This morning, I am incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to attend this workshop. Sometimes you walk away from a “required training” with a few tidbits that may be helpful somewhere in the distant future. I am walking away with a toolbox of things that I will need to consider when making decisions to educate our kids abroad.
One of the most important things that I heard was that we should ignore our ministry pursuits in our decision to educate her. Meaning; we shouldn’t look at her school as a window to meeting more people and we shouldn’t feel like we have to exercise our “big faith” in sending her into something that she is simply not ready for. Doing that could actually damage her own faith which would be devastating.
We are blessed with 3 good options (2 strong and 1 maybe) option for how we will school her. Some of it depends on when our visa will be obtained and some of it will depend on laws concerning how foreigners educate their kids.
My to do list has certainly grown from this week. In case you’re interested here are some items that we have added to our list.
1. Books- There are books and articles from this seminar that I want to read before we go. One of them is called “How am I Smart.” It is a book on the 7 intellegances and learning how we are hardwired. It has incredibly fascinating information and practical tips to nurturing your child’s “smarts.”
2. Ellison’s German- We have contacted 3 german language tutors to work with Ellison one on one in Atlanta. We will be meeting with them and starting lessons within in the next week. Â We had always intended for Ellison to attend a national school because we love the people and culture of Austria and want her to be exposed to that. It’s also a sure way that she’ll learn German. The biggest takeaway from this week was realizing that we need to take a hard look at the negatives of this option by sending her in unprepared in terms of language.
3. Take our time- I was thinking we had to land and immediately put her in school. As things progress, this will more than likely not be the plan. We were encouraged to really look at schools, understand ALL of our options and most importantly pray. Again opts of this depends on our visa situation.
Thanks so much for praying. It was amazing how much more peace I had throughout this week and I know our family was covered by you this week.
Wow! It seems like you all have more choices than you once thought.What a blessing to really take your time and consider what is great for her. Anxious to hear what other adventures await yall on this journey.We are continuously praying.Just think of is us as your Paul, minus me going to jail.
So much to think about – bless your heart! I can see why sticking to WW now just isn’t gonna work. 😉 Praying for you to have wisdom as you make decisions, and peace as you rest in the knowledge that God is in the details! Hugs!