Monday, June 14, 2010

10 more days!

This morning at Haven 2 we split the kiddos into two separate groups on opposite ends of the porch. This seemed to hold their attention a lot better and cut down on the behavioral issues. Since our resources are limited here in Zambia and our container of materials has not arrived yet....I incorporated a "slap it" game into therapy where the kids had to differentiate between certain animals, slap that animal with a fly swatter (compliments of Mrs. Hamby), say the name of the animal, and practice making the animal's sound. They loved it. Rachel also did an awesome activity using sidewalk chalk to draw trails on the porch which led to different beanie baby animals that were hidden under baseball caps. Kind of like a Safari hunt. We are definitely having to pull out our creative sides without having any materials available! Tomorrow, Jaimie plans to have a "musical chairs" activity, using her Ihome and music to have the kids work on animals and their sounds as well. Super cute ideas! We hope to receive the container before we leave for Livingstone this week in order to organize the materials and have them ready for next year's group. So sad we didn't get them here in time! After leaving Haven 2, we headed to Haven 1, where I was the group leader for the day. I was in charge of leading all the songs and activities for the session. It is amazing to see all the changes from week one to week 4. Since I have been doing feeding therapy, I was shocked to join language therapy again and see all the changes the children have made within such a short period of time! :) There is much much more talking, imitating, and interacting in just a few short weeks. so exciting! I was also in charge of leading all the little ones at Haven 3 this morning. They had just finished feeding therapy (with Caroline, Kaylee, Meghann, and Catherine) so they were all really tired and ready for their afternoon nap. I think all my singing put most of them straight to sleep! haha. It was so cute! After lunch we headed back to Havens 1 and 3. I think the kids must have eaten sugar cane for lunch because they were bouncing off the walls! Talk about busy bees!

These three.... Nita, Ross, and Shawn (with poor little Jana crying on the side) were absolutely hysterical! They were all trying to sit in my lap at the same time and fighting over who got the best seat. Of course Nita, aka the trouble maker, ran the show and tried her hardest to push everyone else off my lap! She's something else!
Theres room for everyone Nita! :) haha.
Trying to keep them all in one crib for language therapy! ...aka best idea! :) haha.

We only have 10 more days left on our trip and then we will be home on the 25th! Still cant believe it! Pray that our last week here at the Haven continues to be successful and that we have a safe trip to Livingstone!

Goodnight! - Lacey

7 comments:

  1. I'm so glad your creative juices are flowing! Your ideas sound amazing and can be used here too! Love the fly swatter game and the safari hunt that is so neat! Hope yall have a wonderful next 10 days and a very safe trip home.

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  2. It's great that ya'll can think on your feet and improvise with materials available. I wish I would have sent my binoculars as a carry-on, that would have been fun, but I think the safari hunt and swatter game are inventive ideas!! I hope that the next ten days are wonderful and I will be chatting with ya'll til' Thursday. I will have to catch up when I get back from Florida!! I can't wait to read the end results of the journey!!!

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  3. Sounds like you are all do amazing with the few resources you have. It is so sweet of you all to to set that up for next year. I can hardly believe all the great things you all have accomplished. Keep up the good work. Enjoy the end of your week and have a safe trip back home!

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  4. haha I bet it was a lot easier to have them split up! I can't imagine having to control all of those kids without a tons of things to entertain them! I'm so proud that you girls are using your creative ideas and coming up with such an effective therapy for these kids! Are you getting sad to leave?

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  5. It is so good to see all the different acitivites you all use with the kids and how affective it is. I know the children are learning alot and benefiting from everything you all do. Next year should be even better than before and it is good you are already getting prepared.

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  6. Look at you guys getting creative. The activities sounded great! I know it had to be very challenging not having the resources you needed. I bet the kids loved all the activities though!

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  7. It's too bad that the container never made it to Zambia in time. However, I'm sure they'll use it next year! Cribs can be lifesavers sometimes. How many kiddos were at Haven 3? This is my last week at my practicum as well. See you soon!

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