For this parent, she is also taking "grade 1" in the evenings at the home of one of the community members. For her, then, she has the advantage of knowing what the special sounds are, how to mark the vowels and so for. Many parents, even parents who speak English, would not know these things since they are specific to phonics and Abeka curriculum.


The game we are playing here is kind of like Uno except with words and sounds. You have to match the vowel. Hot -- Sock -- lots...etc. And use a "Swap" card to switch vowels. I found this resource in England and ordered it off the web. They also have a software version to which you can add your own words. I have used it before in learning spelling words.

1 Month Left

I announced a new addition to our family, Larry Darren Priebe (Stanley), and yet he didn't survive a week with us. Five days after delivery to our home, we found him dead. Possible reasons:

1) We took him swimming on Sunday (day three of life with Priebes) to Green Lake. We discovered that bunnies can swim...but they don't like it. He was so cold after getting out of the Lake (the Lake is not that cold) that he just settled into a blanket and tried to get warm....so cold that he couldn't move his cold foot from being up in the air to close to his body to savor body warmth.

We snuggled him in the towel and let him recover. He did, within a half hour. Now the question is: Was his untimely death on Tuesday a result of Sunday's adventure -- massive heart attack [hmm...he is just a baby bunny]?

2) Lily the Lamb and Stanley the Bunny shared the same bedroom (a room in one of the back buildings on our property that we rent -- remember, we live in an archaeological outpost house, with many extra buildings on the property). Well, we locked Stanley in the room because he was being potty trained and during that process I didn't want him getting out into our big yard and then not coming back. After he was potty trained, he'd return to the same spot from now on to do his business. So here he is locked in this room...the same room Lily gets lock in at night (otherwise she goes to the main house window at 4:30am and bleats for our attention)...the same room that Lily (who had no discretion where she pees or poohs) uses quite regularly for her business. I fear that bunny was so close to the ground, so close to that pooh that he suffocated to death...pooh fumes inhalation!

3) Chris figures that maybe Lily stepped on Stanley early in the morning (she would do that, oblivious to the fact that he was even down there are her feet). Then, after massive internal bleeding throughout the day, he died in the evening. Far fetched I think.

4) A snake came in the open window and killed him.

I felt really bad at first on Sunday after seeing Stanley struggling with being so cold. Who would have thought he'd not respond well to swimming? I mean we took Lily swimming when she was just a month old and she's fine. But then he recovered, or so I thought.

Now, I am beginning think it was a snake. Not far fetched for this house. People who used to live in this very house told me that their cat often caught snakes around here. Not that we've seen one in the 5 months we've lived here.

I don't think we will be getting any more animals since we only have 1 month left in Belize.

The next weeks will be very busy as we wrap up our ministries. Chris has a couple more preaching sessions in San Felipe (Spanish church) as well as one in Shipyard (Old Colony, although the church we are at on March 18th is an evangelical church plant within the old colony...reaching out to them). And I have another few weeks of volunteering at the school here and tutoring students. Pray that I would use these last few weeks to help the parents know of some ways to help their kids using some new methods. Pray as well that the materials that I am waiting for to arrive will come soon yet so I can show the parents how to use them before we leave.

Thanks for your prayers

Through the Week

So we got back from Canada, and almost immediately both us got sick. Thankfully, we were only sick for a few days.

Then on Thursday I fell off my chair at school and hurt my ... . After school, as I was waiting for a student to arrive at home so we could begin tutoring, I decided to lean against the motorbike. Bad idea as I burned my calf against the muffler. Ouch! Two nice big bubbly blisters, and one small one. The nurse told me that you aren't a real Blue Creeker until you've had a motorcycle burn.

Then the next day, I had some grade 4 students over to look at the full moon through our telescope (I tutor 3 grade 4 students and then have been studying the solar system recently). Since my friend allowed me to borrow a telescope and take it to Belize (thank you Amanda), I could share that with the students.



Up on the roof, there are some cement things that just jet out of nowhere. I was so excited to have the students over last night, that I didn't see where I was going in the dark and badly stubbed my toe on the cement thing. Ouch again!

I feel a little like an accident waiting to happen. So, between my sore bum, my burned leg, and my majorly bruised toe (oh not to mention the finger that still hurts from where I bent it wrong 4 weeks ago), I am quite a site.

Here's the latest family photo.

Koshka and Lily (the Lamb) did not get a long at first.

Lily just wants to know if Koshka has milk. She greets everyone the same way.

But they seemed to do better as time went on. But it didn't matter much since Koshka did not live with us. Chris and I were thinking of bringing him to live with us, but before we could, he has disappeared (possibly is dead) from his old home.

Just yesterday, though, we got a bunny...not a replacement for Koshka -- we could never replace him (well, maybe we could). We have been thinking about getting a bunny for a while. His name is Larry Darren Priebe. We call him Stanely for short. In honor of our beloved brother.

We have him tied up because he is being potty trained. Yes, you can train rabbits to be potty trained! He's quite scared right now having just moved in with us. But I think he will get used to us. I told him that we tie up all the new animals...that way they will learn their new home and never run away.

We figure this is our one time to really have an "Old Macdonald Farm" since when we get back to Canada there are certain bylaws that will prevent us from owning too many farm animals (like sheep).

Today, one of my tutor students taught me how to ride a 4-wheeler. Now I would like to get one. But I don't know where I would ride it in Canada.


Never thought a nine-year old would teach his teacher how to ride a 4-wheeler!

Cory