School Daze

Mikayla and Zach started attending a small elementary school just down the street in our neighborhood. It is very convenient because our helper can walk them down to school and pick them up for us so we can do our language study time. Mikayla is in Kinder, and Zach is in Nursery. Kinder is from 8-10 am every day, and Nursery is from 10 -12. They get to wear uniforms, and they love it. They have been making lots of friends, and we are hoping they will start to learn Tagalog at school too.

There are a few prayer requests related to their school situation. It is a Catholic school - nearly all of them are here - which poses some obvious difficulties. Mikayla actually crossed herself after the prayer at supper the other night! Before you panic TOO much, it turns out she was just showing us what they do at school when they pray. But it did surprise us a little. We are making sure to "debrief" with them often to remind them of the differences and why we believe differently. Please pray for wisdom for us and discernment for their young minds as well. This will not be a long-term solution for their schooling, but it is good for right now.

Another problem we have had is a cultural difference. Here in the Philippines, one of the main ways they control their children is through fear; they frighten them into obeying. Mikayla came home the other day and asked, "Mom, who's the Dark Angel?" Turns out her teacher threatens the class that the Dark Angel will come at night and cut off their ears if they don't listen/behave. We need wisdom in knowing how to best deal with this as well.

This makes the school sound awful, but the kids really do love it and are thrilled to go every day. We may let them finish out the year there (it ends in March) and then try to transfer them elsewhere. We would love to have them in school to help them learn the language and adjust to the culture, but we don't want it to be a detriment either. Please pray with us.