Just before I left for my vacation in May I realised that Estefani was not catching on to reading. I though that during the month I was away this might happen but when I got back June 1st she was more confused than before. So, I started an immediate attempt to help her. Basically she had not caught on that the letters were the clue to what the word was and not the expression on my face. She said a word and looked at me expectantly - the word was almost always not what was written. I tried with letters on little pieces of heavy paper - but the confusin continued. Spanish is almost 99 percent phonetic and the kids start by learning the 5 vowel sounds (there are only 5 - one sound for each vowel - a bit different than English. After they learn them consonants are added one at a time. She knew the sound for the consonants well but when it came to the consonants, even when we were concentrating only on M, P and L she was confused. My first plan with the letters on heavy paper was a bust - but I tried another approach - first teaching her that at this point each consonant need a vowel next to it and then lots of practice. Today she was able to read correctly 10 or 12 words (all nouns) using the letters M-P-L-S- and N abd then write them. We have a little pile of cards with a picture on one side and the word on the other. Today Maria Isabel (also in 1st grade) joined us and she did well too. The words are mamá, papá, luna (moon), puma (the animal puma) mapa (map) etc. This is a real break through for her. She is one of the girls who has been/is being tested and as I though she is very weak in verbal skills. On the other had she loves numbers and is doing beginning addition and subtraction.
All the girls are going somewhere for Father's day so the home will have no one but myself and the dogs for 48 hours. A number of the girls don't have dads as part of their lives but will enjoy a visit with relatives, with one exception - and she has a nice place to go visit.
More later, Tia Sue
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Friday is our BIG ironing night
On Wednesdays and Fridays the girls have to iron their school uniforms and the dresses that they will wear to church on Sunday. All but 4 of the girls can iron their own things - that includes Johana and Kenia who are 9 and in 4th grade. Every wednesday they iron two white blouses of their school uniform BUT on Friday they have to iron 3 blouses and two skirts as well as their Sunday clothes and for the acolytes their robes. Since each girl has 5 school items and we have 24 girls at the least we iron 120 things. 4 of the older girls iron the clothes of the 4 youngest.
I have been working hard with Estefani (age 9 in 1st grade) with beginning reading and I think we are making some progress. She doesn't have a big frown on her face and I have finally found a way for her to practice where she can have success a lot of the time. I don´t like having the kids fail over and over nor practice things doing them in the wrong way.
This morning I spent a good bit of my time helping Genesis with division and then study for a quiz in Social Science - rivers in Panama and people and the use of natural resources. We made flow charts of what she was studying.
The teacher of one of our third graders suggested that she read outloud so we have done that the last two days. I think it will improve her reading. I also reveiwed the quiz book (the notebook in which they take all their quizes of one of out fourth graders and it is clear that she needs more help in learning how to study and studying - especially in Natural Science, Social Science and Spanish. They are all connected!
Next week I am going to Leon A. Soto Jr. HIgh (as they call it in English Class) to hear about our 6 girls there in 7th, 8th amd 9th grades. I have heard that one of our 8th graders is skipping classes and also not handing in her homework - so we shall see. Please pray for her (Raquel) as she presents us with a lot of challenges here as well.
Hope to write a bit more on the weekend.
Tia Sue
I have been working hard with Estefani (age 9 in 1st grade) with beginning reading and I think we are making some progress. She doesn't have a big frown on her face and I have finally found a way for her to practice where she can have success a lot of the time. I don´t like having the kids fail over and over nor practice things doing them in the wrong way.
This morning I spent a good bit of my time helping Genesis with division and then study for a quiz in Social Science - rivers in Panama and people and the use of natural resources. We made flow charts of what she was studying.
The teacher of one of our third graders suggested that she read outloud so we have done that the last two days. I think it will improve her reading. I also reveiwed the quiz book (the notebook in which they take all their quizes of one of out fourth graders and it is clear that she needs more help in learning how to study and studying - especially in Natural Science, Social Science and Spanish. They are all connected!
Next week I am going to Leon A. Soto Jr. HIgh (as they call it in English Class) to hear about our 6 girls there in 7th, 8th amd 9th grades. I have heard that one of our 8th graders is skipping classes and also not handing in her homework - so we shall see. Please pray for her (Raquel) as she presents us with a lot of challenges here as well.
Hope to write a bit more on the weekend.
Tia Sue
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Just three days later and look all we are doing.
It is Wednesday and the last thee days have been busy. We have one adolescent and a group of three primary students who are receiving grief counseling. There is a Foundation here that provides it and they are very good. The cost is very reasonable and those of you who have made danations to my work are helping to support this. We have a number of girls who have had either their mother or father die. Part of my work here is arranging this and taking the girls to the appointments. This week we had an appointment on Monday and another today - for the group.
