I really do miss writing on here because it ends up being a scrapbook of sorts for us, and gives friends and family a chance to catch up on what’s going on. For some reason it also feels less crazy that Facebook and other social media. No idea why.
So, I gave a bit of a recap in the last blog post about what we’ve been doing, but figured it would be fun to actually post some of the billions of photos I’ve taken, instead of letting them live forever on my phone or in a file on my computer. Novel idea, I know.
So, here we go!
We flew out of Haiti on June 17. Things had been tense politically and there were road blocks off and on for about a week before we left. We weren’t sure if we would be able to get to the airport, so to be prudent we went in a day early when things were open, and stayed at a hotel close by. We were able to get there early on the morning of departure, and found about 300 people who had the same idea. Honestly, it was actually a big stress relief to stay at the hotel and have some down time where we could swim and relax. Yonese, our housekeeper, who is amazing and who we missed dearly after a prolonged absence from work, came back to work two weeks before we left, and then chose to schedule her trip to the US to see her daughter for the same day we were leaving so she could be at work. When we found out she was planning on traveling the same day we insisted she come in and stay with us so she could get to the airport as well, and it was a sweet way to spend our last night in Haiti. We also got to hang out with one of our good friends, which was an unexpected treat.
Yonese and the kids just before we exchanged hugs and boarded the plane.
This picture cracks me up. We were outside at JFK between flights to stretch our legs and get some air, and found this container garden. The kids thought the lavender smelled amazing…
We arrived in Portland just after midnight on the 18th, and came home and crashed. We decided to leave for BC on the 19th so we could get some rest, which was a fabulous decision. We always have to take the time to unbox all the packages we have sent to meet us here, pack up what we could, change luggage over to prepare for our time in BC, and get the van ready to go, so it was nice to not feel rushed with any of that and to leave the next day feeling more refreshed.
We saw the sign after we took the picture…
When we got to BC we had things like passport renewals to take care of, then headed out camping with my parents for a week. My brother and his family joined us on the Friday for the Canada Day long weekend. It was a good time of being all together. We had a fishing derby and the kids all had a great time hanging out. This was actually the first time they’d ever gotten to spend more than a few hours at a time together, and it was so worth it. We’re looking forward to doing it again next summer.
My nephew told me this was the big fish in the lake, and that the derby was over because he’d won. He was still happy for me the next day later when I caught the biggest fish :)
This kid… She caught the most fish out of all the kids, and had zero issue baiting her own hooks or dealing with her fish. She also felt the need to give Papa and I some fishing pointers. We learned that to catch all the fish you have to 1) Look at the nature; 2) Put your fingers in the water, and; 3) Catch the fish. I guess it worked for her…
Chris’ favorite thing to do on vacation is putter with the van. Alex was the observer.
We celebrated Alex’s 8th birthday while at my Mom & Dad’s. It was a fun day of making him feel special. Because his birthday always lands on our vacation time, he usually gets the simple birthday, so this year we wanted to make a bigger deal, and he was super happy about it. He got a computer from us, which he was VERY happy about.
It’s tradition in our little family for the birthday person to pick their birthday meal. Alex chose macaroni & cheese, fried chicken and hotdogs. There were zero complaints from anyone else, lol!
We headed back down to Vancouver, and then Chris and I headed out to the Long Beach Peninsula for a few days of R&R before the family joined us. It was bliss! We realized it was the first time in a very long time where no one needed us or had expectations for us. We slept as long as we needed to, we ate when we wanted to, and we did what we wanted to, even if that was nothing more than reading all day because the weather was drippy and wet and not good for going to the beach.
Chris said we had to take the obligatory summer vacation selfie :)
This was my happy place for about two days because the weather was blustery and misty and wet. It was amazing!
The Nachotta tidelands, less than a 10 minute drive away, where there’s free oyster picking. Chris did this about 4 times, so we could do this…
Nom, nom, nom. Dozens of oysters every day. It was amazing.
A few days later Chris’ parents and sister came out with the kids. We ate more oysters, and spent time on the beach.
Olivia is our adventurous seafood eating child.
And Alex is the bird chasing child.
And both of them took every opportunity to play in the ocean, even though it was the Pacific and it was COLD.
