A trip to Kruger

I've been going through pictures from our recent trip to Kruger park and trying to pick out the good ones.  I took surprisingly few pictures...maybe I was too busy gawking.  

The animals are great, but living in Africa can be a non-stop photo op.  I don't know if I'll ever get used to the non-sequitor nature of Africa.  So often you see signs and say, "What?!"  Or someone walking down the street in a Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirt in the middle of summer.  We saw this sign on the way to the park:

Oh yes, you too can go to computer college, get your auto parts, and buy beauty products all in the same building!  

And as long as we're being random...how about a squirrel in Africa?  Ho-hum and common you say?  Many of the people I meet here can't imagine a place where squirrels run everywhere and there are no monkeys in the trees.  When I tell them about squirrels being in our yard they are amazed...much like my reaction to monkeys in their gardens!  This was the first squirrel I had seen since moving here 6 months ago.

And yes, there were the typical African animals, too, though we didn't see too many and most of them were too far into the grass or trees for me to get a good picture.  This guy, however, came out for a better look.  First we saw him in the trees just off the road.

Then he turned and headed our way

Finally, he got downright nosey.  We actually had to reverse to get out of his way...and as I was not driving I took pictures.   The birds on the dash are wooden- I bought them from a guy on the side of the road on our drive up.  There are people everywhere selling all sorts of crafts.  The birds cost me about $5.

Speaking of birds...we saw a few.

The kids' favourite part was actually drawing in the sand at one of the camps.  As fun as seeing animals is, they preferred drawing in the sand to driving around being quiet for hours looking for them.  I wonder why?  

They also enjoyed eating ice cream on a termite mound.  Seriously.  That whole hill is a termite nest.  The kids didn't believe us until we took them around to see the information sign.   

At that same camp these two birds got very close as they scavenged for scraps.  "Common" birds, but exciting for us.

 One of my favourite things that we saw wasn't really an animal, but a spider.  We were trying to see some rhinos in the far distance when this little guy distracted me.  Ok, not so little.  It looked to be at least 5" long.  

 And finally, the talking impala.  I wonder what it was trying to tell us?  

Not fickle, just figuring it out

Big change for our family this week: we started homeschooling the kids.  Eek!  What a giant leap and an uncertain one.  At first we were very happy with the school  and it seemed like such a great thing.  The environment is amazing and the kids had made a few friends.  There were a few unexpected bonuses- Henry came home speaking a little TshiVenda he had learned from friends and the kids generally picked up on the different English.  As a matter of fact, some things have been seemingly set in stone for them.  "Z" is now "zed" and the word "been" is pronounced "bean" by all of them.  An eraser is a rubber and bandaids are plasters.  Also, jello is now jelly and the stuff you spread on bread is jam.  Instead of 2nd grade it is now grade 2 and Math is now Maths.  We wanted them to be able to adjust and blend in and thought school was the best way to do that.  

Indeed, school is the best way to do that, but it isn't our only goal for their education.  At first we just waited and watched to see how things were going.  Then one day Rosie brought home her grammar "book"- it was really no more than a little booklet and had no organisation, but rather seemed a collection of unrelated exercises meant to fix grammar problems rather than teach a system.  Not long after that Charlotte stayed home sick one day and her school work came home with Rosie.  I had seen the homework but didn't know what was being done in class.  The math instruction is a lot of rote memorisation with hardly any practice with the concrete or with learning the concepts.  They had learned place value in one day and one lesson in Grade 2 and were expected to apply the knowledge immediately.  

As we started asking questions we found that the school was not on the Cambridge system, but rather used the government curriculum and Cambridge resources to supplement.  So disappointing!  (They advertise that they are on the Cambridge system and told us that when we started)  They start children much later and Liam, in grade R, was learning the same things he had learned in pre-K before we moved.  There was still another year before the school expected him to start learning to read, but every day he was coming home and asking for a reading lesson.  Rosie had not learned anything new except for Afrikaans and it began to feel like we were paying for her to play all day.  

I know that there is a lot to be said for them adjusting and making friends, but academically they were going to end up years behind.  Our children love learning and reading and academic things.  They were craving knowledge and we were spending 1 to 2 hours a day doing extra lessons at home (their choice).  I am not a big fan of homeschooling in general.  I do not think it is always best and up until now I did not think I could do a better job than the school they were at.  Now, however, I do think that homeschooling is the best thing for our kids.  And I want to give a big shout out to Agathos Classical School because our experiences this last year have shown us what an amazing school it is.  Academically Agathos is great, but more than that the environment and people that make up the school make it exceptional.  So often I wish the kids could still be there, but at least the older ones got to be there for a few years.  

We're still trying to find ways to fill the social gap for the kids.  There is no homeschool group here...yet.  I have met one other homeschool family and have been connected to some other possibilities.  Information on the internet just isn't available here so you have to find things by word of mouth and it takes a while.  The 3 older kids will be starting karate classes tomorrow and they seem excited about it.  It's very different from the US (or at least from our experience)- bare concrete floor, open windows and children with bare feet (I know that's normal in the US for classes, but here the kids were not wearing shoes to begin with- most kids here do not wear shoes most of the time).  Charlotte has started recorder lessons and we're hoping to start horse riding and swimming lessons soon.  One happy surprise here has been how cheap services are.  For all 3 kids to take karate twice a week comes out to about $50 a month.  Recorder lessons are $12 a month and swim lessons about $10 a month.  Now if only my groceries were less expensive...but I suppose it all has to even out somehow.  :)  

February is here

February 7?!  February?!!  Already?!  Time is just flying by in leaps and bounds and is carrying us along with it.  Other than a few sniffles and some minor head injuries we're doing well (seriously...the same child got a nasty gash on her head twice since I last wrote).  The kids started school on the 15th of January and it's been nonstop dirty uniforms ever since.  

Grandma sent new back pack for the boys for Christmas and they were SO thrilled to be sporting them.  We took these pictures for Grandma.  :)  
  

Everyone on board the Buchanan Taxi!  See all the dirt?  The kids' school is on a dirt road and when it rains that road becomes an adventure slide!  The first day of school was actually cancelled because of heavy rains and the road was difficult to drive.  

On this particular day Charlotte was sick and asked to stay home.  I'm sure she was well enough to go to school, but I think she needed some time at home so we let her stay.  At one point she popped out of her room dressed like this:

And a snapshot of a weekday afternoon: girls doing homework, boys playing Candyland, me sipping coffee (or, rather, I would be if I weren't taking pictures), and Fern treating Severus as a chew toy.   

Speaking of Fern...she's still the cutest dog ever.  She's showing herself to be clever, too.  It took one day to teach her how to sit and at almost 3 months old she is house broken.  We've had to start locking the front door when we want her to stay outside because she's figured out how to open it.  And, of course, if we leave the back door open she quickly runs around the house to sneak in that way.  I wish I had a recording of her yawns...SO CUTE.

Tomorrow we start Venda lessons with a professor from the University of Venda.  I'm really looking forward to learning more.  On Monday Charlotte starts recorder lessons and she is really excited about that.  I've been having a lot of fun with my knitting and am working on a test knit for the first time.  I'm also working on a lacy yellow cardigan.  I'm sure some would disagree, but I consider myself a beginner because I still have so much to learn.  Every project that you see me post is a new skill and a challenge for me.  I'm not the type of person to be content making the same things over and over again...or even doing the same things in life over and over again.  I love trying new things and gaining new skills whether it be in knitting or life in general.  Onward and upward!