Since on Monday the Oragization of American States met here in Panama there was no school for any of our girls. Since we usually don't have a child care worker during the afternoon school time (12 to 5+) it fell to the secretary, myself and Eva who washes and takes care of clothes. We ate lunch a little later. Then we had a siesta - on the bed and quiet. I was in the room with the youngest and next to the room of the next oldest and after a few admonishments things worked out. After that Beni (our secretary) made bracelets with the older girls and I did a play time and arts and crafts with the youngest. For snack time we had the birthday cake for the girls with birthdays in May.
Tuesday was a 'normal' school day. We did homework and reinforcement in the morning and all the girls left for school at noon as usual. Two came back because theirteachers weren't there and we worked hard to math and reading on the third and first grade level. Estefany (in 1st grade - but 9) is very good in math and we played a new game which involved adding and chance. It was possible to get a good score and then lose it all because it was temping to toss the dice again and a losing combination came up.
Today I worked with Graciela - our most recent additon studying science. She is in 5th grade. They are learning about diseases of the excretory system and hygiene of the same. Then off to the therapist with the little group. Also we started having several of the girls tested by a psychologist - these are girls who seem to have more difficulties in learning than some of the others. Two more will be tested on Friday. The psychologist comes here to do the tests.
Our director is in a week long seminar about raising resources for our kind of program. We had lunch together and she says the seminar is very good.
Then I went to one of the primary schools to pick up the first report cards of the year. We have 10 girls in this school, Arebe de Egypto, and the 8 who are above kinder received cards. All did did quite well. All with have an average of 79 or 80 and up to the high 90s. Johana and Kenia have 4th and 5the places in their classrooms.
More later.
Tia Sue
Since on Monday the Oragization of American States met here in Panama there was no school for any of our girls. Since we usually don't have a child care worker during the afternoon school time (12 to 5+) it fell to the secretary, myself and Eva who washes and takes care of clothes. We ate lunch a little later. Then we had a siesta - on the bed and quiet. I was in the room with the youngest and next to the room of the next oldest and after a few admonishments things worked out. After that Beni (our secretary) made bracelets with the older girls and I did a play time and arts and crafts with the youngest. For snack time we had the birthday cake for the girls with birthdays in May.
Tuesday was a 'normal' school day. We did homework and reinforcement in the morning and all the girls left for school at noon as usual. Two came back because theirteachers weren't there and we worked hard to math and reading on the third and first grade level. Estefany (in 1st grade - but 9) is very good in math and we played a new game which involved adding and chance. It was possible to get a good score and then lose it all because it was temping to toss the dice again and a losing combination came up.
Today I worked with Graciela - our most recent additon studying science. She is in 5th grade. They are learning about diseases of the excretory system and hygiene of the same. Then off to the therapist with the little group. Also we started having several of the girls tested by a psychologist - these are girls who seem to have more difficulties in learning than some of the others. Two more will be tested on Friday. The psychologist comes here to do the tests.
Our director is in a week long seminar about raising resources for our kind of program. We had lunch together and she says the seminar is very good.
Then I went to one of the primary schools to pick up the first report cards of the year. We have 10 girls in this school, Arebe de Egypto, and the 8 who are above kinder received cards. All did did quite well. All with have an average of 79 or 80 and up to the high 90s. Johana and Kenia have 4th and 5the places in their classrooms.
More later.
Tia Sue
Sunday, June 3, 2007
I am back in Panama
After a very long time not writing and the entire month of May in Philadelphia (2 days in NYC) I am rested and back in Panama as of Thursday evening.
We are now 24 with the addition of Graciela, age 14 or 15 (I'm not sure) who has spent the last three years living at Children's Hospital here on peritaneal dialysis. Now she is living with us and has already spent a week in school. She is in 5th grade and although there was a teacher a the Hospital she is in the same grade she was in when she entered the hospital. I have already started to work with her on academics as she has a number of holes to fill - the multiplication tables (why can't we be born knowing them?) and other stuff in math - but she is eager to learn. While she was at the hospital the clothes she wore daily were hospital pajamas so it must seem very different to get up and dressed in regular clothing each day. She was presented a a new person at church today and psrticipated very well with a nice smile.
I went to St. Paul's, which is the church I attend, and was a usher. It was good to be back. Our Bishop was there and that is always nice. After that I went over to the Cathedral where the girls attend. It is the first Sunday in June so the service was bi-lingual and at 10 for everyone. The girls go to the 8 AM service usually. The girls all looked lovely and our two youngest Evelia and Carla - both 5 had on really precious dresses.