After a week at Ocean Park, Chris and I packed the kids into the van and we headed up the Washington coast to explore places we hadn’t seen before. We spent one night at Cape Disappointment State Park, which we had visited on a day trip before. It rained. It was wet.
You can see the North Head lighthouse on top of the rocks. That area is home to many shipwrecks over the year because of the currents that flowed through there before they built the jetty by the mouth of the Columbia River.
Looking south towards the jetty where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. Before the jetty was built this beach didn’t exist. Over the years sand has been deposited, and a whole forest that now makes up the state park has grown up.
After Cape Disappointment we headed further north to Twin Harbors Stat Park for two nights. One night was beautiful, and the next day was very, very wet. Not gonna lie, it wasn’t fun. If we hadn’t already pre-paid for two nights we would have given up and headed home that morning, but we stuck it out, and of course, by the time we got back the sun was shining and hot again.
Walking over the dunes to the beach at Twin Harbors State Park.
We visited this quirky little family run aquarium in Newport to get out of the rain for a bit.
They had this little art space where people could paint and draw as part of their guest book.
We also climbed up the lookout tower in Newport to check out the view.
This cracks me up :)
We got back to Vancouver last Thursday, and since then…
We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with a party and an amazing driveway mural that Chris’ dad had done. He’s decided that now that he’s retired he’s going to do things that make him happy.
Chris and I got to go and use a gift certificate that Chris’ dad won at a Rotary event for an AirBnB on Monday night. The place was AMAZING, but all the pictures are on Chris’ phone. Let’s just say the owner built this amazing home from what used to be his family home, and there were a pair of peacocks that liked to peek in the kitchen door window to keep tabs on things. It was amazing and we just wish we could have stayed longer. It was one of those tiny little getaways that was completely refreshing and much needed.
Earlier this week we took away all the kids electronics and cut back on their tv watching. Now they actually want to get out and do things. I highly recommend it! On Tuesday after Chris and I got back, we packed a picnic lunch and went adventuring with the kids. First stop was Crown Point Vista.
Back when this scenic highway through Oregon’s Lewis & Clark trail was built, in the early 1900’s, the engineers and developers decided to choose the most beautiful spots along the route and turn them into points of interest. Imagine putting along in a Model T, taking several days to travel what now takes 30-40 minutes, stopping at places like this to have lunch, then at lodges that are now long gone for the night.
The view of the Columbia River from Crown Point. The inside of the building is covered in white marble. Floors and walls. The bathrooms are still the original rooms with all the marble, and old wood doors. It was pretty cool.
The next stop was the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. When Chris said he wanted to go there I had this vision of some big fish ponds and staff wearing park ranger type outfits, and just kind of wandering around. I was SO wrong. This place was amazing! Imagine old wood buildings, all painted in bright white, green grass, flower beds, visitor information boards, rearing tanks with staff cleaning, and some educational pools mixed with walking trails. It was stunning and so much fun. If you’re in the area, you NEED to stop here. It’s completely free, and I promise you’ll see the largest rainbow trout you’ll ever see in your life, and some very cool sturgeon.
Millions of Coho salmon are raised here each year, then get released in a nearby stream to head down to the Columbia River.
Each fall, Coho salmon that were born and raised in these tanks, make their way back up the Columbia from the Pacific to the same stream where they were released. They’re captured to harvest eggs and sperm to produce the next batch of salmon. Because salmon end their life cycle right after spawning, the hatchery will sell off the fish that have provided eggs and sperm to local fish markets, so nothing goes to waste.
This pond is home to the “baby” sturgeon and some of the rainbow trout. All of those black shadow things under the water are sturgeon.
These are the rainbow trout! They’re massive. The hatchery has a place where you can buy little bits of fish food, so these guys gravitate towards people knowing they’re most likely going to get fed. A couple even stay right by the wall just wiggling and popping their heads out of the water begging for food. All of the fish in this pond were between 2 and 6 years old, and were hatched at another hatchery and brought to Bonneville solely for the purpose of being here to hang out with visitors. Someone didn’t see the sign that said not to touch the fish…
That’s Herman, a 90 year old sturgeon that weighs about 900 pounds.
