First Day of School 2011

In Korea, school starts the first week of March, after a long winter break that goes through January and February. "Plan A" was to have the children go to one year of Korean school. After spending last summer in Utah, the children missed two months of school, so we all agreed that they should go for two more months and complete a full "year"of school. They still struggle with the language and we are hoping that a few more months will make a difference. Well, "Plan B" got complicated, because Gracie went to Middle School. That meant she had to buy uniforms, cut her hair a certain length, and take school very seriously. We were up for the challenge and we bought her two uniforms. (When we bought her the uniforms the sales clerk looked at us in disbelief, like she'd never sold to a Caucasian student before. I don't think she ever has). After two months of middle school life, which included Gracie getting home from school at 5 p.m. everyday and spending at least two days in detention per week, I decided to talk to her homeroom teacher. During this conference I asked, "Does, Gracie understand 10% of what is being taught?" (I chose 10% because I thought it was conservative and I hoped that she would assure me that she understood more than that). She looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered, "I don't think she understands that much." I think my jaw dropped. We withdrew Gracie the next day. She is now working with BYU online middle school courses and has a personal math teacher/tutor. It has been nice to be with her during the day. She is learning how to make bread. She loves to cook, so we do some "cooking classes". She also is training her puppy as part of her English writing project.
The other children have done a little better with "Plan B". James has a teacher that has been very open-minded and allowed him to have a personal tutor come into class during the Korean hour. This has helped and he is learning how to read Korean. Because James teacher allowed a tutor, Miriam's and Anna's teachers have also allowed tutor sessions during the school day. We are making progress, although it is slow.

Jim took the children over to school on their first day. He came back with tears in his eyes. I said, "It's tough isn't it?" I don't think he understood it until then. It is tough. It's just so different. And they seem so alone, and so brave, and so different.