While in Philly I bought a digital camera (Canon) and the next step is to get pictures into this blog.
Tomorrow I resume taking girls for grief counseling. We have a number who have lost a parent. Right now a teenager is getting individual sessions and there is a small group of 8 and 9 year olds who have group therapy. It is my job to take them to the appointments.
Love, Tia Sue
We are now 24 with the addition of Graciela, age 14 or 15 (I'm not sure) who has spent the last three years living at Children's Hospital here on peritaneal dialysis. Now she is living with us and has already spent a week in school. She is in 5th grade and although there was a teacher a the Hospital she is in the same grade she was in when she entered the hospital. I have already started to work with her on academics as she has a number of holes to fill - the multiplication tables (why can't we be born knowing them?) and other stuff in math - but she is eager to learn. While she was at the hospital the clothes she wore daily were hospital pajamas so it must seem very different to get up and dressed in regular clothing each day. She was presented a a new person at church today and psrticipated very well with a nice smile.
I went to St. Paul's, which is the church I attend, and was a usher. It was good to be back. Our Bishop was there and that is always nice. After that I went over to the Cathedral where the girls attend. It is the first Sunday in June so the service was bi-lingual and at 10 for everyone. The girls go to the 8 AM service usually. The girls all looked lovely and our two youngest Evelia and Carla - both 5 had on really precious dresses.
While in Philly I bought a digital camera (Canon) and the next step is to get pictures into this blog.
Tomorrow I resume taking girls for grief counseling. We have a number who have lost a parent. Right now a teenager is getting individual sessions and there is a small group of 8 and 9 year olds who have group therapy. It is my job to take them to the appointments.
Love, Tia Sue
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Update
Wow, when I signed in to write my blog was in German! Not what I have written but everything else. Here we are at the first Sunday after Easter. And here is a little update.
It is the rainy season - has been since the beginning of April , although today we have not had rain yet. Leaves are coming out, the piper is flowering, in the patio of the home we are seeing green grass coming up. The patio got an especially hard workout this summer and was very brown and dry - so we shall see how it comes back. We had a lot of adolescents doing their social work at the home and so a lot of extra soccer games as well as volleyball. They played along with our kids. Now I can see green grass poking its way up and I wonder if we will have the lush patio we have had in the past.
We now have 24 girls officially on the role. One didn't return from Easter Weekend as yet (and may not I think - she is 14 and her mother placed her at the home so she could go to school and be in a safer place - but that is a hard transition for someone who has had fairly unsurpervised access to stores and all the alure of city life - even as unsafe as the area she was living in was. I hope she has returned to the Darien with her mother if she isn't coming back to us. While she was with us she got some badly needed dental work done.) and two were admitted on Thursday. There is one more girl in the paperwork stage. We have 32 beds - but we use one for an adult to sleep with the youngest kids (we have two 5 year olds) and we probably won't go over 30. If we get to 30 that will be the most since I have had contact with the home - which is now 19 years!
School is in full swing. This year MEDUCA (the ministry of education) is comitted to have improved education. So far there have been very few days when even one girl has not had school because of teacher absence. There isn't now and has not been a substitute system here.
Our two new girls are sisters ages 12 and 13 and as with every girl we have admitted this year (2007) that is 9 they are very out of synch with their education. Both are just starting 4th grade and both are well below grade level in arithmatic and one has a lot of problems reading. She says her teacher in her previous school says that she needs glasses - so we will be checking that out. These two girls also are very thin - but some time with us will improve that as we serve nutricious food and often have snacks. Everyone gets a glass of milk a day (this may seem little to some of you). The milk program is a gift from one of the friends of the home. We buy long-life milk at 70 cents a quart. Fresh milk would be a little less but it goes off easily here so this is better. A serving for each takes 5 quarts! a day. We also use some of it on cereal and in the breakfast drink. Ideal (evaporated milk) also goes into the morning drink.
Our morning study time (from 8AM to 10:30) is very full for the staff. Often one of us is working with 2 to 4 girls at once - and they can be in 4 different grades. I do a lot of remedial work in arithmatic, work on the girls mastering the times tables and improving their addition and subtraction skills and multiplication and division. There are four (ages 10 to 14) who have not mastered even very basic division so we spend time placing pennies and other things in groups and going on from their. If, in addition to this they are just memoring their multiplications tables I teach them the 2s, 5s, 3s and then start using those to practic doing multiplication on the grade level. In 4th grade they are learning to do such as 235 x 21.
I also have learned most of 7th grade math and some of the algebra that is used in 8 and 9th grade.
