We've come to the end of Term 1 -and it seems that I've picked up another student along the way. Soph has come to the end of her time at Suva Christian and will join Ethan at home with me. She made the decision to leave and is happy with it -but is still sad to be leaving some lovely people behind and she found it hard taking her uniform off on the last day. Anyway, Ethan is ecstatic and we have set up his bedroom as part classroom as it is so big. We are also ecstatic with 2 weeks of holidays ahead of us -with mum and dad coming in the second week - WOOHOO!! Here are some other photos of the last few weeks.

Fishing after school.

Success!

Another science experiment -wasn't quite the explosion that he was after, but still fun.

One of Ethan's latest dishes -lemon meringue pie-beautiful!

Soph's last day at school -finishing in prayer.

Goodbye Class 5 and Miss Betakai.

The kids new classroom at home.

Soph's area

Ethan's area

Gaering up to teach American history.

By far, the most frequently asked questions revolve around home-schooling. Why, who, what program, how long?? etc... So I will just try to answer them all in one hit.
Why -not happy with the school we started at -academically, socially and was killing their love of learning. We liked that they had to learn patience, mix with people different to them, learn how to persevere etc.. but it ran it's course. I wanted to home-school them to get them to an age-appropriate level before sending them to the International. I did 6 months with Hannah and am currently doing this year with Ethan (12).

Content -I write my own stuff. I follow the NSW maths syllabus. I choose english novels that I want them to read and tie it in with history. For example we did " My Place" for english, alongside Australian history. Next term we will do American History and CANNOT wait to study " To kill a mockingbird" together. I also throw in geography related to that country, like Ayers Rock , Great Barrier Reef. We fumble along with science on the internet. Learn poetry. Tony does exercise (running, tennis, squash) in the mornings followed by bible study. Also, PD (first aid, Christian book on sex/relationships) and he has art and a personal interest project of his choice. His cooking has really taken off -and we all have the slightly more snug pants to prove it! Oh and he comes to prison with me on Wednesday mornings to help teach. This week he was teaching them about camels -once they finished their maths -they were gobsmacked ha!

Social -as riveting as my company is, I don't think I quite cut it in the social department. He does hockey, soccer and nippers during the week. We also try to invite the boys who live behind us over for pizza/movies occasionally. He finds it lonely and boring at times, but thinks he can make it through the year. He will go to school next year. As for Soph, she finds the Christian school boring and unstimulating -so we will keep assessing her at the end of each term. Basically, flexibility is the key to living here -so far so good!

Friday afternoon nippers class (paddling, surf life-saving etc)

Australian history timeline.

Making damper -beautiful hot, with melted butter.

Brilliant having Tony working at home alot -boy fun at recess.

When he;s bored he'll often pop outisde and catch a frog....

to freak out his poor mum...

Hockey on Thursdays

Prison on Wednesdays

Just finished teaching the ladies maths and about the water cycle.

Soccer in the rain - if we waited for good weather, we would never get to play!

I feel like I've shown alot of the fun stuff -that's prob. about 20% of the time. Alot of it is Eth sitting at a computer or sitting over his maths book groaning and looking at the clock. I try to be as practical as I can be with little resources and not many options for excursions -but praise the Lord for the internet, which has pretty much made the whole thing possible!! Plus, I love getting to hang with hilarious Ethan - cracks me up!

Thought I'd do a couple of posts that give an update on the kids -and about schooling, which is the most frequently asked question. So, Hannah first. Last year she went to a Christian school, which we didn't like, so the second half of the year, she was home-schooled. That helped her to get to an age-appropriate level and prepare her for the International School that she has just began. She loves it and says that she "has finally found a little patch of the North Shore" -meaning that it is comfortable and familiar and she feels at home there. She loves her friends, most of her teachers and finds the work interesting and do-able. Getting herself up early, lunch done, uniform ready and on a bus in the mornings has been new this year -and she is a champion at it! Here are a few pics.

In the art room.

Athletics Carnival.

Unfortunately last weekend, Hannah started to feel pain in her stomach so we left church early to head home. Before we even got to the car, she collapsed on the footpath and wasn't responding to me. Tony was at home looking after sick Soph, so some men on the street helped me carry her to a bus stop and they called an ambulance.(only $9 for the ambulance!!). We spent the next 6 hours in hospital waiting for test results, but nothing showed -just given antibiotics for a virus. Anyway, a couple of days off school and a bit of chocolate and all seems ok again. Thankful for that!

On a drip in hospital.

Bit of damage in recent cyclone -this was underwater the next day.

Lots of boardgames by candlelight while the power was out.

More gifts from generous missionary supporters.

Training day for leaders -SO encouraging!

Ethan decided to cook us all a 3-course meal-4 hours preparation!

Yep, we'll be eating here again!

Entree- beautiful!

Main -superb!

Dessert -choc mint cheesecake - delicious!

So that's a bit of our life of late. We have had a fair bit of sickness -mainly Ethan, so schooling has taken a bit of a back seat. Also with the wild weather, schools were shut, so boardgames, books and telly have kept us going. Still 800 people homeless from the flooding so we are praying for them and putting bags of clothes and canned food together for them. Very thankful for a solid house.