There were some BIG changes this September. We built another section of the home school for the 7-10 year olds called the Lodge. It's really quite an idyllic space to learn, play and explore. Take a look:
Since these beginning days we have added more books to our library, the walls are covered in art and projects the children have done and they have a very plush comfortable day bed for when we read or they need some time to relax and lie down.
Our homemade letter wall - one side lower case, turn it over - upper case!
When the children are having a go at writing a story or a letter they can first have a look in the envelopes to see if the word they are looking for is in there.
The children made a postbox with their French teacher so they can send letters to one another. We open it every Friday and share the mail. This really encourages them to get writing.
Lots of board games, puzzles, card games and more to get busy with
The discovery table - the drawers are filled with different objects like petals, leaves, shells, different types of paper, beads, feathers, stamps.... and it changes every week. It's a place to observe, explore, experiment and create.
Our outside area has a place for dressing up, complete with full length mirror, open shelving with different materials to get busy with, tables for playing games, dolls house and magazine area.
The children are expected to wash up, clean up, sweep and take scraps to the chickens.
They cook part of their menu everyday and have a fully functional outdoor-kitchen to do it in with cooker and hob, fridge, sink and all the equipment you would find in your kitchen at home.
We have a large table outside in the kitchen where we do food prep, eat our meals together and do art and science projects. All outside under the shade of a canopy.
This year we have begun following the English National Curriculum 2 days per week with the Worldwide Education Service based in the UK. It was a big change for all of us but the children have adapted well and risen to the new challenges. It's been wonderful to witness the advancements they are making in reading, writing and mathematics.
All the objects around the school are labelled in English, French and Arabic.
Arabic Letter Wall - turn over to see how they change
Learning to read and write Arabic using cards and olives!
Dome climbing frame
Balancing beams and super size trampoline
Puzzle making on the wrap around veranda
One of the lunches the children made - they chop and peel all the vegetables and take the scraps to the chickens
Batbout - Moroccan bread made by the kids
Three flavour plaited bread that we made during our bread making workshop
Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
We continue to have excursion days once a week, which really benefit the children in so many ways:
Trip to the impressive water museum of Marrakech
Adventure Clean Up Walks
Fun at Anima Gardens
Geocaching around Marrakech - a big treasure hunt around the city we traveled by foot, taxi and horse drawn carriage
Wonderful pottery workshop at Arterre with the talented Zineb Triki
Visiting the Palmeraie Museum
Our annual outing to the accropark in the forest, Terre d'Amanar - the children love the adventure, the responsibility and building their skills
We visited the amazing Jarjeer Mule & Donkey Refuge - the children made friends with all the animals, brushed them, fed them and learned all about their needs and their personalities
Hayati still carries on in the tent with a new group of little ones and that will be the subject of my next post. Until then I hope you enjoy our photos and I wish you a joyous 2019!