Our three first graders (ages 7, 9 and 10) are doing fairly well. Our 9 year old had been to kindergarten 4 years ago and then not back in school, but she has an older sister who had finished 2nd grade and so she is doing well in 1st. The two girls, ages 7 and 10, who are the first females in their family to go to school, are going ok - especially since when they came to us in mid January they only preschool skill they had was coloring.
I'll be in Philadelphia for the month of May.
Tia Sue
It is the rainy season - has been since the beginning of April , although today we have not had rain yet. Leaves are coming out, the piper is flowering, in the patio of the home we are seeing green grass coming up. The patio got an especially hard workout this summer and was very brown and dry - so we shall see how it comes back. We had a lot of adolescents doing their social work at the home and so a lot of extra soccer games as well as volleyball. They played along with our kids. Now I can see green grass poking its way up and I wonder if we will have the lush patio we have had in the past.
We now have 24 girls officially on the role. One didn't return from Easter Weekend as yet (and may not I think - she is 14 and her mother placed her at the home so she could go to school and be in a safer place - but that is a hard transition for someone who has had fairly unsurpervised access to stores and all the alure of city life - even as unsafe as the area she was living in was. I hope she has returned to the Darien with her mother if she isn't coming back to us. While she was with us she got some badly needed dental work done.) and two were admitted on Thursday. There is one more girl in the paperwork stage. We have 32 beds - but we use one for an adult to sleep with the youngest kids (we have two 5 year olds) and we probably won't go over 30. If we get to 30 that will be the most since I have had contact with the home - which is now 19 years!
School is in full swing. This year MEDUCA (the ministry of education) is comitted to have improved education. So far there have been very few days when even one girl has not had school because of teacher absence. There isn't now and has not been a substitute system here.
Our two new girls are sisters ages 12 and 13 and as with every girl we have admitted this year (2007) that is 9 they are very out of synch with their education. Both are just starting 4th grade and both are well below grade level in arithmatic and one has a lot of problems reading. She says her teacher in her previous school says that she needs glasses - so we will be checking that out. These two girls also are very thin - but some time with us will improve that as we serve nutricious food and often have snacks. Everyone gets a glass of milk a day (this may seem little to some of you). The milk program is a gift from one of the friends of the home. We buy long-life milk at 70 cents a quart. Fresh milk would be a little less but it goes off easily here so this is better. A serving for each takes 5 quarts! a day. We also use some of it on cereal and in the breakfast drink. Ideal (evaporated milk) also goes into the morning drink.
Our morning study time (from 8AM to 10:30) is very full for the staff. Often one of us is working with 2 to 4 girls at once - and they can be in 4 different grades. I do a lot of remedial work in arithmatic, work on the girls mastering the times tables and improving their addition and subtraction skills and multiplication and division. There are four (ages 10 to 14) who have not mastered even very basic division so we spend time placing pennies and other things in groups and going on from their. If, in addition to this they are just memoring their multiplications tables I teach them the 2s, 5s, 3s and then start using those to practic doing multiplication on the grade level. In 4th grade they are learning to do such as 235 x 21.
I also have learned most of 7th grade math and some of the algebra that is used in 8 and 9th grade.
Our three first graders (ages 7, 9 and 10) are doing fairly well. Our 9 year old had been to kindergarten 4 years ago and then not back in school, but she has an older sister who had finished 2nd grade and so she is doing well in 1st. The two girls, ages 7 and 10, who are the first females in their family to go to school, are going ok - especially since when they came to us in mid January they only preschool skill they had was coloring.
I'll be in Philadelphia for the month of May.
Tia Sue
Friday, April 13, 2007
A brief up date.
I have a lot to write about and hope to do so this weekend. Here is a brief update! We have two new girls who came in yesterday. They were sent to us by a judge because of serious family problems. The are 12 and 13 and are in 4th grade. It looks as if the older has some learning problems / she reverses letters and leave out vowels. Her sister, younger, seems not to have any learning problems but both of them are behind in math for entering 4th grade / they don-t know division at all. So, there will be a lot of nivilacion / which means leveling. We have about 8 highschool kids doing their social service on Saturday morning so they will help.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Palm Sunday
Today is palm Sunday. We have a new interim priest at St. Paul's - and it is clear it is a new day. First we had a procession with palms aound the block that the church sits on - I have been there 10 years and this is the first for that. The block has the countrie's best public High School on one side but the rest of it is inner city. Many people participated including Daisy Letts who is 89 or 92 or so. That was not the only change. This is the first Sunday of the month and that means ENGLISH. But we had a bilingual service. The verses of the hymns alternated Spanish English, we did the Lord's prayer together in both languages and many other things that that would be in English were partially in Spanish. A woman priest who is not serving as an active priest now but who served at St. Paul's in the past was invited by our new Interim, Glenda, to come up as co (or con) celebrate with her at the alter. Diana did not have vestments and celebrated in regular clothes. Our Sr. Warden explained at the end of the service that it was not out of order for Diana to celebrate in regual clothes I think it is a good new start for St. Pauls. We have Glenda for 2 years by which time we are to call a rector. Although she is serving at St. Pauls, she is also the church development director for the entire diocese of Panama!