And there was a Sasquatch…
Our last stop of the day was Multnomah Falls. It was crazy busy. Chris was the only one that hiked up to the bridge. We had done it before, so the kids and I stayed down below and waved ridiculously from the bottom.
We’ve been on our annual summer vacation for about 5 1/2 weeks, and I finally feel like I have a bit of head space to sit down and write a bit of an update.
I actually sat down a while back, maybe two months ago (or more?!?) and started writing a big ol’ homeschool update. It quickly grew into a book, so I knew it needed to be a multi-part series, which then got put on the back burner for all the things of life. I want to put that up here at some point, because I know a lot of you have questions about how that’s been going for us and what we’ve been doing etc. I can share nutshell versions with you right now :)
I can’t remember what Legoman was doing, but he was doing it in the Arctic while he was doing it…
All in all, we love homeschooling. Yes, my kids complain about having to do school, but they complained about having to go to school, so I don’t really consider that a thing. It’s part of being a kid. We like doing school at home where we can be more relaxed, life can happen around us, and I feel like the kids are getting the hang of it and enjoying the process. We definitely had a lot of rough days as we worked through adjustments to schedule, structure, discipline, and the type of work we’re doing. But, I expected that. Many days Chris would come in the kitchen where we work and later tell me that he had no idea where my patience came from.
Apparently wearing a hat is sometimes essential to good learning…
I really feel like it’s a gift God has and is giving me, because one of my top reasons for not homeschooling in the past was that I thought I just wouldn’t have the patience for it. I think deep down, I’m learning more about our kids, seeing what they need, and how to get there. It’s a combination of wanting to do what is best for them and accepting the challenge of getting there. Some days I was reduced to tears, but again, I anticipated that as we transitioned. It’s a lot to go from years of being in a school “system” and then come home and do things completely differently. A lot of people recommend “de-schooling” your kids when you transition to homeschooling, and while we didn’t have the space/time to do that without it becoming a struggle (Chris and I work from home), I understand the need.
Knowing we would need transition time, I really looked at our time from March to June, when we would leave for our vacation, as our transition time. That was the time where we could play around with everything and see what worked for us, what didn’t, what we liked, what we didn’t, and I could decide what directions I/we wanted to go in after we got back in August. I had time to look at curriculum, make lists of supplies I wanted/needed, etc. I’m thankful that I took that approach because it gave me the time to ease into things in a way, even though we really jumped in with both feet.
Alex learned that he really loves playing with clay, and made this fabulous tree and pond. He also learned that the smell of modeling clay makes Mommy want to gag. Mommy learned that she will be making homemade play dough when we return from our vacation to make everyone happy.
What’s funny for me is that I look at the things that I thought I was sure about when we started, and what has changed since then. For example, I was sure that, even though we were using the kitchen for school, it would not end up looking like a classroom. We already had a chalkboard on the wall, and I wanted something to hang a map on, that I could turn around. I made that, and then saw that everyone was constantly checking out the map and how much it became a part of our every day, and didn’t ever turn it around. I started to see how much school and the space became part of our everyday, and I realized I really liked that. We really liked it. And I embraced making our home our learning space, and figuring out how to use what we have to make it more so.
We have a wall map, we have a calendar, we have a chalkboard with bird parts drawn on it, and we love all of it!
I’ve also seen changes in what the schedule I thought we were going to keep was, versus what we were doing before we left. Initially, because we start our days so early (alarm goes off at 4:30 am) we were starting school at 7 am after I’d done about an hour of office work. Over time I realized my kids just weren’t quite there yet, so I gently pushed to an 8 am start time, and we still finish at 12, but have gotten more done. This gives me time to get up, make breakfast for Chris and I, and the kids if they’re up, start the work day and do about an hour and a half of work, take about 30 minutes of getting school stuff set up and quiet time for me, then jump into school for about 4 hours, eat lunch, then a couple more hours of work. I like the rhythm we landed in before we left because it works for the kids and it works for me, playing to our normal rhythms. It will most likely shift and change as we go, but I like the framework.
