SCHOOL again!!

My children are at school!! And I am no longer a home-schooling mother!!

This is "Heritage International School" where Esther, Ben and Joel have been pupils since January 9th this year:

The main entrance:

The Administration building:

We had a few nerves on the very first morning of school as I prepared to pack our mini-Parkers into our Prado:

However, Esther and Ben really enjoyed their first few days! At the end of the first week, after just 4 days at a new school in a new country, Esther celebrated her 11th birthday... She was nervous that she would have no friends and nobody to celebrate with. Unfounded fears! On that Friday afternoon, 6 young friends (mostly, but not all, from MAF families) returned from school with Esther to help her celebrate her birthday, joining another young MAF friend back at our house. There were some challenging games and birthday cake- and lots of fun as we celebrated Esther!

Esther's Party Games:

• threading a necklace one-handed with pasta tubes and string.... and opening wrapped sweets while wearing oven gloves:

• using a small spoon to scoop cotton balls into a tub while blind-folded... 

• picking up as many pieces of lego as possible in one minute, using only chop-sticks:

• picking up a cut-down cereal box using only your teeth, with your hands behind your back:

Time to pose... and then eat cake!

Adapting to School

The transition to a much bigger school than Joel has ever been used to has been harder for him. Although he is posing happily for me in this photo, we have to remember that this photo was taken at the end of the school day, when he was happy to be going home! Going into school early in the mornings has not been so jolly :-(

Naturally, seeing him unhappy and worried while dropping him off at his classroom (pictured below) has been hard for me too. 

I heard a good quote the other day: that a mother is only ever as happy as her child- so when her children are sad, that affects the mother too. I know this to be true! It hurts to leave my child when he is genuinely sad and horribly anxious about the new environment and new people around him.

 

On the very first day of school, I had to congratulate myself for actually getting home at all. I had left a screaming Joel with his new teacher and felt wobbly myself as I headed back to the car, wishing I could just bring him home with me, but knowing he needed to stay at school. As I climbed back into the vehicle, the tears welled up-  and a flood was unleashed! 

I cried all the way home, tears streaming down my face for the 20 minute drive. I look back and am amazed that I made it back home in one piece... I was barely able to see the pot-holed road, the speed bumps, the wandering cows, multitudes of speeding motorbikes, not to mention the many bicycles loaded with unlikely goods like long, tall roofing beams, making them an absolute hazard as they lurched all over the road. It is perhaps a miracle that I did not hit anything! My mother's heart still aches when Joel is unhappy, but gradually we are seeing him relax and grow accustomed to the new routine and new people in his life.

To ease the transition, a MAF colleague suggested that perhaps Joel could do some half days. What a great idea! I approached his teacher, who was happy to oblige. Now Joel and I have some wonderful one-on-one time a couple of afternoons each week, which is great both for him and for me, as it helps to reassure me that he is coping and gives me someone special to spend afternoons with. This week, we had fun going for hot chocolate on a rainy afternoon at a nearby cafe. 

Joel snapped this "selfie" of us on my phone camera:

On the other hand, Ben is delighted with his new school! After a couple of days, he declared, "This school is so much easier than home-school!" !!! 

When we had a public holiday last week and the school was closed for one day, I found this note in Ben's homework diary. He had been asked to write down that there would be no school- and Ben had illustrated the note with a most revealing stick-figure, demonstrating exactly how he felt about missing school for a day!

Esther is adapting to school again after her two and a half years of home-school. This is the fifth school she has attended in her 11 years: she says she likes it here better than the other schools she remembers from the days before Juba. A little reserved at times, she is generally happy- but not at all pleased with the concept of home-work! To be fair, she does receive a LOT of homework. We are all having to learn how to manage our time better after the school day ends so that homework can be done at a reasonable hour before bed. 

We have entered a new phase and a new beginning! I have to be honest and admit that I find it hard to leave my children in other people's care and drive away from them each morning. It feels so strange to not be the one in charge of them during the day! I miss having them around. I still have mornings when I am tearful driving away from them, feeling like I have no longer the right to manage their days and feeling sad that I can't be there for them if they are finding it hard or overwhelming in their new school. 

I also have to watch that I am not too critical of the different way my children are now taught. I must have self control not to correct their work when I notice the fact that they are learning to spell using American instead of British English and calculate money in dollars and not pounds sterling. The school uses a mainly American curriculum as opposed to a British curriculum and while that is not something I dislike, it is something new that we need to accept.

On the other hand, I do NOT miss the pressure of having sole responsibility for the children's education.

 I do not miss the evenings and the Saturday mornings spent locked up by myself planning lessons and preparing resources. 

I do not miss the pressure of having to push all the time for the children to be working and for us to be focused on home-schooling.

I love having the freedom to organise my day- and it is amazing being able to be available for coffee dates when they present themselves! I used to feel so frustrated in Juba, when others would be socialising and I had to keep saying "no" so that the children's education could continue without them getting behind on assignments. I knew my priorities were correct and in order, but I did not like feeling that I could not invest in other areas and that I had little time for getting to know my team mates better. 

This is a new season. We are only beginning to adjust. It will take time for us all to settle, but it is an exciting new season. New possibilities are opening up ahead of us all! My prayer is that we can make the most of the opportunities ahead: that all three children will settle well, make kind friends and thrive in this new school that we have been blessed to become a part of...