Much Excitement

The last week of work has been quite strange - Monday and Tuesday were holidays so I only started work in Lifeskillls on Wednesday. Even though we only had three days of class, we still managed to get a lot done by the end of the week. Wednesday was mostly spent trying to teach the children about seasons - why it gets colder during the year, why we have night and day etc. But some of the kids did grasp the concept of the Earth's revolution which was a big step! The next day when we tested their knowledge again, a couple of them remembered 'the northern hemisphere' and 'the Earth's axis'... That was definitely a highlight for me this week because you could clearly see their progression in essential general knowledge.

On Thursday both the Junior class and the Lifeskills class went to the local bowling alley for their end of term excursion. After an hour of bowling (which all the children loved), we still had some time left so we decided to take the kids to try out the crazy golf course. They were all fascinated when the golf ball went down a tunnel and came out somewhere completely different, it was hilarious to watch their expressions.

On Friday it was pancake and popcorn day so we all spent the morning popping, packing and selling. I was on pancake duty and I think we managed to make about 80, which we then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. This whole process is great for the children, especially those with autism because they depend a lot on strict routine and get agitated if it's interrupted.

On Saturday we were invited round to Jenny's house for dinner. She's studying psychology and has chosen 'volunteering' as her topic of interest. Kathryn, Zoe and myself each had an interview, sharing with her the reasons why we volunteered, hardships that we've overcome, what makes a good volunteer etc. It was very interesting because I don't think any of us had asked ourselves some of the questions, so we learnt some things as well. After the interviews were over we sat down on the couch and ate pita bread filled with chicken - a perfect way to end the evening.

In other news: I think my family will have landed in Cape Town by now after a long flight from Heathrow. After they've spent a couple of days there they'll head up to Polokwane on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday I'll show them around the school, introduce them to all the children and then on Friday evening we set off on our road trip to Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. This means that I won't be posting on my blog for the next 3/4 weeks, but I'll write a big update on my return. I'm so excited.  

Excursion