Having flexibility is amazing, and not having to plan our days around school is amazing. We didn’t realize how much of our mission planning had come to revolve around school drop off and pick up. It was always there and someone always had to be available to do it. It meant that one of us had to be around. Now, we have flexibility. We have the option of not doing school on a day or week if we have other stuff going on, or if we want to go do other things. We can leave the kids with Yonese, our housekeeper/Haiti grandma/woman who helps us keep our sanity, and know the kids will be well taken care of while Chris and I go do things. It’s SO freeing! We also don’t have to plan our vacation times around school schedules anymore if we don’t want to.
We read some fabulous books during our read aloud time each morning, and this has probably become our favorite time of our homeschooling day. It’s reminded me that so much can be learned through good books, and it gives me a chance to either share some of my/our favorites from childhood, or explore things I didn’t get to read when I was younger.
After we finished reading The Borrowers during read aloud time the kids got VERY inspired and decided to make Borrower houses. No math got done that day, but they had fun crafting like crazy.
Curriculum wise, we did make some changes along the way after I saw that some things just weren’t working for us, and that’s okay. I’ve been learning more about the kids and what works for them, what is hard, and am learning the difference between the “must do’s” and the “can we do it another way or later on” things. Again, the beauty of homeschooling is having that option and not forcing your kids to move on to something, or do something in a way that is frustrating or that they just aren’t ready for yet.
We discovered that we like painting, so we’ll put music on and let the creative juices flow. Definitely want to do more of this in the future.
I think the biggest learning curve has been with me personally. I’d read in many places that homeschooling parents say they probably learn more than their kids, and man, that is SO true. Not only do you have to figure out how to make it all work, what curriculum and resources to use/follow, you have to go back and re-learn all those things that you’ve either forgotten about, or are just second nature. And the things that you know, but struggle to know how to teach. Watching your kids glaze over as you try to explain long division or reducing fractions, and realizing it’s because you need to try explaining it more clearly or in a different way that makes sense, is HARD. But, I love the challenge, and the kids often tease me because I’m more excited about something than they are. My hope is that enthusiasm will show them that learning is a life long thing that we can look forward to, and that they’ll grow up with a desire and curiosity to explore everything this world has to offer.
Other non-homeschooling life things…
Well, this one is still related, but is more general life in nature, so I’ll share it here. I would love some prayer for myself specifically in this area, as well as our family. When we get back there will be some changes, which may mean more of a work load for me for a while. My prayer is just being able to balance work and school and family. In January, knowing we were going to be homeschooling, I officially went down to part-time with CWH, which has been good for me because it gave me personally some boundaries to work within, rather than feeling like I was pulled in all directions. That’s been a good shift, but we’re still in the process of figuring out how to get all the things done that need to be done so I’m not overworked. I know we’ll get there, it’s just something that takes time and needs to be worked out.
Our vacation has been great. We still have a week to go, and honestly, it’s been the best break I’ve had in over a year, which was much needed. I normally take a week in the spring to head to the Dominican Republic with my friend Naomi, but she was away for a month during the time we normally go, and with just getting started with school, it wasn’t a good time. That meant a looooooonnng stretch between Christmas and summer vacation for me, and I won’t lie, it was a hard push at the end. Chris and I are both learning that as we get older, and as the kids get older and the responsibility of running Clean Water for Haiti grows, we both need those times away each year. Typically we each do some fund raising annually, and each take a vacation trip on our own without the rest of the family, along with our summer family vacation, and those breaks really help us to be better people, parents, spouses, and leaders. We know that’s something we need to prioritize, along with little breaks here and there as a couple. See, this learning thing never ends!
This summer we flew into Portland on June 17, which had it’s own adventures, and spent two days with Chris parents, then hopped in the van and headed up to BC to see my family for 2 1/2 weeks. While in BC we went camping for a week with my parents and my brother and his family joined us for the Canada Day long weekend. We had a family fishing derby, which was really fun. Yours Truly took the adult prize after landing a 15 Kokanee salmon at the last minute when we were supposed to be heading for the docks. My brother was a champ in his congratulations and giving up his lead :)
After we got back down to Vancouver, WA, where Chris’ parents live, he and I headed off to the Long Beach Peninsula for a week at a friend’s cottage. They’re so gracious to let us use it when we come, and it’s truly a place of rest for us. We spent the first few nights on our own, which we realized was the first time in a year where no one needed us, and there were no expectations on our time. It was great. Chris’ parents and sister then joined us with the kids for a couple days, then left the kids with us when they returned home. We spent a couple more days there, then set out camping up the Washington coast, something none of us had done before. It rained half of the time, which was pretty miserable, but we made due and still tried to enjoy ourselves.
