Ever since my son joined CAC, I have volunteered at the class. It gives me a way to participate in my son's life at school and see first hand how he operates at school. Also, if I am honest, I am trying to make up for the last 5 years of his life where as a working mom, I had long working hours and could not spend as much time with him as we both would have liked.
Anyways, this year, have volunteered to help out with the kids' Writers Workshop. CAC has a very cute concept where every day they have half hour / hour where they are allowed to let their creative juices run, and, write and finally publish stories. The stories can be about anything, and, they need to illustrate and detail them. As a volunteer parent, you are expeced to hear them out, help with ideas and suggestions if they are stuck and generally operate as a sounding board.
I must admit, this has to be the best volunteer stuff that I have done. Its a joy to sit with young minds, completeley unfettered by preconcieved ideas and notions and willing to let their imagination run wild, and, to hear their views and opinions!
Someone is writing a story about a bubble planet where there were bubble creatures, while another passionately describes a train journey through Germany and what the train was like. Another had a wonderfully descriptive account of how she and her friends played golf. Two aspiring screenplay writers penned new series for George Lucas to delight Star War fans with! And these were no small short notes, they were long, descriptive, and, beautifully detailed stories that were a pleasure to read!
Its so refreshing to be sitting with these young ones and hearing their take on life and events as they unfold. Their delightful priorities, their understanding of things around them, and their willingness to look beyond the obvious and take things at face value. I guess plenty of lessons for us adults to learn from them, to be able to think breaking free from all that is a given...
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Halloween at CAC
My son had been counting days to Oct 31st so that he could attend the Halloween bash at CAC. We went through all his dress-up clothes a millon times deciding what he would go dressed as that night. From Dracula to Superman to Batman to Spiderman, we went through them all, only to revisit them again!
But there is something to be said for a child's enthusiasm which is very infectious, and, I could not help but join in the fun. And I absolutely adore the excietment that a child's anticipation brings with it.
As the evening of the 31st drew close, we were all excited, and dressed up to go! My son insisted that I should at least wear black to celebrate Halloween if I was not going tp dress up! So black it was!
To my amazement we had to stand in a long line that stretched from the school gate to the medan before the school! It didn't help that I had two Batmen (my son and his friend) who kept asking me "how long"? As I told them, I wish I knew!
20 mins and we were in! The boys squealed in delight at the pumpkin carriage being driven by skeleton coachmen! They insisted on taking a photograph!
They had to walk through this scary spooky gate, after getting their hands marked off, to enter the “trick or treat” lane!
The school had very effectively used netting to create a lane along the pathways of the school, and, middle / high schoolers sat in every nook and corner doling out candy! The lure of candy was such that even Count Dracula seemed a lot of fun!
But there is something to be said for a child's enthusiasm which is very infectious, and, I could not help but join in the fun. And I absolutely adore the excietment that a child's anticipation brings with it.
As the evening of the 31st drew close, we were all excited, and dressed up to go! My son insisted that I should at least wear black to celebrate Halloween if I was not going tp dress up! So black it was!
To my amazement we had to stand in a long line that stretched from the school gate to the medan before the school! It didn't help that I had two Batmen (my son and his friend) who kept asking me "how long"? As I told them, I wish I knew!
20 mins and we were in! The boys squealed in delight at the pumpkin carriage being driven by skeleton coachmen! They insisted on taking a photograph!
They had to walk through this scary spooky gate, after getting their hands marked off, to enter the “trick or treat” lane!
The school had very effectively used netting to create a lane along the pathways of the school, and, middle / high schoolers sat in every nook and corner doling out candy! The lure of candy was such that even Count Dracula seemed a lot of fun!
The highlight of the evening was clearly the Haunted House for which we stood in line for 45 mins. The middle/high schoolers put up a fantastic show wth lots of blood, gore and scary noises that made the kids squeal in fear and excitement! The boys enjoyed it thoroughly, clutching me for dear life, and, screaming for all they were worth. So enamoured were they of the Haunted House, that they wanted an encore, except that for all the love in the world, I was not about to stand in line for yet another 45 mins.
The field was very festive, and the elementary CAC community had turned out in large numbers to enjoy the event. The field was dotted with stalls for games and the boys ensured that they played every single one of them! Food stalls galore, ensured that their stomachs were full, not to mention the candy in their hands!
All good things must come to an end, so after two hours of noisy fun, we decided to head back home, much to the reluctance of the two Batmen with me!
The field was very festive, and the elementary CAC community had turned out in large numbers to enjoy the event. The field was dotted with stalls for games and the boys ensured that they played every single one of them! Food stalls galore, ensured that their stomachs were full, not to mention the candy in their hands!
