And We're Open!!!

The Tutoring Center is officially open for business, and we have had a great first two weeks! We had a wonderful group of ladies from Guatemala, Austria, and the States who helped us out during our grand opening. It was such a blessing to have experienced teacher and Spanish speakers helping me work through all the kinks of being in a new space with new students. They were so patience, flexible, and willing to do whatever needed to be done in the moment. Thank you ladies!

(L to R) Me, Marie, Claudia, Rebekah,
Suzi, Rachel, and Nivia


Nivia playing Oraciones Divertidas with Carlos. Everyone needed a review of parts of speech in order to play this game :)



Claudia with one of our new families


In the second week of operation, Blake joined me as a full-time assistant. He does great with the kids. A lot of the kids who are new to me, already know Blake from his time doing sports in the neighborhood with Diego. He provides a great bridge in helping me build relationships with these kids. I'm also really thankful to see that almost all of our faithful students have followed us over from the old location, even the ones who have a longer walk. Our 4th grade and up session is at capacity everyday, and art time is been overflowing both weeks!

Kids waiting to get in for the afternoon session. Everyone has their homework!


Making new friends. Catalina and Daniela



It's so exciting to see everything coming together! The kids all seem really content in the new space and the neighborhood is very happy to have us there. We're off to a good start!

The New Tutoring Center!!!!!

After countless hours and labors of love the New Tutoring Center is ready to open its door to students. Tomorrow is our first orientational meeting. On Tuesday the Center will be open with its full schedule of activities including tutoring, library, art, cooking, and Girls' group. We're excited! The community is excited! Everyday kids and parents pass by, anxious to know when classes start. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we start out on this new step of the journey. The neighborhood we're working in is a tough one. But I was reminded yesterday as I hung out with the kids in the park, it's a functioning community. There are a lot of rough edges, but in their own way, they're making things work and supporting each other to the best of their abilities. I know I am often blinded to hope by the seemingly dire circumstances of my kids. Yesterday was a reminder that my kids don't need me to save them from their circumstances, they just need some more tools to use. I trust that the Tutoring Center can do just that for the community. But more importantly, I hope that it can be a place that reminds us all of how much we are loved and valued by our Creator; that each student, parent, volunteer, and teacher who comes through the gate will become a bit more of the person God created them to be.

Blake made this lovely video tour so you could have a visual of the new Center. A HUGE thanks to everyone who helped make this dream possible!!!!

California Christmas

Hey Everyone! Sorry it's been awhile, but I figure all of you have been equally busy with the holidays and beginnings of a new year. :)

I'm back in Costa Rica after spending some much need time resting and being with family in the U.S. The month of December was a crazy whirlwind of end of the year activities, packing up the Tutoring Center, and saying goodbye to how things have been for the last year and a half. I arrived in California, tired but thankful to be with family, an endless supply of hot water, and fresh blueberries. It was so refreshing to enjoy time with family and some close friends. I didn't spend as much time traveling around, though I would have loved to haven seen so many of you. During this trip I felt it was crucial to take some time to rest, so I could return to Costa Rica recharged for all the new things 2011 holds for us here. I am glad to say that doing less, seemed to be just the right thing for me. I am excited to be back in Costa Rica and feel ready to dive into all this year holds. The new Tutoring Center looks amazing!!!!! There's over 500 books waiting to be shelved in the new library, and a whole bunch of kids anxious to be a part of all the new Center has to offer. I would love to be able to share it all with you firsthand, so come visit!

Here are a few pictures from my time in the States. I wish I had more to share, but I did a terrible job of documenting. It's something I need to work on this year.

We're Moving!

As you’ve seen, we’ve experienced tremendous growth in the Tutoring Center over this last year. Most days we have more kids coming than we have time or space for. While we don’t have any more helpers, yet, we do have a new facility for the coming school year. A good size house is available to rent in a nearby neighborhood where many of our kids live. In this new space we will be able to have more students as well as offer a greater variety of services. For me, this is the beginning of a dream come true. Since we opened the Tutoring Center in 2009, I always hoped it would grow into a little community center where we could do cooking and gardening with the kids; offer parenting and adult literacy classes, and hold a lending library with all the books we rescued from the California school system. We now have the space to do it, we just need the helpers and the funds to get started.


