New Healing Home Education Program in China

In 2023, we were able to make the gift of education a vital new part of our Healing Home program in China. This gift allows some of our older healing home residents the chance to grow their minds while receiving the nurturing care and medical attention that their little bodies need.

Ten school-aged children participating in our Healing Home Education Program in China have been in class for four months now, and they have all come so far! The children are learning the benefits of cooperation and happily participate in activities. They have become accustomed to the structured rhythm of the school day and have learned to meet classroom expectations.

In December, the theme of the month was health. The children learned through play, keeping the lessons fun and interesting. Because play is important for a child’s physical and mental health, the students in our Healing Home Education program have many opportunities for structured play while at school.

Over the last several months the children have all learned to recognize numbers 1-10. They have improved in their ability to match number cards with the correct number of objects shown by a teacher. We love seeing the concentration and pride on those little faces when they get the answer right!

The teachers lead the class in oral exercises to improve their pronunciation, with the recent focus being on the “b” and “p” sounds. Students have also practiced self-introduction including, “Hello, my name is __. What is your name? I am very happy to meet you.”

The children learned to share their likes and dislikes in front of the group, something that helps them to speak in front of their peers and understand that their opinions are valued. No doubt SCHOOL is far up on the list of likes!

One physical activity the children in our Healing Home Education program enjoyed this month during outdoor play time was dodgeball. The class was split into two groups and instructed to pass the ball to a teammate before throwing it across to the other team. The children were given the freedom to strategize and collaborate and had a great time. Can’t you imagine the shrieks and giggles?

Featured Children from our Healing Home Education program

Seven-year-old Katrina was quite shy when she first started school, but she has been gaining the confidence to seek out others and establish new friendships. She is good at listening to instructions and is very observant during writing lessons. Katrina carefully examines the characters and does her best to sit up straight and write neatly in her notebook. She also loves arts and crafts. That is such a lovely bracelet, sweet girl!

Harland is happiest when the class is engaged in musical activities. He has learned the beginning of a popular school song about two tigers and is learning to count to 20. Initially, Harland, who is five years old, was quiet and a bit nervous about speaking, but after watching his friends share stories, he is beginning to speak more freely. It is so nice to see him coming out of his shell at school!

Seven-year-old Beatrice positively SHINES at school and has impressed all of the teachers with her ability to easily learn new concepts and express herself. She is catching on quickly to math lessons and can recognize and write some characters. In art class, she created a beautiful piece of artwork by arranging leaves and fruit on a paper basket and then insisted on bringing her masterpiece home and hanging it on the side of her bunk bed. She may need to use a wheelchair to get around, but this girl is going places!

Perhaps you, your children or grandchildren have great childhood memories of playing with a big colorful parachute. Our Healing Home residents absolutely love this outdoor activity at school, and it helps them get their wiggles out!

We are so thankful that these children from our Healing Home Education program get to enjoy so many of the typical joys that many of us may have experienced.

That’s really what it’s all about: kids just being kids, while gaining confidence, learning, and preparing for the rest of their life’s journey. We are incredibly grateful to the donors who are helping provide an education for these ten little ones, and for those who support children in our many other education programs. Together, we can create brighter futures…and some adorable shrieks and giggles along the way.

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