All good things must come to an end, so after two hours of noisy fun, we decided to head back home, much to the reluctance of the two Batmen with me!
I believe that we missed a lot of excitement by leaving a tad early, cos some young boys peleted cars with eggs and tomatoes as people were leaving CAC after the party was over! So if you did not manage to get an omlette for breakfast next morning, you know who to blame!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Fagnoon
If you've had too much of the city and want to get away closer to nature where the kids would also have some fun, Mohamed Allam (an Egyptian artist) has created just the spot for you.
Fagnoon Art School, located on the road to Saqqarra, is an oasis in the city dessert offering creative activities and a physical outlet for a child's energy.
I have been told that the word “Fagnoon” itself is a combination of two interesting words Fonoon (art) and Gonoon (wild). In fact, the helpers / oweners at Fagnoon are called by whimsical names like Fagnoon, Tut, Yalla etc.. names which are inteded to add to the unstructured, free feel of the place...
It is a place for families to play, run, dance, paint, draw, as well as as well as try out a bouquet of crafts including pottery, word carpentry, agriculture, baking, jewelry making, iron smithy etc.. Plus there are goats to feed, bread to bake, rope ladders and graplers to climb!
The charge is reasonable with two activities costing LE 40 and another LE 15 for every additional activity that your child wants to do. There are tables and chairs laid out under thatched roofs where you can have your packed picnic lunch. The school just provides some tea and coffee.
The all time favourite with my kid awethe pottery and the painting. While painting, you can paint anything in sight including the table and chairs!. The pottery is the one that almost all kids enjoy. Who would not? Loads of mud, loads of water and permission to mess yourself up completely!! Even I love to sit at the pottery wheel (manual) with my son and get my hands all muddy!!
Its advisable to carry a change of clothes, a hand towel and some wet wipes for the children. They do end up getting very messy with the pottery and sometime you may need to change them if they got too much clay splattered on them.
I would recommend going with 3-4 families with kids and taking along a picnic basket. You can spend an idillyic morning chatting while the kids play around, and then enjoy a lazy picnic lunch.
A word of caution though. If going on a Saturday, it is recommended that you reach early by around 10 o'clock. Many of the local schools get the children there on Saturdays making the place quite crowded..
Fagnoon Art School, located on the road to Saqqarra, is an oasis in the city dessert offering creative activities and a physical outlet for a child's energy.
I have been told that the word “Fagnoon” itself is a combination of two interesting words Fonoon (art) and Gonoon (wild). In fact, the helpers / oweners at Fagnoon are called by whimsical names like Fagnoon, Tut, Yalla etc.. names which are inteded to add to the unstructured, free feel of the place...
It is a place for families to play, run, dance, paint, draw, as well as as well as try out a bouquet of crafts including pottery, word carpentry, agriculture, baking, jewelry making, iron smithy etc.. Plus there are goats to feed, bread to bake, rope ladders and graplers to climb!
The charge is reasonable with two activities costing LE 40 and another LE 15 for every additional activity that your child wants to do. There are tables and chairs laid out under thatched roofs where you can have your packed picnic lunch. The school just provides some tea and coffee.
The all time favourite with my kid awethe pottery and the painting. While painting, you can paint anything in sight including the table and chairs!. The pottery is the one that almost all kids enjoy. Who would not? Loads of mud, loads of water and permission to mess yourself up completely!! Even I love to sit at the pottery wheel (manual) with my son and get my hands all muddy!!
Its advisable to carry a change of clothes, a hand towel and some wet wipes for the children. They do end up getting very messy with the pottery and sometime you may need to change them if they got too much clay splattered on them.
I would recommend going with 3-4 families with kids and taking along a picnic basket. You can spend an idillyic morning chatting while the kids play around, and then enjoy a lazy picnic lunch.
A word of caution though. If going on a Saturday, it is recommended that you reach early by around 10 o'clock. Many of the local schools get the children there on Saturdays making the place quite crowded..
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Back to school
Cairo American College (CAC) re-opened for the new school year today. My son started his scool year in a new grade.
CAC has a practice of shuffling the kids around as they move up to a new grade. I guess it great training for an expat child who has to keep moving every few years - gets them used to adjusting to new people and environments very quickly.
Luckily for my son, he's got four of his class mates with him, so he's thrilled! School was bustling with activity with children and parents swarming all over the place.. you could feel the excitement of a new year in the air!
CAC has a practice of shuffling the kids around as they move up to a new grade. I guess it great training for an expat child who has to keep moving every few years - gets them used to adjusting to new people and environments very quickly.
Luckily for my son, he's got four of his class mates with him, so he's thrilled! School was bustling with activity with children and parents swarming all over the place.. you could feel the excitement of a new year in the air!
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