(Read in Jeff Probst's voice) On the east coast of India...21 girls and an anxious mama are placed in a prison-like four story building for an entire 6 weeks... in the middle of a town with not much to do. Temperatures rise, ranging from 90-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Many will play, many will fight. Will there be more than one, sole, survivor? *Ayioyoyoyiahh...music
So. I survived day one of summer vacation.
AND it was mostly a success.
I let my big kids know (my room is in their apartment), that they can stay up til 10 pm now, instead of 9:30. And that by doing so, I expect NO ONE to be awake before 6:30 nor knock on my door before 7 a.m., preferably 7:30. They seemed appalled, but when I got up at 7:15, no one had bathed or dressed, and some were still even sleeping. I also woke up, NOT sick for the first time in eight days, AND got to eat dosa. Combined, it's like my own little summer miracle. :)
The past week, knowing that summer was coming meant believing one thing: I had to be prepared. So, I tried. And made a schedule of which even my mother would be proud. (Except that it's not color-coded. Yet.)
My kids sometimes struggle in school, and I see this as stemming from 3 main reasons:
So, the education manager and I talked, and there's a lot of tutoring going on this summer at Grace Home. I love that all of my girls with severe visual deficits have 3:1 student-teacher ratio classes all day. Even Chelsea and Angel are sharing a tutor with Phoebe to learn their letters and numbers and something other than "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!" (That's my input to their education.)
While they're all (mostly) busy, but still getting enough time to hang out and play and be kids in 105 degree weather, I am simultaneously giving typing/computer classes to 2 kiddos, letting another play (mostly educational) games on the tablet, and doing individual tutoring/therapy sessions with a fourth--in 30 minute increments. When I made the schedule, I had a sense that I could be headed for disaster, but it actually went crazy smoothly today. (It also helped that each and every one of the 21 buggers could see their time slot for playing games on the tablet, so they weren't crying about it not being their turn!)
I should mention that my gut tells me that the sanity will disappear in time. It started to this afternoon, but then we made the excellent decision that 3 kids who weren't going to get much tutoring at home definitely needed to go to "summer camp" at school each weekday morning. This is just a polite way of saying "GET THIS CHILD OUT OF MY HOUSE!" :) or, at least for one of them haha!
I know, with 21 kids, I struggle with giving each one some time where it's just me and them. I also struggle with making sure that I'm having more than enough fun time with the kids--because unfortunately, disciplining and/or strategizing on how to manage the kids/home has been really frequent lately, and my ayahs need much more watching and direction than they should. So, even though I look at my schedule and just laugh because it is intense and ridiculous, it's really good: the kids could not be happier than playing math or letter-tracing games on the tablet or learning to use the touchpad on my laptop, so that's not much of a challenge to motivate them to learn :) And for most of the girls today, I've seen that that little thirty minute segment, where it's just me and them doing something on our own, means a lot. And that makes me happy because I finally feel like I'm doing something right and giving each kid some of what they need.
All this said, of course there will be lots of beach trips and park visits and daily walks in the evening and nightly rooftop fun--and hopefully some massive bucket that we can call a swimming pool. So, don't be worrying about them not getting enough fun!
To make today even better, I went on a walk in the crazy heat to work on my suntan (I've gotten a bit pale from being sick inside so much). Ok, really it was just a walk to go order ice cream for our party tomorrow, and put more rupees on my cell phone, but I worked on my suntan nevertheless. AND I came across the first mango stand I've seen this year.
Be still my heart. So, after a delicious mango shared with Grace Purple for a snack, and another for "dinner," it was an overall pretty good day. Made better by knowing that when this summer break and this time as a crazed mother ends in two months, a particularly special someone will be waiting for me in Delhi, to spend a few days there together before flying home to Missourah.
:D
So. I survived day one of summer vacation.
AND it was mostly a success.
I let my big kids know (my room is in their apartment), that they can stay up til 10 pm now, instead of 9:30. And that by doing so, I expect NO ONE to be awake before 6:30 nor knock on my door before 7 a.m., preferably 7:30. They seemed appalled, but when I got up at 7:15, no one had bathed or dressed, and some were still even sleeping. I also woke up, NOT sick for the first time in eight days, AND got to eat dosa. Combined, it's like my own little summer miracle. :)
The past week, knowing that summer was coming meant believing one thing: I had to be prepared. So, I tried. And made a schedule of which even my mother would be proud. (Except that it's not color-coded. Yet.)
My kids sometimes struggle in school, and I see this as stemming from 3 main reasons:
- little parental influence to encourage/compel them to strive for success and/or attend school. (I'm sure many of our kids didn't go to school prior to coming to SCH, and I admit I've been pretty terrible at even knowing what things each kid knows or can do.)
- the schools don't really accommodate education for their disabilities in the best way (be it environment, social relationships, or teaching styles)
- no intrinsic motivation. After all, if you're 16 and in class 4, something like graduating high school must seem like an impossible feat.
So, the education manager and I talked, and there's a lot of tutoring going on this summer at Grace Home. I love that all of my girls with severe visual deficits have 3:1 student-teacher ratio classes all day. Even Chelsea and Angel are sharing a tutor with Phoebe to learn their letters and numbers and something other than "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!" (That's my input to their education.)
While they're all (mostly) busy, but still getting enough time to hang out and play and be kids in 105 degree weather, I am simultaneously giving typing/computer classes to 2 kiddos, letting another play (mostly educational) games on the tablet, and doing individual tutoring/therapy sessions with a fourth--in 30 minute increments. When I made the schedule, I had a sense that I could be headed for disaster, but it actually went crazy smoothly today. (It also helped that each and every one of the 21 buggers could see their time slot for playing games on the tablet, so they weren't crying about it not being their turn!)
I should mention that my gut tells me that the sanity will disappear in time. It started to this afternoon, but then we made the excellent decision that 3 kids who weren't going to get much tutoring at home definitely needed to go to "summer camp" at school each weekday morning. This is just a polite way of saying "GET THIS CHILD OUT OF MY HOUSE!" :) or, at least for one of them haha!
I know, with 21 kids, I struggle with giving each one some time where it's just me and them. I also struggle with making sure that I'm having more than enough fun time with the kids--because unfortunately, disciplining and/or strategizing on how to manage the kids/home has been really frequent lately, and my ayahs need much more watching and direction than they should. So, even though I look at my schedule and just laugh because it is intense and ridiculous, it's really good: the kids could not be happier than playing math or letter-tracing games on the tablet or learning to use the touchpad on my laptop, so that's not much of a challenge to motivate them to learn :) And for most of the girls today, I've seen that that little thirty minute segment, where it's just me and them doing something on our own, means a lot. And that makes me happy because I finally feel like I'm doing something right and giving each kid some of what they need.
All this said, of course there will be lots of beach trips and park visits and daily walks in the evening and nightly rooftop fun--and hopefully some massive bucket that we can call a swimming pool. So, don't be worrying about them not getting enough fun!
To make today even better, I went on a walk in the crazy heat to work on my suntan (I've gotten a bit pale from being sick inside so much). Ok, really it was just a walk to go order ice cream for our party tomorrow, and put more rupees on my cell phone, but I worked on my suntan nevertheless. AND I came across the first mango stand I've seen this year.
Be still my heart. So, after a delicious mango shared with Grace Purple for a snack, and another for "dinner," it was an overall pretty good day. Made better by knowing that when this summer break and this time as a crazed mother ends in two months, a particularly special someone will be waiting for me in Delhi, to spend a few days there together before flying home to Missourah.
:D
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