Oh what fun is a Field Trip!

The teachers of the Believe In Me Too school in Hunan recently took the students on a field trip to the Changde Chrysanthemum Show. If you follow our blogs, you may remember that these children spent part of their summer learning about and growing plants. This was a wonderful opportunity for them to learn even more about plants and flowers.



The trip began with lunch at KFC. I am so proud to know that these students displayed such good manners and behavior during their meal while still having such fun.



Next the class headed to the park to see the beautiful flowers. I have been told that everyone was so impressed with the knowledge that these young children had. They remembered what they learned this summer and applied this knowledge to the chrysanthemums.



There was also a playground at this park for some extra fun.





Soon it was time to go home. With everyone in accounted for and in line, this class headed home. We are grateful that our teachers in China who were willing to extend the learning to outside the classroom.



Missy Ridley

Classroom Monitor

On my recent trip to China, I learned that a very important person in a school is the classroom monitor. Frequently elected to the job, it is a prized position. Monitors lead the other children in song and exercise. A strong voice and watchful eye is very important.

This past weekend our monitor in the Believe In Me Too school left for her forever family. Now the baby of a family, she will have others to watch over her.

In the US, November is a month of elections. This school was no different. Elected to the position by the staff of the school is Hunter, a bright 6 year old that enjoys singing, reciting poetry and learning English. We hope that the trend continues and he will one day be leaving his position too!

Missy Ridley
Associate Director of Education

Memories

One of the projects the team in Hunan worked on with the kids was their very own photo book. Our volunteers explained the importance to the staff how very important it is to both children and adoptive parents to have these memory books. One of my good friends who was a foster parent in Texas once told me a story about one of the kids she fostered. She would make every child who stayed with her a memory book, even if they were only in her home for a few days. Many years later, she came home one day to find a young man on her porch waiting for her. He had a worn memory book in his hand. He told her, "you may not remember me, but you fostered me many years ago and gave me this book before I left your care." He then went on to tell her, "it is my most prized possession because someone had taken the time to believe that my life was important".

That is what we want for every child in our school program. Here is what our team in China wrote today:

"We gave the children their photo albums this afternoon, it was just like Christmas morning for them. They were so happy to see their pictures and to have their own special book."

We loved this photo of one of the students looking through her very own photo album.

And we know you will love seeing this photo of the Believe in Me Too class of 2008!

Hunan Believe in Me

Just wanted to pass on some great photos from our Believe in Me School in Hunan province that I just received from our education team. Missy Ridley and Sandy Hartman are both there right now conducting a two day teacher training and student assessment.

Planting Fun

This May when the Love Without Boundaries' education team visited the Believe In Me Too School, the teachers in China and our team from the US shared some ideas on school lessons. Our team had suggested that the children might enjoy growing plants.

A few weeks ago we received a photo of the plants that were ordered for the children. Initially we thought that the lesson idea had not been translated correctly, because the pots looked like painted eggs. They were certainly cute eggs, but somehow we thought the idea of watching a plant grow had been lost in translation.

Imagine our delight when we received the photo of thriving plants growing out of the eggs. You can also so easily imagine the wonder and fun the students experienced. It looks like we have master gardeners on our hands!

One of the many benefits in working with these schools is the exchange of knowledge. We all learned something here!!