Summertime and easy living, but tough decisions

We've been sort of busy the last couple of weeks, but somehow running around here never seems like quite the hassle that it is elsewhere.  No traffic, short distances, a beautiful sky to look at, sometimes a scarlet sunset, sometimes storm clouds or rainbows. 

The kids participated in Totus Tuus Vacation Bible School this week. I can't praise this program enough. The youngers went in the morning and the middle schoolers and high schoolers went in the evening. A team of four college students, two girls and two boys, from Colorado provided all the labor. We just dropped the kids off, donated some snacks, and helped ferry and feed the college students.

All the kids loved it. They were excited to go, they talked and talked about what they did, and they LOVED the team members. They were cheerful, energetic, inspired kids.  We had them over for dinner and a coconut husking demonstration one night. I experimented with chicken kelaguen, which turned out a bit dry, but the team ate and ate.  I loved seeing my olders interact with them, asking questions, laughing, telling stories. The college kids were great role models of how someone intensely faithful can still be "cool" and fun to be around. 


Another night there was a potluck at the chapel, and my 7 year old asked if he could do Totus Tuus again next year, and I said, of course, but it might be different leaders.  He almost started crying.  

We also got to hang out with the team at the beach and on a hike and at a party at the end of the week. The chapel community really pulled together to show the kids the best of Guam.

The older boys enjoyed it so much they invited their Baptist friends on the second night. That night the topic was “The Body of Christ.” I was a little worried about what I’d hear back from their mom, but they wanted to go again the next night – when they talked about relationships.  Even with that embarrassing topic, they came again  the third night for adoration and confession (even though I'm pretty sure they didn't go to confession), and would have finished off the week if they hadn't left on vacation. A compliment to the team.

The last day  of Totus Tuus the fire truck came to wash the kids after they had a shaving cream war.

This is a great model for VBS.  The kids really like the college kids, the college kids get to brush up on their salvation history as well as have a great time in Guam. (They’ve gone snorkeling and boonie stomping, site-seeing and paddle boarding, all in the little free-time they have.) And best of all, the moms don’t have to exhaust themselves doing all the song and dance routines and cheap foam crafts that go along with planning and presenting VBS. The kids didn't bring home any crafts, but they still enjoyed this week better than any they've attended before.

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Summer vacation didn't officially start until the last day of school, June 14^th.  The following week, my older daughter was able to participate in the Reef Rangers camp put on by the National Park Service – a pretty sweet deal for free.  She did a couple field trips to sites of maritime merit, went snorkeling and put on little eco-skits at the end of the week. I don’t know if she learned anything new, but she did get to see some endangered species that are being bred by the agriculture department – the famous ko'ko bird and a Marianas Fruit Bat, also known as fanihi, particularly when cooked in coconut milk. 

I learned a little about fanihi myself – not only have they been overhunted, but since they only have one offspring a year, they have been severely depleted by the brown tree snakes.  My boys have been doing their part to exterminate this serpentine invasive species by hunting them at night along the fence line.  (They took the Totus Tuus boys hunting one night.)

Reef Rangers putting on a skit about sea turtles

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My research into native endangered species was a part of my preparation for scout camp. The week before Totus Tuus, the older boys and my husband the scoutmaster braved the rain and bugs for scout camp that was quite different from their other experiences. But since their expectations were extremely low, they ended up enjoying themselves more than they expected. I taught the environmental science merit badge, my first participation in scout camp, and probably enjoyed myself more than the boys.  It made me more confident that I would enjoy teaching fulltime. It also made me wonder why I didn’t do more planning for activities like this to make our home school experience more rich.

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So as soon as I made up my mind that I wanted to teach, I heard from the school that I’d applied to that they had decided to hire someone with more experience. No surprise. I wouldn’t hire me either, if I didn’t know me.  Although I would have put my heart into teaching literature, I had some doubts about how to present the material and come up with assignments in a manner that would be engaging, relevant, and substantive to eighth graders.  And those doubts probably came through in the second interview I had. Instead of telling the department chair about my experiences and plans, I asked her questions about her teaching style. It was a good conversation, but it probably didn’t give her much confidence in my ability. And as my mom pointed out, my ambivalence about the job probably showed.  Since none of the kids wanted to go there, it’s a bit of a relief, but I can't help being disappointed, not only because I do feel certain the kids would have received a good education there, but I would have sincerely enjoyed the opportunity.

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Now it’s back to the drawing board: make the commitment to home school again, go with the DOD school, or look into other options -- online school? The Baptist school on the island? The diocesan schools, unfortunately, do not keep up with the standards of learning that I'd like to see.  

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Part of the reason I think our home school experience was a chore by the end of the year is because instead of leading, I ordered the kids around. I relied on their books to do most of the teaching, instead of presenting material, which can be, I assume, pretty typical among home schoolers. I did not sit down every evening to plan the next day, as I would do if I were being paid to teach, as I did for my college class.  I don't know why I failed to work as hard at educating my own kids as I would at teaching other people's children.

Then there's the fact that the kids behave 30 times better for other people than they do for me. So would the DOD school be better for them, even though its academic standards may not be what I would like, because they would be practicing the virtues of obedience, responsibility, listening, etc?

My ambivalence about home schooling is influenced somewhat by seeing my older boys develop into their own persons as they interact with other adults and students. I struggle to do things like let them spend the money they are earning mowing lawns on baseball caps.  I want them to be like me, or like what I envision them being.  But I am also pleased to hear them praised by their teachers and coaches.  I don’t have the time or interest to learn about some of the things they find interesting, so I’m glad they are getting taught about WWII battles by someone who is really fascinated by warfare.  Ideally, all their teachers would be as passionate about their subject matter as this history teacher is, but I’m not sure that enthusiasm is always evident from certain teachers.

So the planning pendulum swings again. Swing to the right: I heard negative things about a teacher at the DOD school – apparently she doesn’t like boys.  And I got the Seton home school catalog today, which made me think, “Maybe if I followed a program…”

Swing to the left: I had to shut one of my daughters in her room this afternoon for misbehavior. She just turned her crying volume up full blast for everyone’s enjoyment.  That would not happen at school.

Maybe a magical new alternative will appear. . .

In the immediate future, the biggest decision is where to snorkel next . . .

A friendly octupus 

Some friends trying out our paddle board

Worn out after a busy week