31 Days Reflecting on our lives while in Haiti....Day 6
Day 6
What are they actually learning?
I feel like I have often thought this question over and over and over after we dove into homeschooling. But, to be honest, I know I asked that question before we jumped into educating our munchkins at home.
Back story:
When we lived in Colorado we had Malachi and Rachel enrolled in a wonderful charter school that was incredible! When the Lord called us to sell our home and move to San Diego for a discipleship school, I really had no idea we would end up homeschooling...NO IDEA! It was not on my radar. I had a very wrong perspective of homeschooling and the children that came out of it. So because Aaron would attend the school in the morning for 5+ hours and I would then go to the night class I knew I wouldn't see my kids, so the best option was home school. I can tell you this...it was so hard! Trying to figure out what they needed to learn; what kind of math, what English, how to do P.E. at home?? HA!
It was a rough start but God began speaking very loudly to me right at the beginning. I struggled to figure it out. I would love to tell you that I got it figured out, what He was working out in me, before we left to Haiti. But, nope. That would all come out when I was in my moments of struggle and victories where I had no one who could come have a cup of coffee and lift me up. No playgrounds to drop them off so I could unwind my mind. No babysitters...
So, let me take you to our homeschooling in Haiti. I think for the first 2 months we had no real schooling...really! We had all 4 kiddos in a room with 2 bunk beds, and one of our teammates, sweet Melissa living with us for over a month. So I really don't think we started any school...for a while! Then we figured out to move the kids into Melissa's empty room and try to create a good learning atmosphere. So, here's what it took to create that. We didn't have a vehicle, so taxis up and down into town searching. We had learned we needed a trustworthy translator for negotiating, until we got the language.
So Aaron ventures into town to find carpenters in little metal, hot shacks that can hand make some kids desks, a desk for me and some book shelves. Yep, hand made. No machines. So, with negotiating this was where we really learned how it works. The 3 separate carpenters he talked to both told Aaron a super high price. Then each one told our translator, in Creole, that they would pay the translator a large sum if he told us this high price was the normal price. Thankfully this translator was up front with Aaron when they left the first shack. So...began the game. And the intense learning we had to do to find out right prices and to not ever be in a rush or desperate need, because you really negotiate for everything and you may have to walk away without...anything.
So..school.
Searching for simple things to make it feel like a learning environment took months. Just the language and the fact that there really isn't one place (Walmart) you can buy things...at ALL! After great effort here's what my amazing husband worked hard to make:
We eventually had a chalk board mounted to the wall and it felt so good! A place to focus. A place to learn.
What I believed this room would create was an educational atmosphere. And the learning would be those books...on the shelf.
And there is where I faced that challenge again. The first year had emotional struggles with each one of our kids. UNBELIEVABLE challenges.
And when the internet would work I caught myself scrolling through Facebook missing people...and then comparing my kids to what I "saw" was the healthy education they weren't getting. The first day of school photo. The athletic events to be in or cheer for. The field trips. The actual report cards that said these kids achieved something. And I struggled.
So moving into our second year we came back to Haiti trying to make our home life have healthier rhythms. Aaron would be more available to help with just basic home life. And we decided to put our 3 youngest kids in the local school. Hoping they would learn the language faster and find relationships with local kiddos. We gave Malachi and Rachel the option to stay at home and Malachi decided to stay home with me. His time with me was so healing for our relationship! Such sweet time to pour into my firstborn and to mend wounds he may have had towards me just by being with him.
As far as the local schooling ....
Can you find them? I'm so glad I got these photos. This was such a challenging step. The school is taught all in French. The local language, Creole, is not allowed at all at the school. And only one teacher knew a few English words! The school conditions are pretty nice Haitian conditions. They had painted walls, some desks, and it was pretty swept. But it still was 90ish degrees in the room and they had one 15 minute break for 4 hours of listening to the teacher teach! And quite obviously our children are the only foreign kids who have ever been in this school. So many challenges. I totally remember Rachel coming back the second week and saying she thinks she was in trouble for not doing homework...I had no clue. She and I both don't speak French and the teacher couldn't explain it in English. So praise Jesus for Google Translate so we figured out she had homework!
October came and on the 4th of the month Hurricane Matthew hit our town directly for over 11 hours straight. The school they went to was wrecked like most of our town. So after a LOT of things happened, Aaron and I talked about what to do with the kids. Mind you, they had no school work for about 2 months because of the Hurricane. Our lives were flipped...again.
I sat down and asked each kiddo privately if they were excited to go back to the school. When tears filled their eyes and they each said they wanted to stay with me, I knew they'd been through enough and being home was best.
I so wish I could say we just had this perfect homeschooling scenario all the time. But God...He would take me through these challenges to get me to a place I absolutely needed to be. You see, when we started homeschooling in San Diego I was a student at the ministry school. I would start to teach the kids their school and they would always ask me to share what I was learning at Impact195. With passion we'd get into some amazing lessons and they loved it. And about an hour or so in I would begin to stress that they weren't learning what they "needed" to learn. And I remember the sweet words of my Father telling me this..."if you give them Me, I will bless their talents."
