Growing and Changing

The tiny egg hatches. A caterpillar emerges and begins to engage in its singular purpose---its only objective---to eat and grow. The young insect moves and munches.  It eats so much that it outgrows its skin, and in the span of a few days it sheds its skin four or five times. At last it crawls up, up,up, until it finds a high place to attach itself.  Then hanging upside down, its body stiffens in a shape of a J as it builds a protective covering around itself.  It's in its adolescence now, sometimes still, sometimes viciously quivering, changing, transforming.

We're waiting for that wonderful moment when, with a struggle and a flutter, our insects will wriggle free and spread their wings,

Our kids are learning about life cycles. They're learning that living things grow and change. As interesting as it is to watch the butterfly's metamorphosis, it's even more amazing to see little glimmers of growth and sparks of change in the children.  This week I listened as one child explained place value to another. I was impressed when someone suggested that we could exchange two dimes and a nickel for a quarter. I hear the excitement in the children's voices when they find the punctuation mark at the end of the sentence. (Yes, it doesn't take much to create excitement in a kindergarten class.) 

It's sweet to watch the students grow and change. Sometimes they come back to visit as Middle School Big Buddies and High School Big Friends who patiently help the kindergarten children with their projects.

Our mission is to help students grow, as Jesus did, in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.It's a joy to observe this process and to see my former kindergartners and first graders become role models for the younger children as they display godly character, discipline, and scholarship. (One of my former kindergarten students is now a PBS high school teacher!)

The ultimate transformation comes when they encounter Jesus and allow Him to produce in their lives the fruit of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." II Corinthians 5:17

Here are a few more pictures of our little friends growing in knowledge as they learn about 2D and 3D shapes.

Made in His Image

God obviously likes variety.  He created almost 28,000 known species of fish and 18,500 species of butterflies. There are over 1,000 different kinds of potatoes.  But the crown of His Creation is man and woman.

“So, God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  Genesis 1:27

He took the “dust of the earth” -the atoms and molecules of the earth—and arranged it into DNA. He put DNA inside of cells-trillions of cells- that divided and differentiated into skin cells and bone cells and muscle cells. He fashioned tissues and organs and systems that work together to form the complex organism that he called “man.”

And then He breathed life into that first man and woman and instructed them to reproduce.

 And being the Master Designer that He is, He didn’t rubber stamp billions of people to be exactly alike. No…. he took His artists’ tools and made every one different. The DNA of every human is almost identical. 99% identical. But every person’s DNA has slight variations in the sequence, and those slight variations are what make each of us unique.

For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise Your, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:13-14

We are, indeed, fearfully and wonderfully made---each person is a Masterpiec

EACH OF US is made in His image.  The life that He breathed into us is sacred.  Every human being belongs to God and is precious to Him.

We have a classroom of 15 unique Masterpieces, each one a little different in personality, in appearance, in interests and talents. Each one is made in the image of God. Each one is special, irreplaceable.   

Here are some photos of God’s little masterpieces, hard at work learning, creating, reasoning, relating to one another and to God.  

Our First Field Trip

A Field Trip to the Zoo was the kick-off to our Science Unit on Living/ Non-living Things.

The kids loved sitting with their friends and eating animal crackers on the bumpy bus ride to the zoo.

The presentation in the Zoo's Education Building got mixed reviews. 

Some of the kids (and adults) were a bit hesitant to touch the Hissing Cockroach.

The children greeted the baby alligator with wary looks.  Some were a bit reluctant to pet the little reptile.

                                                      The ferret's fur was soft and smelly.

Afterwards the class set off to complete their assignment.  They were on a scavenger hunt to locate various animals housed in the zoo.

                     The tropical birds squawked noisily, and our friends talked back to them.

The class noticed peacocks roaming around and remembered some facts they had learned earlier in the week.

As we continue our Science Unit, our objective is for our students to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for God's fascinating world.

"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein."  Psalm 24:1