Next week Isaac and Autumn will start school, and I guess we will officially be homeschool-parents. Growing up I felt like overall I had a pretty good education in the public school system. I mean, a lot of learning is what you put into it. Your teacher is there to guide you, but how much you learn is dependent upon your desire to do so. But as for the quality of my teachers, I have no complaints. However I will say that there were definite downfalls to the public education system--mainly the things that I picked up on at a young age that were definitely not appropriate. But I have always just kinda thought that if you stay involved in your kids' life and guide them Biblically as those things come, there should not be too many problems that don't get cleared up fairly quickly. I will also say that I am well aware that not every public education system is as nice and neat as the one I grew up in--times are changing. So, if I were in America right now, I am not sure what I would do and I don't claim to have any answers for anyone else either. I think we do as the Lord leads. And we have to trust that those around us are doing the same.
But as for us here in Red Land, the options are a little different. The national schools are completely in the local language and the methods of teaching are very different. And although those schools have some strong points, their days are very long and tedious (5:00 or 6:00pm they go home and still have at least 2 hours of homework), and I feel as though a child should have time to be creative and enjoy their childhood as well. The international schools are VERY expensive. The most legitimate school closest to us is 20,000 U.S. per year per child. And while there are others that claim to be "international", they are not worth the money (even though they are much less) because they are not much different from the national schools. So, those don't really seem to be worth the money nor are they really affordable for us.
So, here we are homeschooling. And now that it has become a reality, I am really excited about it. I get to spend more time with my kids. I am highly aware of what they are learning and whether it is true to the Bible or not. I have an opportunity to tell what the world believes while also sharing Truth. I also just love teaching, so who better to teach than my own children!!! And it makes me excited that they also are looking forward to it. We are joining together with 2 other families, so that also adds some fun to the equation.Every Monday through Thursday the kids will go to Chinese kindergarten to play with their friends and continue being immersed in the culture. Then they will eat lunch. They walk upstairs to the 4th floor of the kindergarten, and us 3 couples will work with the kids on their homeschooling. On somedays the dads will teach, and on other days the moms will teach. It will be a classroom setting and the children will be split-up by age groups. On Fridays we will continue our "family day" and/or go on field trips with the other foreign families. So, this time next week, we should have some photos from our first 2 days of school.
(Sorry...the internet is being too slow to let me upload pictures. :( )
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