A new school year. A fresh start... new books, new pencils, new goals, new ideas and new resolutions. Ah yes! What a feeling!
My experience with School started when I was about 4. It was a strange place. They didn't speak any English there and they sang strange songs about little men with apple heads and boats that tipped over. I knew I was liked by the teacher, she called me Belle Angela (even my name pronounced in French). She was kind but made me repeat my request to go the bathroom in French. My sister was 3, same school, different class. I crossed the street every morning and rode the bus to school. That's all I remember. I was there about a year and a half.
My world as I had known it suddenly did a 180 degree turn and everything changed. My parents became Christians and nothing was the same ever again... not even school! In fact that was it for the little French Immersion School for me. The whole responsibility of raising children had taken on a new meaning for my parents and they had heard about homeschooling. Neither of my parents had had a great experience in school. My Dad had been told in front of the whole class by his teacher that he would "be a ditch digger for the rest of his life". The prophecy might have come true, as he was a miner in the nickel mines of Sudbury for 9 years before he met Christ, but after that the Lord led him on an interesting path to becoming a powerful preacher and an administrator even thought he had not finished high school. My Mom's schooling was rough. Her mother 's first language was French, her father's Gaelic, so they spoke English at home. However, all the girls were expected to go to French school and all the boys to English school. She really didn't know any French and in those days if you missed a word in your reading you automatically lined up for the strap at the end of the day.... She missed many words and she got the strap every day in 1st grade. She hated school! She flunked 1st grade and a few other grades. She had one goal in school... to get out . She never finished high school. It's a wonder to me, then that they were so ready to put us into school at an early age. I guess you do what you know, and they didn't know any different. That changed when they learned about homeschooling.
We moved out to the country when I was 5 and I learned many things in the forests and out on the farm but it wasn't until I turned 8 years old that my Mom decided it was time for me to learn to read. In a matter of 3 months I could read my KJV Bible and was well on my way in homeschooling. Math was a struggle for me. I totally resented the fact that at 4 years old my brother could give me the answers to my math problems. It took me awhile to master the facts. My homeschooling years were filled with a variety of opportunities to learn to work in many settings. I could run the till and give change in the health food store, or serve customers at the vegan restaurant. I could transplant tiny seedlings in the commercial greenhouses, or pick strawberries for money, stand on the back of the corn seeder to make sure all was working right, cook for a crowd and sew my own clothes. I remember flying down the hill for a half a mile on my sled with my English book tucked in my coat to study near my Dad in the maple sugar shack. In summer I rode my horse a couple miles through the woods to piano lessons. Homeschooling was good and a natural choice for me to make for my own children.
Me in the pigtails...
I was 18 when my husband and I began our courtship. It was a couple days before he was leaving for college and my family and I were leaving as missionaries to Africa when we went on our first date. We had no time to dilly dally... there was so much ground we had to cover in that one date. And so we hashed through it all. One of the big things we established that evening was that we both were committed to homeschooling. And so, here we are!
We love homeschooling. We love having our children at home. I enjoy working with them and arranging educational opportunities. This year is our oldest daughter's first year of high school at home. There are some new challenges, but I feel no anxiety, only anticipation of what she will do. We have a 7th grader girl and a 5th grader girl. Our first month of school should be somewhat normal. At least, as normal as school in September can be with pears ready to can and applesauce calling! Come October we leave for Tanzania to help with an AIDS orphan project all together with several homeschooling families who are our dear friends. We will be gone 2 months. We are so excited!!! This is education HANDS ON!
God has promised: I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way thou shalt go; I will guide thee with Mine eyes. Ps. 32:8 With our school year plans in God's hands, I am excited! Aren't you?
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 03:39 - Link
What a fabulous story! Thank you so much for sharing it.
Mrs.Kerri
BFS Teacher
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 05:44 - Link
What an inspiring story. Thank you for sharing it!
Jessica
http://apathwithpromise.blogspot.com/
Wow
Posted by Sheri on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 05:53 - Link
what a story! I loved reading it tho and I wish you and your family a safe trip this fall. You are so right too-it is a total educational experience that will stay with them forever. God bless!
memories
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 11:10 - Link
i remember those dresses and the outfit your brother has on. I also remember the story of your parents and their educational experiences - the Lord has blessed them and they have given you 3 a firm foundation. It is very nice to read all your blogs
Joanne Courchesne
LOL
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 07:22 - Link
Jason looks like your dad!! It's uncanny. I don't know him, well, not really. They've just accepted us at Kibidula as long term missionaries so I came across his blog when I was doing some research. I wanted mroe than just their website. Thandi is a very popular name-more so among Nguni speakers. Both my grandmothers were called Thandi.My mother in law is called Thandi!
Me in the pigtails...
