Two months in, let the home schooling fun begin!


Two months ago today we arrived in South Africa. We have slowly been getting more settled into life in a new country. We are figuring out which grocery stores carry which products the most regularly and we’re getting more used to using a front loading washer and drying our clothes on the line. We have found a church that seems to be a good fit for our family and have even joined a cell group that meets on Wednesday nights, which means we now have at least 2 “social” events each week! We are meeting new people and are starting to feel like we have friends. 

At the same time, the reality that we aren’t going home anytime soon is starting to sink in a bit more. That part really stinks. I just told my best friend that I actually try really hard to not remember her and her family and all the fun we had together each week because it hurts too much to remember all the good and realize it will be a long time til we see them again. There are times where I feel like I could just let myself sit and cry over all we’ve given up to be here, but I have learned from past events that sitting around and moping can quickly turn into full fledged depression, so I try to not even let the pity party begin. 

After two months of living out here, there is a slight possibility that we might find out this week if our business can start being built. We are both working on being patient with the process and on continuing to trust that God has a reason for us being here at this time, even though things haven’t gone exactly as planned. We are starting to feel like we have a plan for this next year, as far as where we’ll live and what we’ll do for schooling, but as with all man made plans, they could change : )

Speaking of school, today we started our journey into home schooling. We got off to a less than stellar start as Tyson went to bed with and woke up with a low grade fever and I slept so horribly last night due to a combination of caffeine and cramps that I woke up feeling like someone had run over my head with a truck. So we all three stayed in our pjs, but we did get through 5 subjects and I think the kids had a good time. I know that I need to do a much better job preparing and I need to come up with a variety of things to keep the kids going in each subject. For now we are starting simply and just trying to get into the habit of having school at home. It was quite sad last night when Jori said “Will there be other kids at our home school” and we had to tell her “No”. I guess we hadn’t ever fully explained what home schooling meant, so she was getting ready to have fun with her new classmates. 

It is now almost 6 pm. Both kids were up at 5:30 this morning, and with Tyson still not feeling the best, we are going to put them to bed very soon. I will be taking some Tylenol PM and getting my own self to bed on time, but 6 would be pushing it. I could wake up at midnight and have had about double the amount of sleep I had last night!

Comments

Robin said…
Oh Jonna....i can't wait to read about homeschool day 2! :)
you'll get there!
hugs.
robin
Praying for you innthis new journey! We start school next week. It gets better the longer you do it!
pjvs50@gmail.com said…
Jonna they are already so smart that whatever they learn is frosting on the cake. Let them spend 20 minutes in the afternoon for silent reading-a good habit to keep. They can learn loads of math baking and cooking with you. All of life is learning so do not knock yourself. I remember them figuring out problems at least two years ago and they were such good thinkers. Do your best and leave the rest. One Bible verse a week and lots of singing. Love you Your mom
Jenny Z said…
Way to go, Jonna! I'm proud of you!
Whitney said…
you started...that is the first big step! Great job. miss you friend. P.S. your moms comment made me cry :)

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