If you are interested in knowing more about this new stage and how you can be involved, click here. Or send me an email krystaleanne9@gmail.com


We are extremely thankful to Ricardo and Giannina and everyone at La Iglesia Reformada, for so generously sharing their space with us over the last year and a half. They truly have been a huge blessing and wonderful friends. It will be sad not being right next door to them, but I know our relationship with them will continue to grow.

Helpers

Over the last few months, it seems the kids have had more days where school was canceled than days they actually attended. As result, they want to spend the whole day at the Tutoring Center. Unfortunately there is not enough for them to do, (they have no homework since there is no school) and there is definitely not enough room for all the kids to be there at the same time. I feel really bad about having to tell the kids, "No, you can't come study right now", especially when I know they have nothing else to do. But there is no way two teachers can help more than 15 kids at the same time when they all are working on different things, even if we did have space for them.

One day, after a week of no classes, one of my 5th graders had an idea. "What if I come back in the afternoon, and I can help you tutor the little kids?" Great idea! That afternoon she came back with a group of five other 5th and 6th graders who proved to be amazing teacher's assistants. At one point Leah and I had nothing to do, because everyone was working so well and independently with their student teachers. While I wish the kids would have school everyday, this new systems seems to be working out well. The older kids are learning responsibility, patience, and creative thinking. The younger kids receive more personalized attention. Everyone wins!

Alicia and Christian working on Math problems


Fabian and Yurly learning about the difference between domestic and wild animals


Catalina teaching Ana how to estimate measurements


Karla and Brayan working on color and letter recognition

Spontaneous Visit

As I've said before, there's no substitute for being able to share life here, first-hand with friends and family. A few weeks ago, Leah and I had the immense joy of showing our dear friend Sarah around our world here in Costa RIca. She bravely took a few days off of work, traveled over night, and was ready to jump right in. She went to Girls' Group with us, taught 5th grade math with her emerging Spanish skills, rode the busy buses, experienced all our favorite places downtown, got to know most of our family community, and even had time to relax at the beach for a few days! Thank you Sarah, for coming and walking though daily life with us.


Sarah, Leah, and I



Sarah and I outside of our favorite coffee shop



We spent a lot of time just hanging out and talking. It was sooo good!

Catalina

Today I had a great afternoon working with Catalina. She first started coming to the Center over a year ago. In the beginning, whenever she faced a difficult problem or question, she would just give up or take on a horrible attitude. It was so difficult working with her, but bit-by-bit we built up her confidence. Today in class she was introduced to the concept of least common multiples. She didn't understand the teacher's explanation, but wrote down everything on the board. The test on this concept isn't for two more weeks, but she wanted to start figuring it out today. (Already this marks a huge improvement.) We sat there together for over an hour and half, working on her math homework. Me, trying to re-learn the concept from an old Spanish math textbook we have in the center and then trying to explain it using the new vocabulary I just learned in a way a twelve year old can understand. Catalina, faithfully applying her multiplication tables she has finally mastered to figure out multiples of 28, 76, 114. Once Catalina finished all of her homework, which also included identifying prime numbers and determining the divisibility of other numbers, she asked if I could give her more numbers to practice finding the least common multiple. She wanted to make sure she really understood how to do it on her own. A few minutes later, I saw Catalina using her extra practice sheet to teach one of the other 5th graders how to find the least common multiple. I was so proud of her. She has grown so much in this last year.

Even though this may seem like such a small thing, a child doing her homework, for me it marks a change that has taken place in Catalina's character. She no longer is afraid to attempt things she doesn't understand right away. She has developed the confidence and perseverance to figure it out. Furthermore, rather than being smug in now having something she can do but another cannot, she shares her knowledge and patiently walks them through the steps she has just learned. This is the change I long to see in each of our kids. While learning the math concept itself is great, the character development is infinitely more valuable. This is why we do what we do.

Catalina playing "What is my occupation?" at Girls' Group.