What I didn't realize was that wouldn't be a one moment thing. It would take me breaking down every belief I had about schooling. Everything. So much of what I defined this life as, came from the education they needed in school. I had so much of this backwards. I knew their identities are not in how well they do in school. The Word reminds me that I should only boast in the Lord. So as a parent, what am I the most proud of? How far they are in math? How skilled they are as a singer...or athlete?
And then there's the thought that they are missing out. Or am I not setting them up for success in this life...
So, not all of these wrong beliefs left my mind when we were in Haiti. When we got back to the US someone blessed our kids to be tested and possibly attend the private Rock Academy at our Church. When we sat down to hear how all 4 kids did, He met me again. Malachi and Rachel's classrooms didn't have space for any more kids. They tested and the teachers came and said that they wanted to make exceptions for them. Not because of their good test scores. But because of who they are. They saw His light in them and felt they would greatly bless the class! AMAZING! And then the results for Isaiah and Caleb were that they were behind on their test and should stay home and focus on major reading issues. When I heard this I began to cry. I whispered in my tears "it's my fault". The principal blessed me so much and encouraged me and so did Aaron. But what I whispered sat in my heart. What ran through my mind was the opportunities we had to take our family out. We had a level 5 hurricane destroy our town. And 3 months after Hurricane Matthew our family and team were evacuated by the UN for attacks on Americans in our town. We had opportunities to take our family out and put the kids in a place of ease. And because of those things I know those two littles missed like 6 months of schooling! We could've left Haiti at any point.
And once I let those thoughts in, He spoke. He brought memories flooding my mind. Memories of seeing Isaiah baptized in Haiti. Moments of Isaiah asking over and over again how to be a disciple. Watching Caleb serve and follow his dad on every outing to help that he could. And then when we were evacuated by the UN we were in the Dominican Republic and our team attended a Todd White "Power and Love" conference. While there the first night I was holding Caleb while he slept and our whole team had gone up for prayer. It was a huge tent full of 500+ locals. I wondered where my other kids had gone when all of the sudden, Isaiah comes to me with tears sobbing. He was 6. I thought he was scarred or lost. I asked him if he was ok. All he said while sobbing "I'm changed. Mom, I'm changed." I said, "What do you mean?"
"I'm changed. Mom. Someone prayed for me and I felt like I needed to pray for every ones pain. I turned and prayed for this guy. He said he felt healed."
.."if you give them Me first, I will bless their talent"
Oh how I needed those memories. There were so many of God moving in them and changing who they are. And pressing in and homeschooling Isaiah and Caleb alone those first 5 months in the US was so great. I see both of them rising above. But most of all, that's just a bonus. That's not our goal. We are raising eternal beings who were created to bring glory to the King of Kings who loves them immensely. Watching them fall in love with Him and be used in peoples lives is success....
a little Roman homeschool moment our first year in Haiti..
What are they actually learning?
I feel like I have often thought this question over and over and over after we dove into homeschooling. But, to be honest, I know I asked that question before we jumped into educating our munchkins at home.
Back story:
When we lived in Colorado we had Malachi and Rachel enrolled in a wonderful charter school that was incredible! When the Lord called us to sell our home and move to San Diego for a discipleship school, I really had no idea we would end up homeschooling...NO IDEA! It was not on my radar. I had a very wrong perspective of homeschooling and the children that came out of it. So because Aaron would attend the school in the morning for 5+ hours and I would then go to the night class I knew I wouldn't see my kids, so the best option was home school. I can tell you this...it was so hard! Trying to figure out what they needed to learn; what kind of math, what English, how to do P.E. at home?? HA!
It was a rough start but God began speaking very loudly to me right at the beginning. I struggled to figure it out. I would love to tell you that I got it figured out, what He was working out in me, before we left to Haiti. But, nope. That would all come out when I was in my moments of struggle and victories where I had no one who could come have a cup of coffee and lift me up. No playgrounds to drop them off so I could unwind my mind. No babysitters...
So, let me take you to our homeschooling in Haiti. I think for the first 2 months we had no real schooling...really! We had all 4 kiddos in a room with 2 bunk beds, and one of our teammates, sweet Melissa living with us for over a month. So I really don't think we started any school...for a while! Then we figured out to move the kids into Melissa's empty room and try to create a good learning atmosphere. So, here's what it took to create that. We didn't have a vehicle, so taxis up and down into town searching. We had learned we needed a trustworthy translator for negotiating, until we got the language.
So Aaron ventures into town to find carpenters in little metal, hot shacks that can hand make some kids desks, a desk for me and some book shelves. Yep, hand made. No machines. So, with negotiating this was where we really learned how it works. The 3 separate carpenters he talked to both told Aaron a super high price. Then each one told our translator, in Creole, that they would pay the translator a large sum if he told us this high price was the normal price. Thankfully this translator was up front with Aaron when they left the first shack. So...began the game. And the intense learning we had to do to find out right prices and to not ever be in a rush or desperate need, because you really negotiate for everything and you may have to walk away without...anything.
