Growing up in the jungle...

It means your family is very close!

And Christmas time is HOT!

It means you grew up knowing how to make casave bread...

and hanging out with your indian friends is fun!

You do not realize they are living in poverty...

Perhaps because people would consider that you are living in poverty as well!
But you think you are rich!

It means your dad convinces you to play golf on the airstrip!

It means you were potty trained in an outhouse!

So you know how to appreciate an indoor toilet!

It means you use the river as your playground!

And swim at a very young age.

Your best friends are indian children!

It means, at a very young age, you are the best translator for any outsider
...even government officials and medical groups.

This is normal for you! The indians trust you. And , who else speaks, English-Spanish-Ye'kwana with a little bit of Sanema!

It means you had to help build your own house, even though a child!
By weaving the palm roof...

or helping to lay the hand made adobe bricks...

you help mix the mud used for mortar and learn hard work is FUN!

So you understand all the hard work that went into making your mud hut!

It may mean helping take care of the sick...

It means you have exotic pets...

Meet "Frutilupis" !

This toucan was a regular visitor at our house every afternoon. My husband would pop corn in the late afternoon and sit outside and share it with 'Fruitlupis', which is the Venezuelan name for Froot Loops cereal. This toucan would sit on his shoulder and share the pop corn right out of my husbands hand.

Meet "Bambi" !

Jayde would bottle feed this fawn named "Bambi". Her mother was killed by the hunters and they brought the fawn back to the village to be cared for. She was cared for until old enough to survive on her own in the jungle. Once old enough she was released.

It means you learn to make your own fun!
This improvised see-saw the children made lasted for weeks!

It means putting on plays for your parents!

Even musicals!

It means you are more familiar with flying in small planes than in riding in cars. Taking a taxi ride is 'exotic' and unusual to you, but flying for two hours over the jungle, landing on short grass airstrips is boring...you can sleep through that!

It means you might convince your mom into allowing you to wear a Mohawk!
That way you feel like a real indian!

It means you were home schooled.

It means Aunt Beth came to teach you algebra,
even though no one else in the village cares about your suffering!

It may mean you learn to walk on a dirt floor.

But most of all, you know it is for a good cause!
Building churches! Changing Lives!

5 Words

Betty ( A glimpse into midlife) is a friend of mine who lives here in the Chaco of Paraguay. She has assigned me these five words. for my post today.

Here are the five words.

1. Paraguay
2. Tomorrow
3. Spring
4. Grandchildren
5. Home school


Paraguay




I can barely beleive I have been here for over a year already. At times I still feel so new here. When we had to leave Venezuela under such difficult circumstances, I did not know if I would be able to adapt and accept living somewhere else. I am so thankful that I am enjoying my life here in Paraguay more than I thought I would.

We have had some wonderful ministry opportunities since arriving, I know this is where we are to be. My husband has been teaching and preaching in two different churches and we have seen blessings in both. We have had several seminars presenting materials on how to have a successful marriage. We have been invited to do these seminars for some large corporations who wish to offer help to their executives. Clint also has had such an open door into the Air Force for teaching and counseling the officers of the Paraguayan Air Force.

Last week he was invited to lecture to a class of future chaplains of the National Police and Armed Forces of Paraguay. This will be the first group of non Catholics allowed to fill the position of chaplaincy.

So far, Paraguayans have only been kind and hospitable towards us. We are learning to not only love the country but also the people. And the food!


TOMORROW

Tomorrow is Wednesday. Wednesday is a day for making sure we are not falling behind with Jayde's home school classes. I also start to plan my Sunday School lesson and craft so that I have time to go out and get any supplies I might need.

Clint spends most of the day in study for his upcoming sermons and will have a deacons meeting at the church in the evening. Often, the men will request I send a chocolate cake. :)


SPRING

It is Spring here in Paraguay. My orchids are blooming! The city of Asuncion is very pretty this time of the year. I think it is one of the prettiest cities I have seen because there is still quite a bit of greenery in the city. Right now all the Lapacho trees are in bloom. Most are pink, but some are yellow and a few are white. It reminds me of the Cherry Blossoms of DC.

It is weird to be in the Southern Hemisphere where the seasons still feel reversed for me. Thanksgiving is in the Spring! Christmas is in the Summer. Easter is in the Fall, and the Fourth of July is in the Winter!


