Kibuye Hope Academy Year 1

by Heather

The last school bell has rung for the first official school year of Kibuye Hope Academy.  Actually, we didn't have a school bell.  We had five school-aged kids, a couple of moms-turned-elementary-teachers, many books, and a lot of fun doing school in our two-room schoolhouse.

Kibuye Hope Academy School Building 2014

The school year began in our temporary home in Banga, where we emphasized hands-on science.  Upon moving to Kibuye, we expanded our curriculum and began meeting in this school room:.

The big kids (grades 1 and 3) had their own classroom for exploring history and science from Ancient Egypt to outer space. Meanwhile the younger kids gathered for preschool here:

And now the kids (and moms) are mostly ready to advance to the next grade.  Except that the older kids are continuing their math and English classes with their mothers through the summer, due to the December arrival of most of the school books.  We also continue French class throughout the summer, and every day we all have informal Kirundi study everywhere we go.

Life here includes constant social studies lessons for these kids, as they are now advanced students in Survey of World Cultures. Our 9-year-old did kindergarten in Kenya, first grade in the USA, second grade in France, and third grade in Burundi.  That has definite perks, and at the same time, we're looking forward to staying in the same location for the next school year.  Happy summer to all.