Since we’ve been back in Vancouver we’ve just been doing whatever comes up each day. Today Chris is off hiking Mount Hood with some friends, and I’m getting my birthday pedicure. For the first time ever, in the history of life as a Rolling family, Chris and I have most of our stuff packed to head back to Haiti. It was kind of a necessity after we arrived back in the US to this…
So many boxes. Thankfully most of the bigger ones were for things like storage containers that got filled with lots of bits and pieces.
Most of what we’re taking back is stuff for school, whether it’s books, school supplies, or things to help organize all of it. It’s SO MUCH, but not having a library available means creating our own, and not easily being able to get some of the supplies we need means a lot of planning ahead. I literally had to go through our whole year of school resources, make lists of what we needed/wanted, and then shop for everything that I knew we would need from now until December (we’re coming back for Christmas this year). Some things can wait until then, but I also don’t know how quickly we’ll move through things like science, so I need to plan as much as I can. Buying things like containers for workboxes and storage and organization are a one time thing, so it feels and really is so much right now, but again, it’s one time. Next time we won’t have to get those things and it’ll be more curriculum/resources and supplies and books.
Yeah, books… lol! SO. MANY. BOOKS. We use Kindles for a lot of reading, but we also like books for things like bedtime reading. Both kids still like picture books along with their chapter books, and I think it’s really important to have the tactile experience of flipping pages. I’ve been trying to purchase books that will be things we use for many years, with a lot of bang for your buck. Things like Usborne books which are fabulous and so well done with internet links to go beyond the info in the book. Again, it feels like so much right now, but I feel like once we get a good base, we’ll buy more specific stuff over the years and do more digital. For now though, I want things I can pull from to supplement all of our subjects. I would love to say that I’m kidding, but I’m not – we’re taking back over 100 lbs of books! Life of expats! :)
Speaking of digital vs. non-digital, we made a decision the other day to not only save our sanity, but also because we realized it really was the best thing for our kids/family. We got the kids Kindle Fires for Christmas two years ago, and over time the game apps have started making us crazy. The constant harassment over adding games, how much time to play etc was just too much. Olivia got a computer for Christmas that same year, and Alex just got one for his birthday this month. Again, the screens. A few days ago we took all screens away from the kids and told them they’ll get their tablets back when we get on the plane. We noticed they were getting more and more disrespectful, didn’t want to do anything, and were just all around cranky. That’s not what we believe technology should be about. In the past few days it’s like being with different kids.
Going forward, we’re going to be making big changes at home with how we allow screen time, along with chores, etc. For school I had developed a green light/red light system where the kids would get an hour of screen time if they ended the day with a green light. Olivia didn’t really care too much, but for Alex it was the only thing that drove him to do anything, which is not what I want for school. We’re going to be shifting to a token system that we can use for all kinds of things at home, whether it’s school or chores, or just seeing good character and things like that. The kids will be able to earn tokens for doing chores, etc, and will get tokens for showing good effort in school and other things. They’ll also have tokens taken away for the opposite. They can then trade those tokens in for screen time on the weekends. Along with hopefully eliminating some of the crazy, I’m hoping it will help them grasp the concept of earning rewards, and enforce delayed gratification. Using a token system, where they have a jar and physical tokens, is kind of like money. When they exchange tokens for things they want, we’re hoping it’ll reinforce the concept of working and earning money to then exchange for goods and services to do life with. That there is value and planning involved. I still need to work out the details, but I think this is the direction we’re headed in. For Chris and I, having a printed page on the fridge for set token things will also help us be more consistent as parents, too.
Whew, that was a BIG dump of all the things! I do miss being in this space, and am hoping that I’ll be able to get here more as I work on taking care of myself and doing things that bring me joy and fulfillment aside from home and work stuff. I’m also trying to be gentle with myself and remember that life has seasons, and this one is a busy one for us.
As I was going through pictures to put in this post I realized I really need to do a separate vacation picture post, because we’ve done a lot! Look for that next!