Grandchildren

I miss mine! I have two grand daughters, Elena is four, and Abby is two. My third grand child will be born this March. It would be nice to have a boy, but we will be thrilled, what ever may be.
Grand children are very special. I always heard people say that, but now I know it is true! Or maybe just mine are so special?

My daughter and her family are having a year furlough in the USA and will be back next winter (your summer) I can't wait! I miss Elena knocking on the door saying, "Coco (grandpa in Ye'kwana) Aicha (grandma in Ye'kwana) I'm here!" And Abby walking straight to the kitchen looking for the jello she loves!




Home school





Because of where we have lived, I have chosen to home school all my children. Three have graduated and gone on to college and all have done well. I never realized how much I would enjoy home schooling.

The early elementary years were the hardest for me. Perhaps because I had so many young ones all at the same time, perhaps because we lived in the jungle and had no running water and other amenities at the time. Or perhaps because it seemed that one of us was always down with malaria or dengue.

The middle years were so much fun! We did a lot of unit studies together and used a literature based curriculum which we all enjoyed.

By the time the children reach high School, they have needed very little input from me. I do the lesson plans, grade the tests and papers and am available as a sounding board for discussions or any questions they may have, but I do very little lecturing. They tend to lecture me by this point!

Jewel was my most challenging student because of her dyslexia. I am so proud of her, in spite of her challenges she has always managed to stay at or above grade level. She is an avid reader. She spells better in Spanish than English. This is her first semester in college and she is keeping her grades in the 90% -100% range, so far.

My youngest daughter, the only child still at home, is in the 9th grade. We are finishing up our last quarter of the year and will have our summer vacation in December. I know, I know. It's weird!

We are finishing up World History , Biology, English Grammar and Composition,
Geometry, Bible, and English Literature.

Those are my five words from Betty! Anyone who wishes to do the meme, just let me know in the comments and I will assign you five words!

Raising Children Overseas

Have you heard of the term TCK? TCK stands for Third Culture Kid, but what exactly is a TCK? The definition, taken from the book of the same title, is as follows:

"A third culture kid is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her life outside of their parents' culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background."

I wanted to encourage those of you raising your children overseas by the following survey results. The survey was carried out by MK CART/CORE. A group of 10 sending agencies (Mission agencies) surveyed 608 ATCK's (adult third culture kids) and it is obvious they do well academically.

*30% of the respondents graduated from High School with Honors
*27% were elected to National Honor Society
*73% graduated from university
*25% graduated from university with honors
*3% were Phi Beta Kappas
*11% were listed in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities.

Another survey revealed that a high percentage of TCK's go on to post secondary school education. And yet another survey, done in 1993, showed that while 21% of the American population as a whole had graduated from a 4 year college or university, 81% of TCK's had earned at least a bachelor's degree. Half of them went on to earn master's or doctorate degrees.

This was written by an Australian ATCK who grew up in India.

"Uniquely Me" by Alex Graham James.

I am a confusion of cultures. Uniquely me.I think this is good because I can understand the traveler, sojourner, foreigner, the homesickness that comes. I think this is also bad because I can not be understood by the person who has sown and grown in one place. They know not the real meaning of homesickness that hits me now and then. Sometimes I despair of understanding them. I am an island and a United Nations. Who can recognize either in me but God?

What is interesting, is that I find reading the above to be quite melancholic, but my children seem to find comfort in it. They are glad to see that others feel as they do. A separate group of TCK's that somehow belong together, whether they were raised in Asia, Africa, Europe...matters not. They belong to each other. They do not call any certain place home, for them, home is a group of people like themselves, other TCK's who have experienced the same type of background.

TIME magazine ran a cover story last year on the skills and abilities that American students will need in a globalized world. They said that the American student needs to develop certain skills in order to compete globally. Whether we like it or not, the world is shrinking and our children and grand children will need to now who to adjust to this globalization.

1.Global-trade literate
2.Sensitive to foreign cultures
3.Conversant in different languages

I couldn't help but think,"Hey, MK's(missionary kid) and TCK's(third culture kid) have a great head start!" I have watched my children communicate cross-culturally with great ease. I am often amazed how my children can Instant Message with several people in different languages at the same time, while listening to an Italian opera. Gives me a headache, but they are often unaware that they are going back and forth between three, or even four, languages.

MK's (TCK's) are able to think out side of the box. Actually, they can't stand to be put in a box at all! They are able to think creatively because often growing up in different cultures, they had to, in order to survive being the minority. They are able to accept that another culture may have a better way. They are often able to see how two distinct perspectives can be combined to produce an even better method.

