Chance Netherlands Presentation

Chance was invited back to his alma mater (the School for the Deaf class he no longer attends), to give a presentation on Christmas in the Netherlands. Chance was excited about this prospect, and what was going to be a taking-turns presentation with mom, turned into a one man show with Chance doing all the talking(with a special story by his brother about a boy sticking his finger in the hole of a dike to hold back the water). As soon as Chance and I started going over the power point presentation at home, Chance informed me that he wanted to do it himself. I thought that was fabulous!

Since I was the one with the knowledge about what Christmas in the Netherlands is like, I went through and told Chance about each picture. Chance then sat down at the computer by himself writing down notes on index cards for each picture about what he wanted to say. He numbered the tops of the cards so that he would know the order they should go in. What an organized kid!
When Chance first went through the presentation for me, he would sometimes use a funny voice as he talked.

The irony was not lost on me that I had to explain that some of the kids in the class would not be able to understand him if he talked like that since they wore hearing aids and implants and may have a hard time hearing him.

Chance was excited to see his friends again and after a little catching up (kids sharing that they got new glasses, or a bilateral implant etc.), Chance did a stellar job telling the kids about the Netherlands and how they celebrate Christmas.

Luckily, there is a Dutch store within driving distance of our house, so we were able to pick up a few Dutch treats to share. SinterKlaas (the Dutch version of Santa Clause), leaves chocolate letters in the shoes of good boys and girls in the shape of the first letter of their names. For the School for the Deaf kids, we brought chocolate "K's" to share for "kids". We also brought chocolate sprinkles, bread and butter so the kids could try the snack of bread with sprinkles on it to get a feel for Dutch eats.

It was a great presentation that Chance did a great job with. There was both learning and tummy filling.....a perfect combination!

(A sad note about the video - the tape ran out about 2 minutes before the end of the presentation - missing the end of the "Christmas" part of the presentation. But we're certain you'll appreciate the video just the same.)