School in 2020

School has been a constant adventure for our family over the years. And when I say adventure, I mean a bundle of stress and transitions. 

Greyson began Kindergarten in a school in Papua and he was immersed into an entire culture that was new to him while still teaching him the basics in English. We were thankful that he already was pretty advanced for his age so any setbacks that he may have had due to language barriers weren't enough to prevent him from getting the education he needed. We were thankful he had that experience and was able to make friends and learn some new words!

For Greyson's 1st grade we jumped from one house to another in our base town and did homeschooling while we worked through plans and details for moving into the village. The constant moving around made it feel so disjointed at times but it was good for the kids to have some semblance of routine.

Then we moved into the village and started 2nd grade with Greyson and Kindergarten with Amelia.

 Thankfully, as a super laid back mom when it comes to homeschooling, I wasn't stressed about Amelia's Kindergarten education and just let her work through a book and learn as she played or watched Greyson do his own school. It was hard when we moved in to find a good rhythm that first year. We were adding in the stresses of us, as parents, expending loads of mental energy while trying to also teach the kids. I remember feeling like I could never do it all right. Either I was failing in homeschooling and spending time with the kids, or I was failing to be out with the people and show myself friendly. I was very hard on myself. However, I was finally able to set up a nice little school nook in the house, organize our things, and the kids had their own spaces to get their work done. 

Our lives aren't conducive to following the standard school breaks as we are often traveling at random times throughout the year for visas, supply buying, or medical/dental trips. And when your only option for getting around is flying, you are constantly having to watch how much weight you bring on the plane. So we typically never bring out our school books when it's going to only be a 2-3 week trip out of the village. And yes, this has definitely back-fired before when we got stuck in town due to unforseen circumstances. All you can do is shrug and make the most of it!

We didn't really finish their 2nd/K year too well as that was when we went through one of the most difficult times of our lives. As we worked through some very hard things as a team, I was also worried that the kids weren't finishing well and I purposed in my heart to do better the next year. Our furlough was coming up and there was the possibility of putting the kids into public school, which brought this mama some definite excitement.

However, because we planned for a 7 month furlough and we're going to do a lot of traveling, we decided that doing homeschool was really the most flexible option for our family. Of course, I was dreading it...the thought of homeschooling in hotel rooms and in the car and other peoples' homes did not bode for a relaxing furlough. But we did it. We took breaks to travel, did school in Michigan and Virginia and made the most of our time moving around to also teach the kids some fun facts about America. 

The kids learned some stuff, so I called it a win 😁

Then our plans completely changed again as we all of a sudden got some adoption news that meant we would travel to Madagascar sooner than later. So we decided to cancel our plans to return to our home in Asia Pacific in December and wait for the green light to fly to Madagascar to pick up our son. Enter the year 2020. So we homeschooled up until we left for Madagascar in February and brought the rest of our school stuff with us to finish out the year there. 

Getting Rovan was one of the best experiences of our lives. And I will never look at 2020 as completely spoiled because it was the year Rovan was finally adopted into our family. With that brought so much change and excitement. We stayed in an apartment for 2 weeks and then moved to a guesthouse that gave us more space, had other kids around to play with, and was more fit for our family and the need to keep schooling the kids while helping Rovan adapt. Thankfully it went so well. The kids got some routine and we were able to spend the needed time focusing on Rovan. 

We didn't end that school year super well either as we were there a bit longer than expected due to Covid and court proceedings. So we ended up running out of the school work that I brought. 

Another shrug and a "We'll be fine."

Once we were able to travel back to the states (a whole story on its own), we went with news that our return to Asia Pacific was going to be delayed due to Covid and some other unforseen visa issues. That was also the time we decided to pile on more crazy things and buy a house, which we are now realizing was God, in His sovereignty and care of us, providing for our future. We arrived back in America in May 2020. 

It was wishful thinking to think we'd be leaving to go back home to the village any time soon. I'd also realized that I'd ordered and sent some of my next years' homeschool books to Papua already. So the decision to forget homeschooling and place them in public school was a pretty easy one. Of course we would have loved for the world to be a little more normal so they could physically go to school and meet new friends. But Covid meant that the kids were going to be virtual. So this is where we find ourselves now. We are still waiting. Still wondering when our return date is (though there is a light at the end of the tunnel). And I'm so thankful we went with public school. There's a lot about it I love. The kids are learning from an educated teacher and they can still be home to do it. It's not quite as flexible as homeschool but it's more flexible than it could be if they were attending in person. I have loved their teachers and appreciate all they are doing for these kids. When I think of all the preparation that has gone into teaching virtually, and seen all of the programs they're using online, I am just amazed. 

As I look ahead, I don't know what I will do if we leave in the middle of the school year. Perhaps the teachers can give us some materials to finish out the year and we'll begin homeschooling as soon as we're settled back home. 

The lesson I've learned from these past few years of schooling the kids is that it's not worth stressing through having the perfect set up or the perfect curriculum. Encourage reading as much as you can, praise their hard work, recognize that every kid learns a little differently, and set reasonable goals. It's hard but you won't ruin your kids. They'll learn no matter what!