For parents raising MK's (TCK's), don't feel discouraged about the education you may think your children are being deprived of by not living state side. You are actually preparing them for a bright, fruitful future. God needs followers who are not afraid to go beyond the narrow mental and cultural borders so many of us occupy.




Pictured here are our family's TCK's in the jungle, Christmas 1999. All have been home schooled.(My children and my nieces and nephews, all grew up in Venezuela.)











These are the same children, plus the youngest, Christmas 2007 in the US.
( My daughter Jackie is substituted by my daughter in law, Naomy)
Three have married and two of them and their spouses are in college. One is now a missionary wife and mother, one is a Pastor, three more are attending college in the US.


We are proud of them all!

You know you're a TCK when:


- "Where are you from?" has more than one reasonable answer.
- You've said that you're from foreign country X, and your audience has asked you which US state X is in.
- You flew before you could walk.
- You speak two languages, but can’t spell in either.
- You feel odd being in the ethnic majority.
- You have three passports.
- You have a passport but no driver's license.
- You go into culture shock upon returning to your "home" country.
- Your life story uses the phrase "Then we moved to..." three (or four, or five...) times.
- You wince when people mispronounce foreign words.
- You don't know whether to write the date as day/month/year, month/day/year, or some variation thereof.
- The best word for something is the word you learned first, regardless of the language.
- You get confused because US money isn't color-coded.
- You think VISA is a document that's stamped in your passport, not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.
- You own personal appliances with 3 types of plugs, know the difference between 110 and 220 volts, 50 and 60 cycle current, and realize that a transformer isn't always enough to make your appliances work.
- You fried a number of appliances during the learning process.
- You think the Pledge of Allegiance might possibly begin with "Four-score and seven years ago...."
- Half of your phone calls are unintelligible to those around you.
- You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball.
- You consider a city 500 miles away "very close."
- You get homesick reading National Geographic.
- You cruise the Internet looking for fonts that can support foreign alphabets.
- You think in the metric system and Celsius.
- You may have learned to think in feet and miles as well, after a few years of living (and driving) in the US. (But not Fahrenheit. You will *never* learn to think in Fahrenheit).
- You haggle with the checkout clerk for a lower price.
- Your minor is a foreign language you already speak.
- When asked a question in a certain language, you've absentmindedly respond in a different one.
- You miss the subtitles when you see the latest movie.
- You've gotten out of school because of monsoons, bomb threats, and/or popular demonstrations.
- You speak with authority on the subject of airline travel.
- You have frequent flyer accounts on multiple airlines.
- You constantly want to use said frequent flyer accounts to travel to new places.
- You know how to pack.
- You have the urge to move to a new country every couple of years.
- The thought of sending your (hypothetical) kids to public school scares you, while the thought of letting them fly alone doesn't at all.
- You think that high school reunions are all but impossible.
- You have friends from 29 different countries.
- You sort your friends by continent.
- You have a time zone map next to your telephone.
- You realize what a small world it is, after all.


I know I have a lot of ex-pat readers and even several Adult Third Culture Kids, as well as younger MK's, what would you add to the above list? Was your experience as a TCK positive or negative?

Creating Curiosity

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
~Clay P. Bedford

(My kids called these 'Science Experiences' rather than experiments.)

This has long been my goal for my children. Although I have always home schooled my children, this philosophy could be implemented in any home by any parent. Many teachers do try to do the same in the traditional classroom setting.

This explains my personal suspicion of all packaged curriculum or the thinking that what works for one child will work for all. Every child is so very unique and born with different tastes and interests. If the parent, or teacher, can tap into this natural curiosity and direct it into a system of study, you will find an eager, willing student.

When my children were very young we would read aloud every day and they usually chose the books from which we would read. Of course I made sure to purchase books worth reading and looking at. A professor in college directed me to the book, 'Honey for a Child's Heart' by Gladys Hunt, and I found it very helpful in finding appropriate literature for each age group.

Reading aloud will open up great discussion even with a very young child. You will begin to see what captures their imagination and what subjects interest them. Take this natural curiosity a step further by implementing crafts or projects in relation to the books.

When my children were a bit older, early elementary age, I painted a time line on the wall of one of our back rooms. We began to add every event or person we discovered in our readings. Anyone who captured their attention or an event we read of, would be plotted on the time line. Young children do not always have a realistic grasp of time or sequence. This visual aid helped establish this in their minds for future use.