So..school.
Searching for simple things to make it feel like a learning environment took months. Just the language and the fact that there really isn't one place (Walmart) you can buy things...at ALL! After great effort here's what my amazing husband worked hard to make:
What I believed this room would create was an educational atmosphere. And the learning would be those books...on the shelf.
And there is where I faced that challenge again. The first year had emotional struggles with each one of our kids. UNBELIEVABLE challenges.
And when the internet would work I caught myself scrolling through Facebook missing people...and then comparing my kids to what I "saw" was the healthy education they weren't getting. The first day of school photo. The athletic events to be in or cheer for. The field trips. The actual report cards that said these kids achieved something. And I struggled.
So moving into our second year we came back to Haiti trying to make our home life have healthier rhythms. Aaron would be more available to help with just basic home life. And we decided to put our 3 youngest kids in the local school. Hoping they would learn the language faster and find relationships with local kiddos. We gave Malachi and Rachel the option to stay at home and Malachi decided to stay home with me. His time with me was so healing for our relationship! Such sweet time to pour into my firstborn and to mend wounds he may have had towards me just by being with him.
As far as the local schooling ....
October came and on the 4th of the month Hurricane Matthew hit our town directly for over 11 hours straight. The school they went to was wrecked like most of our town. So after a LOT of things happened, Aaron and I talked about what to do with the kids. Mind you, they had no school work for about 2 months because of the Hurricane. Our lives were flipped...again.
I sat down and asked each kiddo privately if they were excited to go back to the school. When tears filled their eyes and they each said they wanted to stay with me, I knew they'd been through enough and being home was best.
I so wish I could say we just had this perfect homeschooling scenario all the time. But God...He would take me through these challenges to get me to a place I absolutely needed to be. You see, when we started homeschooling in San Diego I was a student at the ministry school. I would start to teach the kids their school and they would always ask me to share what I was learning at Impact195. With passion we'd get into some amazing lessons and they loved it. And about an hour or so in I would begin to stress that they weren't learning what they "needed" to learn. And I remember the sweet words of my Father telling me this..."if you give them Me, I will bless their talents."
What I didn't realize was that wouldn't be a one moment thing. It would take me breaking down every belief I had about schooling. Everything. So much of what I defined this life as, came from the education they needed in school. I had so much of this backwards. I knew their identities are not in how well they do in school. The Word reminds me that I should only boast in the Lord. So as a parent, what am I the most proud of? How far they are in math? How skilled they are as a singer...or athlete?
And then there's the thought that they are missing out. Or am I not setting them up for success in this life...
So, not all of these wrong beliefs left my mind when we were in Haiti. When we got back to the US someone blessed our kids to be tested and possibly attend the private Rock Academy at our Church. When we sat down to hear how all 4 kids did, He met me again. Malachi and Rachel's classrooms didn't have space for any more kids. They tested and the teachers came and said that they wanted to make exceptions for them. Not because of their good test scores. But because of who they are. They saw His light in them and felt they would greatly bless the class! AMAZING! And then the results for Isaiah and Caleb were that they were behind on their test and should stay home and focus on major reading issues. When I heard this I began to cry. I whispered in my tears "it's my fault". The principal blessed me so much and encouraged me and so did Aaron. But what I whispered sat in my heart. What ran through my mind was the opportunities we had to take our family out. We had a level 5 hurricane destroy our town. And 3 months after Hurricane Matthew our family and team were evacuated by the UN for attacks on Americans in our town. We had opportunities to take our family out and put the kids in a place of ease. And because of those things I know those two littles missed like 6 months of schooling! We could've left Haiti at any point.
And once I let those thoughts in, He spoke. He brought memories flooding my mind. Memories of seeing Isaiah baptized in Haiti. Moments of Isaiah asking over and over again how to be a disciple. Watching Caleb serve and follow his dad on every outing to help that he could. And then when we were evacuated by the UN we were in the Dominican Republic and our team attended a Todd White "Power and Love" conference. While there the first night I was holding Caleb while he slept and our whole team had gone up for prayer. It was a huge tent full of 500+ locals. I wondered where my other kids had gone when all of the sudden, Isaiah comes to me with tears sobbing. He was 6. I thought he was scarred or lost. I asked him if he was ok. All he said while sobbing "I'm changed. Mom, I'm changed." I said, "What do you mean?"
"I'm changed. Mom. Someone prayed for me and I felt like I needed to pray for every ones pain. I turned and prayed for this guy. He said he felt healed."
.."if you give them Me first, I will bless their talent"
Oh how I needed those memories. There were so many of God moving in them and changing who they are. And pressing in and homeschooling Isaiah and Caleb alone those first 5 months in the US was so great. I see both of them rising above. But most of all, that's just a bonus. That's not our goal. We are raising eternal beings who were created to bring glory to the King of Kings who loves them immensely. Watching them fall in love with Him and be used in peoples lives is success....
a little Roman homeschool moment our first year in Haiti..
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