Hold on to your hats, because I’m actually writing another post, and a year hasn’t gone by! Life here has been interesting over the past few weeks, so there’s definitely stuff to share.
First off, if you’ve been paying any attention to international news in the past couple of weeks, you probably heard that we had some problems here in Haiti. For some background, Haiti’s political tension has been growing over the past year or so, and because of it there have been times where things come to a head, people protest, and the country shuts down for a bit.
Starting on Feb. 7 we went through another round of this, but this time it lasted longer, and was more intense and country wide than it has been in the past year. It meant that most major roads were blocked with a variety of barricades, making travel impossible. Schools were shut down, people couldn’t get to the hospital, and no one could go to work – unless they were like our staff who were willing to walk miles so they could be here. We were basically told to “shelter in place” by all Embassies, and did exactly that.
While that is stressful on it’s own, the evening before it all started our guys were in a bad accident when they were on their way home from a day of filter deliveries. Our driver had to brake suddenly, and the roads were slick from a brief rain. This caused him to lose control of the truck, sending it into a spin and rolling twice down an embankment before coming to a stop. At some point in all of this it hit a motorcycle with a driver and passenger on it. The driver was badly injured and the woman passenger was killed instantly. All of our staff were also hurt with a variety of injuries, and spent time in the hospital. One is still in a hospital in Port au Prince with a badly broken leg that needs a lot of follow up care.
It’s been a lot, but we are so grateful for the people God has put around us to manage everything. Even though it was an accident, CWH has taken full responsibility for it and has helped the family of the woman who was killed with all funeral expenses and a settlement, and we’ve taken care of the hospital fees for the motorcycle driver and all of our staff. Five of our six guys are at home recovering, and a couple should be returning to work next week. We were able to get the truck back last week and have started a damage assessment so repairs can be done. And, we have the funds available right now to buy a new delivery truck. This was something that we were planning on doing this year anyway, but are able to bump that purchase up so we don’t lose momentum with our filter deliveries and installations.
Chris and I have managed well through all of this, though we do see where our PTSD has been triggered in different ways, and are trying to be aware of how that affects us. For me, it actually didn’t fully hit me until last weekend when things calmed down in the country and we were able to start doing life as normal again. I realized I was afraid to go out, and that I wanted everyone close. I knew in my head that it was fine, and we were all fine, but my heart was stressed. Just being aware of it has been much better because I can talk myself through things and just be aware that it might affect how I react in other ways.
Because things were all locked down, and we couldn’t go places, it meant the kids weren’t able to go to school. For a week and a half. We did have some of their school books at home, so we did some stuff, but in the end I downloaded some work and we started doing some homeschool. It was like when a restaurant does a “soft opening” before their grand opening. We dipped our toes in, tried it out, and decided how we felt about it.
The result?
We loved it! And it was a huge affirmation that we were on the right path.
Our plan was to officially start homeschooling on March 4. This week would have been our kids last week at their old school. Last week when it was time for them to go back, something unexpected happened – they decided that they didn’t want to go back, and that they’d rather homeschool!
We did send them for Thursday and Friday, because we wanted them to be able to end well by finishing up a few things and saying good-bye to their friends and teachers. They did that, and were happy they did, but they were SUPER happy when they got home last Friday and knew that they were done.
As parents, we want what’s best for our kids, and seeing our kids enthusiasm over homeschooling has been such a huge thing.
On Monday we kept going with our temporary lessons that we’ve been doing while we wait for Chris’ brother to arrive with all our books. He had to reschedule his visit last week to this week because of the crazy that was happening, but he comes tomorrow! I’m VERY excited to get our curriculum, and get everything set up.
I was honestly scared about starting, because of my own insecurities, which I guess is probably normal with such a huge shift like this. I was worried about whether or not I could teach our kids well, and whether or not we would all just be frustrated with each other. You know, the tears, and all that.
I know that homeschooling is like everything else, and that there will be good and bad days. I’m being very realistic about that, and honestly, in hindsight I’m thankful that we had a slow breaking in. I did want to get everything set up and have a big start day, etc, but I can’t change that, so we’re going with what we got and being grateful for it. And, things are going well! Yes, there have been moments, but we just keep going forward.
