The warm weather has finally arrived! Newark Christian School staff and students are transitioning from the academic school year to day camp for the children of working parents. The children in our day camp will do some review of the math and reading that they learned last school year, have Bible lessons with related crafts, time in the gym, time on the playground, and time in the garden learning about how things grow.
We have been blessed to have Ms. Uschi come to school several times a week to teach the students about gardening. This year they started with hardy flowers and then planted fruit and vegetables. Children in families that live in apartments sometimes do not have the opportunity to notice plants and have incorrect ideas about how we get food. The students enjoyed picking and eating what they helped to grow. When they planted seeds and watched some food grow, the students began to understand that God gives good dirt and rain so we can have food. During the summer the children in the day camp will be able to pick and eat from the garden as it continues to produce food and flowers. Often they are surprised to discover fresh vegetables taste as good as food from some of the fast food places that are so popular.
Another activity that I have been doing with the kindergarten class is working on a 150-word picture dictionary. Each of them has glued pictures in the correct place in their personal dictionary as they learn to read the words. They will practice reading their dictionary over the summer which will help them remember words they have learned.
It has been interesting to me to see and pray for the different areas in which World Impact seeks to help the people of Newark. For the school, we are still praying for God’s guidance for both the people God wants in the classrooms and His choice in the grade assignments for each teacher. It has been a great year full of learning, and we are looking forward to a great summer as well!
