Grace School:      Daily Program

 
A typical day begins with the Wambugus making a 20-minute walk to school, as they own no automobile. The Grace School day begins at 8 a.m., with Morning Parade and scripture reading. On Mondays and Fridays, there is a hoisting of the Kenyan flag and singing of the Kenya National anthem. Teachers still check students for cleanliness, but now each student wears a uniform.

Instruction and care are given in levels that extend from Nursery through Standard 4, or roughly from age 3-14. Children are taught math, languages, science, geography, history, civics, and Christian religious education. English is the language of instruction. However, because Grace has six different ethnic groups, and there are 40 ethnic groups in Kenya, students also study Kiswahili, a mixture of Arabic and Bantu languages. The youngest children are usually taught in their mother tongue, and then Kiswahili, and then English. Each teacher can speak at least three languages.

The Nursery and Standard 1 end their day at 3 p.m. Standards 2 and 3 go home at 4, and Standard 4 studies mathematics with the Rev. Wambugu until 5 p.m. Special classes and activities for older students are also held on Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m..

The children receive a one hour lesson each week on HIV/AIDS. Some of the older children (over 12) are sexually active and they need to know the truth about HIV/AIDS. One half of Grace School students are AIDS orphans.