Go Tell it on the Mountain

I'm back Stateside and enjoying all of the luxuries.  Mom's jacuzzi bathtub is like Heaven on Earth.  I hope you all are enjoying Christmas with family and friends.  Here are my little guys wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Spectacular

Neither power outages, nor rain showers could ruin the anual Minerva School Christmas Parade and Show.  This year proved to be bigger and better than ever.  In case you missed it, here's the rundown of what happened...

5:30-  We gather up the Reindeer, Presents, Snowflakes, Elves, Lighbulbs, Snowmen, Santas and children representing Christmas around the world.

     

6:00- Armed with our 3 carriages (floats), we take on the streets of Gracias to spread Christmas cheer.

 

6:15-  Gracias loses power.  This is what a night parade looks like in complete darkness. 

6:16-  We don't let the power outage spoil our fun.  We forge on.

6:30- As we round the corner to the Chinese restaurant, my kids begin to chant "Arroz Chino" (Chinese rice is a favorite dish in town).  I quickly change the chant to "Merry Christmas!"  I just love these little locos.

7: 00- We arrive at the Parque Central.  First Grade opens the show with "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... mis renos.  (Susan on the far left really stole the show!)

There was even a special dance performance by the teachers this year!

Whew!  We really earned our vacation this year.  Next stop...the good 'ol U.S.A.  I'm going home for the holidays!  Wishing you and yours a very Feliz Navidad filled with family and friends.

The Greatest Gift

Minerva School teamed up with our favorite missionaries, the Goodwins, to collect and distribute nearly 90 gifts last weekend.  I learned that most of these children have received less than 3 presents in their lifetime.  We loaded up the truck and took some students up the mountain to distribute the gifts. 

Nurse Beatty runs a food station out of her house.  She was a huge help getting the list of kids together and helping distribute the gifts we had collected.

After the kiddos were fed...

                                   (The dogs wanted to be fed, too)

Each child received a gift to take home...

It was such a wonderful Service Learning opportunity for our students.  They even walked to the pulperia and bought balloons to share with the children.

One of the sweetest moments was watching our students teach the children how to open presents.  It was the first gift this child had been given.  Such a humbling sight.

Sometimes the greatest lessons in life can't be taught in a classroom. 

The 12 Days of Christmas (in Honduras)

Like I have mentioned, Chrisitmas is a big deal here in Honduras.  We've been working on Christmas crafts since the first week of November, and we've managed to transform our little classroom into a Winter Wonderland.  So without further ado, I present to you...

The 12 Days of Christmas in Honduras

On the first day of first grade my students made for me...

1.  A Cinnamon Ornament Christmas Tree

We made the traditional applesauce cinnamon ornaments.  Easy, right?  Well not so much when you live in a country where they don't sell applesauce!  I ended up making the applesauce from scratch and it turned out fantastic.  (Oh, the things we do for kids!)  It was well worth the effort.  The ornaments turned out adorable once they dried (much cuter than the pictures) and our room smelled great!

On the second day of first grade my students made for me...

2.  A Penguin in a Winter Wonderland

A little scrapbook paper, construction paper, glue and voila!  They are precious little penguins.  It is fun to see how much their fine motor skills have improved over the year. I gave them no pattern to trace.  I love how each one turned out so different! (Credit to Pinterest on this one)

On the third day of first grade my students made for me...

3.  A Monogramed Stocking

This one was fun and messy.  I made stencils out of posterboard for each student's initial.  They had fun with the different media (paint, cotton, markers and paper).  They look so cute hanging over our windows!

On the fourth day of first grade my students made for me...

4.  Four Messy Hands

My kids absolutely LOVED Snow Spelling.  I decided the tables needed a good clean, so we had a messy, fun time practicing our spelling words in shaving cream.  This is the closest my kids will ever get to snow in Honduras.  I couldn't resist letting them just play in the "snow" for the last 10 minutes.  Can't you just see the joy in their faces in this video?

On the fifth day of first grade my students made for me...

5.  A Santa Advent Calendar

"Santa's beard is very bare On his chin there is no hair! So each day add a puff of white When they're all on, he'll come that night!"  My kiddos love gluing the cotton on each morning.  Fun additon to our December calendar time.

On the sixth day of first grade my students made for me...

6.  A Smiling Snowman

Another shoutout to Pinterest for this idea.  The kids loved making hombres de nieve.  I think the white glitter adds a nice touch.  Let it snow!

On the seventh day of first grade my students made for me...

7.  Gingerbread Man Literacy Centers

Ok, so technically my students didn't make the centers, but they sure did enjoy them!  They had fun reading the Gingerbread Man and playing the games (rhyming words, build-a-word, sequencing and much more!) 

On the eighth day of first grade my students made for me...

8.  A Rudolph Handprint/Footprint T-Shirt

Once again, my students are going to be reindeer in the Christmas parade.  We've slowly been working on the shirts they're going to wear.  Technically, this picture is from last year, but I've been a bad, busy teacher and haven't gotten pictures yet.  The result is the same though.  I found a cute Pottery Barn type antler that I'm going to attempt this year.  My kids are singing Michael Bolton's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."  December 16 is the big day!  Pictures to come.

On the 9th day of first grade my students made for me...

9.  Hot Chocolate and Polar Express Movie

Again, my students technically didn't make these, but I needed something for them to do while we worked on the t-shirts.  After my failed attempt at making hot chocolate from scratch last Christmas (as in my kids HATED it and didn't even drink it), Mom sent us Sam's sized Swiss Miss and mini marshmallows.  Second time's the charm!

On the 10th day of first grade my students made for me...

10.  A Letter to Santa Claus

I love reading what my kids want for Christmas.  Cars 3-D, dolls, a motorcycle, a  backpack, a swimming pool, just to name a few.  Priceless.

On the eleventh day of first grade my students made for me...

11.  The Best Gift of All

A little writing and character lesson all rolled into one!  We talked about how some of the best things in life are things we don't have to buy.  Under the flap, students wrote the best gift of all.

Some students got the message...

Others still prefer their toys (although she at least drew her family)...

On the twelfth day of first grade my students made for me...

12.  A Christmas CD

We LOVE to sing!  I've been getting good use out of the Christmas CD.  Between practicing for our Christmas Show Extravaganza and just singing for fun, we've learned a lot of Christmas songs.  I know I've posted this video before, but it still makes me smile.  I need to get some new footage.  Stay tuned.

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this ridiculously long post.  I just wanted to spread some of the Chrismas cheer we've been up to.  Things are about to get busy as we prepare for 2nd partial exams next week.  Then comes float building, the parade and we're out!  Only 10 more school days left in this year. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and hope you're enjoying this holiday season with your family and loved ones.