Home School Conference

May 5, 2012

I am happy to say this week Lydia said school is fun!  I had been really struggling with teaching.  I was so down about it.  I just felt yuck going into the classroom each day.  I love being with my girls but there are so many other thinks I want to be doing and need to be doing and can’t because of school.  I am so not a teacher but feel forced to do it.  I don’t read well so school feels like a lot of work.  I knew I was distracted and not being a good teacher to our kids. 

Thankfully the home school conference came at just in time.  I went in wanting to give up and came away very encouraged.  The group that came is based in England and desires to help missionaries homeschooling their children.  Two of the teachers had homeschooled their children on the mission field so they really understood what it is like.  There were 12 women/missionaries/home school teaching mommies and about 25 kids.  While the ladies were being taught the children were also taught.  Lydia loved the time with other kids that is her kind of learning.  Grace wasn’t feeling the best that week but she also enjoyed it just in a quieter way. 

I was so glad to learn I was doing the right things and focusing on what really mattered.  I realized I had slipped into bad habits and needed to stop bringing my to-dos into the classroom and just focus on school.  I was reminded to get back into manipulative with math and keep being hands on.  One of the teachers at the end said she has been observing my girls this week and that even though I feel incapable I am doing a great job.  She said I have built that foundation for years and now the girls really know their stuff.  What a blessing to hear that.  I can do this…at least until God provides help.

So I have so far put into practice what I learned and have already seen the benefits.  The girls love their new goals.  Lydia has to read 8 book and do reports on 4 of them then she gets to go out with mom for a pop.  Grace has to read 6 then she gets to go out with mom.  We also started words for the week (vocab words) and every time they use one of the words they get a sticker.  If they get 10 all together they get a prize.  I have been working more one on one with them again which they seem to enjoy.  I pray we keep up this new routine.  We should complete 1^st and 3^rd grade the end of June!

We were at the home school retreat with our teammates the Tiesingas.  They are in the process of adopting their baby girl so the whole family came.  We had a lot of fun being together.  Josh and Luka did well in Soroti too.  Josh is the man.  He spent lots of time playing trucks with Luka and even babysat a teammate’s two year old son overnight.  We were happy to see them again at the end of the week.   

From the home school conference in Jinja we went into Kampala for the weekend.  And we got our new (used) van!  We were very excited.  To our surprise it is almost a light purple color in the right light.  The AC works great, we have radio and CD player for the first time, and the kids love the curtains that move by a button.  How thankful we are. 

Lydia is really becoming a good little baker.  She loves it and so do I.  I can give her the recipe for chocolate chip cookies (which we make into bars and call I love you family bars) or the recipe for pie or pizza crust and she can do it.  She must be growing up.

Did I tell you I think I had a jigger in my foot.  It is some sort of sand flee that lays eggs in your feet.  I know nasty.  I felt a small hard bump on the bottom of my foot and thought maybe it was a planters wart but it didn’t hurt.  I of course squeezed it and all kinds of cool pus came out.  Weird.  I just had to dig more.  All of the sudden a shell or something came out and left a small hole in my foot.  I talked to our nurse later and she said it was a jigger.  Glad it was me and not my kids.

Hope all is well with all of you.  Grace had been having stomach aches for months so we took her in while we were in Kampala.  They said she had lots of yeast in her gut.  I am not sure about it but I do know after the medicine she hasn’t complained and eats normally again.  We will be in touch soon.  Thanks for all your prayers and love for us!