I hope you don't mind but I want to brag a little.

Yep.  I want to brag a little today.  Don't worry I am not here to brag about myself, but about the kids at our school.  For newer readers, we have 43 kids at the school aged 4 to 9, with the majority being on the lower end of that age range.  Our kids live in a tough environment.  Most of their homes do not have any form of electricity, no heat, no air conditioning, no tv and no video games.  The majority of the kids don't have a chore list with rewards if they do x number of items without being reminded.  They have life that includes washing dishes, taking care of younger siblings, going with their mom to wash clothes at the well, herding cattle after school.  Most don't have their own room, in fact some share a room with all their family members at bedtime.  They don't have flavored juices and drinks refrigerated and waiting on them any time they want them.  There are no snacks to pop in a microwave or rip open a bag.  They help gather wood for cooking and wait for hours until it is ready.

Despite all these things most kids in the USA would consider extreme hardship, these kids show up to school with smiles on their faces.  They arrive an hour before school starts so they can participate in our morning devotion, praise and worship.  They ride packed in a minivan with 30 other kids.  (just for reference this is normal here just read anything I have said about dalla dalla rides)  

So we have started monthly testing at the school to go along with mid semester and end of semester testing.  On the July end of month test, the baby class got an average of 79, the Pre-Unity class got an average of 81 and the standard 1 class got an average of 80.

The top three students in the Baby Class:  Samson (middle), Walter (right) and Grace (left) with their awards.

The top three students in the Pre-Unity Class:  Nice (left), Dorine (right) and Baraka (middle)

The top three students in the Standard 1 Class:  Kimani (left), Grace (middle) and Gladness (right)

They top student in each class got a pencil with star eraser and box of crayons, the second place student got a pencil and ruler, and the third  place student got a pencil with star shaped eraser.  

After morning devotion, praise and worship they have the morning assembly where they are inspected for cleanliness and hygiene before singing the national anthem.

Monday and Tuesday they have full classes all day long.  Wednesday in the afternoon they have sport and games mixed in with the new "Reading with Barnabas Bear" program of the videos of actors and actresses reading children stories.  This last week it was Allison Janney reading Carla's Sandwich.  

students listening to the story on video

On Thursday we have an afternoon debate time.  No we don't actually have 4 year olds debating each other.  Instead it is more of a public speaking class.  Kids go the front of class introduce themselves and tell a story, go over something they learned that week in school (listing animals that are wild or domesticated seems to be a favorite), or sing a song.  Typically the baby class sings one of their songs as a group, though sometimes one does something as an individual.  The teachers have also been using this time to help me prepare them for a spelling bee I want to have at the end of the year.  They can spell words the other kids call out on the board.

On Friday the kids have Religion class.  The end of the religion class is the student choir practicing their songs.

So yes I wanted to brag some about our kids and what they can do.  I think they deserve it.