I think the biggest thing that just gets me, is that every single day the kids have told me how thankful they are that we’re doing homeschool. What?!? I was NOT expecting that, at all. I mean, I figured they would enjoy it, but neither Chris nor I were prepared for how much they would like it. Whenever they tell me this, I take a few minutes to tell them that I appreciate that and ask them what they like about it. The most common response that they give is that they like having someone to actually teach them and explain things to them. Hearing this, just shows me how much we need to listen to our hearts, and when something is stirring, there is usually a reason for it. For us, we knew our kids needed more, and they’ve now shown us that we were right. The best part is, we can actually give them what they need.
And, I’m happy to report that we’ve all been getting along well! Yes, there have definitely been times where boundaries are pushed, but we’re working through it. I developed a discipline system that we’re trying out, where the expectations are clearly explained, and the kids have the choice in how they manage those. I’ll definitely be sharing more about this in the future, because it seems to be working for us so far.
As for the insecurities around being able to actually teach my kids, that has also been a pleasant surprise. I mean, I thought I could do it, it’s just that it’s such a HUGE responsibility. The thing I learned about myself in the past month is that I’m actually really excited to be teaching them, because there are so many amazing things to learn about this world we live in. I love it when I can see them struggling with something, and we can take a few minutes to walk through things, and it clicks. I love hearing them ask questions about things when we’re not in school, simply because they’re thinking about stuff and their curiosity has been piqued.
A lot of people recommend that you do some deschooling when your kids switch over from regular school to homeschooling. Deschooling is when you essentially take some time away from all things school related, to put some space between what the child has learned as a system, and make room for a whole new way of getting an education. I totally understand the need for that now that we’re starting our homeschooling journey, and did consider going that route. Alex, especially, likes and needs routine, so there have been several times in the past week where he’s asked things like how many pages we’re going to do, or what we’ll be doing that day, because those were the markers of a school day for him. I chose not to do a complete deschooling with our kids, simply because we’d already come off a couple of weeks where school was hit and miss, and because Chris and I still need to work from home, which means having some structure through our days.
This is where I’m thankful for the temporary curriculum that we’re doing, because it’s allowed us to implement the concept of homeschooling, and to get some structure to our day, without fully jumping in to a whole new curriculum, etc. We’ve been able to start our morning routine and build on it a bit each day, and do some basics like Math and English each day, while also having time to read out loud, do craft projects and things that our kids haven’t really gotten to do at school. It’s allowed me to see the areas where they struggle, to talk about our attitudes, and to get a better feel for their learning styles and what each of them need in a day.
Chris and I have both been amazed at the quick change we’re seeing in all of us. I think overall, our stress level has gone down significantly. The kids are happy. Chris told me that when he walks into the kitchen while we’re doing school there’s this excited vibe that’s really evident. Chris and I have literally gained hours back into our day since we don’t have to drive and help with homework. Our kids are playing more. We’re able to work on certain things, like manners and respecting each other through the day, rather than in the few hours we used to have where everyone was tired. Today we did a cooking lesson not only for the skill development, but also because our kids are home all day now and eating more food. We needed more snacks to feed them through the day, but I shouldn’t have to be the only one responsible for that. We were able to prep some cut veggies to keep in the fridge and make homemade granola bars, while we worked on life skills and some math. And, at one point Olivia may have giggled and said, “I’m having way more fun than my friends at school right now!!!!” :)
There’s a lot more that I want to share as we get more into things, so there will definitely be more posts coming. Some of those things include:
~How I set up our homeschool space since we’re doing it in our kitchen/living room.
~How I’m managing my schedule between schooling and working for the mission.
~What curriculum we’re using and how we like it.
~How I’m managing the discipline side of things.
~What resources we’re using to help with our lessons.
I’m Leslie. I started my blog back in 2005 when I was fresh off the plane in Haiti. I lived in Haiti for over 17 years as a missionary, wife, and eventually mom. My husband and I ran Clean Water for Haiti together, day in and day out. We carved out a life we loved doing something important to us. Sadly, in the fall of 2022 we had to make the difficult decision to leave Haiti because of the insecurity. We’re now settling into life in the US. I’m thankful that I get to continue my work with CWH as the Executive Director for Canada and the US.