Another aspect of the time line was that we plotted all biblical characters as well as secular ones. In this way the children grew up realizing the Bible was a historical book with true events and happenings.

When we moved from that house into our mud hut, I was unable to repaint the time line and I found I needed something more compact and portable when we traveled in the states. I began a large notebook / 3 ring binder in which the children plotted their discoveries onto a time line which marched across the top of each page. We could add half sheets which did not cover the time line for additional notes or pictures to illustrate the events further. We also placed pocket envelopes in to hold actual specimens or larger objects which could not be pasted into the book.

Originally I had intended for each child to have their own Time Line book but found it hard to keep up with them all. I also noticed that by sharing the same book, the children would often become interested in the notations of events which had been placed there by one of their siblings. Their curiosity would be piqued and they would begin to want to learn more about it. I thought this was helpful and a wonderful means by which to expose them to new subjects. It also gave the children the opportunity to teach one another about their personal interests.

By adding in Art and Science activities to our time line we would discover some amazing things together and the children were constantly investigating on their own. This would explain some of the things I have found my children doing. Discoveries which often left me amazed at what they were capable to do by themselves, such as nearly creating a workable rocket in the middle of the jungle.

Josh sharing with his sisters something he discovered in his science studies.

Study time.

Historical figure dress up day.
We dressed up as individuals who were on our time line.
Can you guess who we all are supposed to be?

Answers, Part Two

Home school answers and memories.

The early years of home schooling.
(Lots of messes!)

Sarah Joy said...

Yes, did you have trouble homeschooling on the road??

One of the most difficult things about being a missionary is the time spent traveling in the states and trying to home school.

If your furlough will be 3 months or less and your children are still in elementary school, I would not even attempt formal schooling. I would recommended reading aloud in the car or listening to Cd's of good literature. Use the time in the US to discover America, visit historical places on your travels. Make scrapbooks and allow them to write their adventures and memories of their trips, flash cards are easy to use in the car to review material the children need to keep up with.

Older students need to stay on target with the core subjects. Supplement with literature and field trips as well. The only time I use a packaged curriculum is while on furlough. I find that something like ACE is easy to cart around and the work is already done for the teacher. Carry a small file box with you so that everything gets filed right away. Organization is a must while on the road.

The biggest challenge is trying to make the time for school, especially during Mission Conferences. Many Pastors expect the wife to be very involved in daily activities and offer to put the kids in their church schools for the week. This does not really accomplish much for the student. The Pastors do not realize that where as the conference is only one week out of the year for them, it is likely a weekly event for the missionaries. Taking so much time off from school can be very difficult to recover for the high school level student. We once did 17 Mission Conferences in a row, with no break.

Just try and realize that although a lot of book work may not be accomplished, your students are gaining a valuable education in so many other areas involving life skills.

I had one new missionary wife come to me during a conference very depressed about their school situation. Her husband was pressuring her because the 5 children were falling behind. As I spoke with her, I learned that they were traveling in a van and had no home base. I will admit to feeling the need to explain to her husband that there was a major difference in home schooling 5 children and VAN schooling 5 children. Having a home base to go to in between meetings is vital for school age children. You can use this time to really hit the books and stay on top of academics.

Experiments

Making a volcano

Tammy said...

I would love to read more about the practical aspects of how you homeschooled your children through high school, and what they did directly after graduation.

Home schooling in high school is easier in many ways, than teaching younger students. My goal is to train my students to learn for themselves and not have the need to be 'spoon fed' information by the teacher. Of course, you must check their work and supervise their study, but allow them to set some of their own goals. You must keep accurate records for their future transcript. Independent study will help them when they enter college.

My children all graduated early and we allowed them to go to the US and work for a year, or so, before starting college. Since they had never lived in the states, held a job, or even had another teacher other than myself, we felt it was too much to expect them to suddenly take on all these new experiences at once.

Our children grew up in such a small village that we felt it was best for them to attend smaller colleges. A large school would have been difficult for them to adjust to.

Jackie worked in a the records department of a hospital at age 16 and was offered a supervisory position over adults. Joshua worked with my brother in construction and learned many useful skills for his future life on the mission field. He is now selling insurance.

Jewel has been teaching here but will be headed stateside this summer to get a job before starting school in the fall.

I hope this is helpful.

Historical figure dress up day.

Drama at the Jungle Hut

Math Class, Jackie's 'favorite'.