I am doing my weekend care of the 3 dogs and 4 cats at my friend Lizzy's house. She is in the states until the end of April. Olivia, who is about 7 moths old was by report mated with a number of times during the week, including by her father - who is a Huskey! Olivia has a skin infection inside her outer ear and also around the base of the ear. I bought some antibiotic cream for it and she was very cooperative while I washed it with agua oxiginada (which is something I can't remember ) and put on the cream. It has something in it to cut down on itching as I think she is scratching.
I think Olivia is pregnant because her nipples are more prominent. I can't tell with Natasha.
The young woman on Dialysis from Children's hospital has spent the weekend with us. On Saturday around noon when I left all of the tutors (from a couple of different high school doing their required 80 hours of social service) and all our girls were in a circle around our two kindergarten kids who were dancing. That must have been very different than life in the hospital for the last 3 years. Her mother at first was not going to be bothered to sign her out of the hospital to come live with us. Then we got a call that she was coming down to Panama City and Elba (the director) and I went to the Hospital to tak to her on Friday. She did agree to sign and also Elba asked her not to disapear from her daughters life. We took her out to the home with her daughter (who stayed for the weekend) We are going to try to get some help from church people in Bocas so that the young woman could go home a visit for a weekend. ( she can skip dialysis occasionally. She is on peritoneal dialysis and it is done at night while she sleeps - this will take place at the home.) Her home is in Finca 4 which Joellen (a nurse missionary who directs the medical mission program of the Episcopal Church here) says is near Changuinola. It turns out that the family are Ngobe! (One of the 7 different tribes of indiginas here. We have girls at the home from three of the tribes Our newest resident will move in right after Easter. That is because everyone at the home will visit someone for Maundy Thursday through the late afteroon of Easter day. I will be here in Gamboa with the animals from Thursday night.
Last week I went to classroom visit at the other primary school, Escuela Republica de India. We have four girls there and we got some hints one how to work with the 1st graders who are learning the vowels and are about to start to learn to put consonants with them.
Tia Sue
I am doing my weekend care of the 3 dogs and 4 cats at my friend Lizzy's house. She is in the states until the end of April. Olivia, who is about 7 moths old was by report mated with a number of times during the week, including by her father - who is a Huskey! Olivia has a skin infection inside her outer ear and also around the base of the ear. I bought some antibiotic cream for it and she was very cooperative while I washed it with agua oxiginada (which is something I can't remember ) and put on the cream. It has something in it to cut down on itching as I think she is scratching.
I think Olivia is pregnant because her nipples are more prominent. I can't tell with Natasha.
The young woman on Dialysis from Children's hospital has spent the weekend with us. On Saturday around noon when I left all of the tutors (from a couple of different high school doing their required 80 hours of social service) and all our girls were in a circle around our two kindergarten kids who were dancing. That must have been very different than life in the hospital for the last 3 years. Her mother at first was not going to be bothered to sign her out of the hospital to come live with us. Then we got a call that she was coming down to Panama City and Elba (the director) and I went to the Hospital to tak to her on Friday. She did agree to sign and also Elba asked her not to disapear from her daughters life. We took her out to the home with her daughter (who stayed for the weekend) We are going to try to get some help from church people in Bocas so that the young woman could go home a visit for a weekend. ( she can skip dialysis occasionally. She is on peritoneal dialysis and it is done at night while she sleeps - this will take place at the home.) Her home is in Finca 4 which Joellen (a nurse missionary who directs the medical mission program of the Episcopal Church here) says is near Changuinola. It turns out that the family are Ngobe! (One of the 7 different tribes of indiginas here. We have girls at the home from three of the tribes Our newest resident will move in right after Easter. That is because everyone at the home will visit someone for Maundy Thursday through the late afteroon of Easter day. I will be here in Gamboa with the animals from Thursday night.
Last week I went to classroom visit at the other primary school, Escuela Republica de India. We have four girls there and we got some hints one how to work with the 1st graders who are learning the vowels and are about to start to learn to put consonants with them.
Tia Sue
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