Off to a Good Start

So, we’ve kicked off a new school year.  This year Ryan convinced me to move our “home school” out of the house.  We had been given a little storage building when we first came and one day, after Ryan had been in there, he came in and suggested that we convert it to a school building. I was resistant at first because I have really loved having school in our house.  I love the philosophy that learning is simply a part of life and we don’t separate school and home.  But, in the end I caved.

For a lot of reasons, this was a good idea.  The culture here is very different and I found that I was spending a lot of time greeting folks who stopped in to see Ryan, offer items for sale, see one of our employees, etc.  While these things have the opportunity to build relationships and provide ministry opportunities, they were also causing a lot of frustration to my children.  We decided that by moving our school to a defined area, it protected them and allowed them to get the focused teaching they deserve.  I’m still easily accessible if there is a legitimate need at the house, but it allows me to weed out about 90% of the interruptions.

It didn’t take much to get it ready.  We paid for someone to come in and repaint it.  It already had wiring, so we just had the electrician do a little bit of updating and install a battery so that we could have a light bulb in each room for those days when the power is out.  We found all of the furniture in mission storage containers, all remnants of missionaries who have come before us and left behind odds and ends. 

Here's the room where the kids to most of their "quiet work."  This is where we keep our curriculum books, our art supplies, and the teacher desk.

This is the "noisy" room.  It holds the dramatic play stuff, the manipulatives, the free reading books, our workboxes, and the instruction area where we pull kids to do focused lessons.  It's all squeezed in there, but it works.  

In hindsight, it was truly the Lord who inspired us to do it when we did.  With the arrival of our volunteer teacher, it’s absolutely perfect.  She has space to school the kids away from the house so that I can study in the afternoons.  They have all of the materials they need in that dedicated space.  It really couldn’t be a better set-up.

Our first week of school went well.  We went hard from 8:00 to 3:00 every day.  At 3:00 we had to stop because my language helper was waiting outside the school room door to come in and teach me.  I was exhausted at the end of week one.  I looked at Ryan and told him that I didn’t know how long I could sustain this pace.

The crazy thing is, people often tell me that the I only need to cover the basics with the kids right now.  But, the bottom line is, the basics times FIVE still takes a while.  And let’s be honest, the last 2 years have been just the basics just to get us here.  So, I know in my mama’s heart these kids deserve some science and art.  That’s why I’m so thankful for our volunteer who is happy to spend the afternoons covering astronomy, PE, geography bingo, and the like while I hang out with my voice recorder and my Hausa dictionary.

The back to school season has always been one of my favorite retail times.  I just love going to Walmart and Target and stocking up on cheap gluesticks, crayons, and folders.  I’m kind of a back to school junkie.  So, this year I struggled.  It’s been our tradition to have a back to school night just before the first day where we give each of the kids some fun school supplies and a “first day of school” outfit.  We didn’t spend a ton of money and we always bought things that the kids needed anyway, but it made it more fun.  This year, I really struggled with not having those items available.  It was stupid, we had all we needed, but I missed the anticipation and delight of choosing special things for each of them, and preparing in that way.

We skipped the back to school night because I couldn’t find a way to modify it to my satisfaction.  Instead, I just had little treats waiting for them at the school building on the first morning.  They weren’t much, some cheap pencils and erasers that didn’t last through the first week, a candy bar, some gum, and a favorite drink for each of them.  That was it, along with a card I’d written to each of them.  They were satisfied and none of them seemed heartbroken by the change.

 

 Here's the whole crew on the first day of school.

All in all, we’re off to a great start.  We’ve finished 3 weeks.  We’re 1/12 of the way there!  I feel like Laura and I have got a good system worked out.  I am getting to keep some of the things that I love or feel need my attention and yet I have a good amount of time to focus on my “other job.”  The kids seem happy and come back most afternoons excited about what they’ve done with Ms. Laura.  I have time in the evenings to enjoy my family and do things I enjoy rather than stress over my to-do list.  I feel like my quality of life has greatly improved.