Friday, September 12, 2014

Homeschooling Schedule

A lot of people are asking how homeschooling is going. There are a lot of misconceptions on what happens during a homeschooling day. Especially if they see Lena outside during the day. So I thought I would share our schedule and what books we are using.
I took about 2 months of researching and joining homeschooling groups and asking lots of questions before we settled on our curriculum. It's one of those things where you really hope you made the right choice. Especially for us since everything has to be shipped. It gets expensive and you don't want to make too many mistakes.
Jay has decided to take on Languages and Mathematics. Which is just fine by me! He works with her from 7:30-9:00, then she has a break to work on homework, or review things for the coming classes.


Here is our weekly schedule. Every weekend I go over what I am going to be teaching, do research, read everything, make plans according to the lesson ( I am learning a LOT in the process too). Some lessons take longer than others, some are quite quick. But we aim to be done around 1:30 so I can go pick up Zane and have the rest of the day free to do things. She has Gymnastics Sundays and Wednesdays from 4-7:30 and occasional Mondays when she needs to work extra on things. 
Some days Lena is just burnt out. Whether is be from a night of little sleep, just too much work, or just life, she has the option to say, Hey, I am done. I can't focus. Or, I hate this subject. Can we do something else? That is the beauty of homeschooling. How can a child, learn if we force it into them. They have to be interested and open to accept what is being taught. Even though we have a schedule to follow, it's not going to kill either of us if we double up some days, miss a class or two on another. We have 365 days to work on everything. No one is setting the schedule but us. 
Here are the books we are using:

Science: My Pals are Here And workbook

It may seem like a lot, but her education at home is so much richer and one on one that it ever was at school. If she doesn't get something, we go over it again and again until she does get it. There is no passing it over. If she wants an extra day to study about Native American's, then by all means let's!

First Day of School!

The first day of school is nerve wracking for everyone. Lena actually began a day early because September 1st was Zane's first day of preschool and Jay would not be able to teach her in the morning.
Zane was pretty excited about the first day of school. But then it was time for mommy and daddy to leave. The crying started and he changed his mind... We knew he would be ok, gave him one last hug and kiss and prayed he would still be talking to us when we picked him up in a few hours. He LOVED it. Now every morning he asks if it's a school day and seriously gets upset when we have to tell him no, it's the weekend.
Zane's First Day of Pre-School

Pre-School looks pretty fun!

You can go now mom.

Lena's first day of Homeschool- Grade 6

Zane, one happy little man 
at the end of the day.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

New Adventures

We are about to start a new adventure! Homeschooling! Lena has been just miserable here in the school in our area. So we have decided that the only solution is to homeschool her. It's actually coming at the right time because Zane is now old enough to attend preschool! So Sunday-Thursday he will be at the local preschool from 8am-1:30pm. Then home to have lunch and NAP.
I am still waiting for our homeschool curriculum to arrive, things coming from The States take forever and a day. I joined an awesome facebook group called Hip Homeschooling Moms. Everyone has such great ideas and suggestions. Pinterest has become my new best friend.
While I await the new books, I decided on my first project. I made a calendar for September and each day has a holiday. Every month will have a calendar made just like this.
Here is a preview of September. I look forward to diving into these subjects, learning a little about them myself alongside Lena. Some days I could not find a great subject, or holiday, so those days we will just do a little extra work on a coming holiday.
September
1. First Day of School- Labor Day
2. Blueberry Popsicle Day
3. Welsh Rarebit Day ( Cheese on toast)
4. Wildlife Day
5. Pizza Day!
6. Icecream Coffee Day!
7. Grandparents Day
8. Pardon Day
9. Teddy Bear Day
10.
11. Patriot Day- Remembering September 11th.
12. Milkshake Day!
13. Roald Dahl Day
14. Pet Rock Day
15. Greenpeace Day
16. Guacamole Day
17. Constitution Day
18. Respect Day
19.
20.
21. World Appreciation Day
22. Elephant Appreciation Day
23. Autumn Equinox
24. Voter Registration Day
25. Rosh HaShanah
26. Pancake Day!
27.
28.
29. Michaelmas
30. International Translation Day.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Bucket List



Last week after mentioning to Lena that we might be going to the Dead Sea, she asked me if I had a Bucket List. You know, those popular lists that people make of things they want to do in their lifetime. I honestly don't have a Bucket List, but if I did, going to the Dead Sea would have been on it.
I have been to Israel 3 times before we moved here. Each time family members asked if we wanted to go to the Dead Sea. Every time I was either sick, or it was unGodly hot and the thought of going to the lowest place on Earth didn't sound very appealing.
Our "Minister of Tourism" Abed once again led us on our foray into the desert. The night before we left we ran around buying sleeping bags and tents, packing food and anything I thought we might need on this overnight camping trip.
Yes. I camped. I do not like to camp. Camping to me is sleeping in a cabin and having to use the public toilet. Not sleeping on the hard ground and having to pee by the dumpster at 3am because there are NO public toilets open, no porta potties, no buckets to be emptied on the sly in the morning.
There are several roads to get down to the Dead Sea. Abed wanted to avoid the Toll Freeway, as he was using his company car and didn't want it to show up on the bill. This added a little extra time to the trip, but we went along with it. We also made it clear that I did not have my passport and did not want to travel through the West Bank.
I had looked at mapping options the night before and tried to figure out what route we would take other than Highway 6 (Toll road). There is a road that takes you through Jerusalem and then through the West Bank and down along the Dead Sea. I figured he wouldn't take this as we requested no West Bank.
As we were passing through Jerusalem we came to a "Security Check Point". Jay and I kind of looked at each other and asked ourselves "Are we going into the West Bank?". There are no signs that state YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE WEST BANK. So if you are a traveler like me, you would have no idea that you are going there. No one stopped us to check ID's, or asked any questions, so we just drove on. The West Bank doesn't really look any different than Israel after all.
As we were nearing the Dead Sea, we came to a small town that was a little touristy, complete with Camels! Zane went INSANE! We HAD to stop and ride one!! SQUEEEEE!!!

ShoSho the Camel
The ride cost 20 ILS, which is just under $6. The excitement was a little too much for Zane, and this happened shortly afterwards.

Zane with his own ShoSho camel
The drive through the Desert was a long and boring one. The Dead sea is broken into 2 separate area's. The Large part has no beach access and is surrounded by sinkholes and barbed wire. I guess the water level has gone down and separated it into two separate bodies of water. Some older maps show it as one body of water.







When we finally arrived in Ein Bokek it was only 30*c (86*f) it was very comfortable. I think it did reach 32* at one point, but we were very lucky to go when it wasn't unbearably hot. The sand is terrible. It's very rocky and sticks to you like crazy. You could never get all the sand off of you, unless you were IN the water... We unloaded our cars and the guys went hunting for a spot to put our stuff and possibly pitch the tents. 
Ein Bokek Beach
We wanted to get one of those sheltered area's but they were full at the time. So we just dumped our stuff, changed and jumped into the water. At first it doesn't seem any different. Until you get out to just past your armpits and the water starts lifting you. It is the strangest sensation! It's like you have a life jacket on or pool noodles. It took a lot of getting used to. You kind of panic at first when you lean back just a little, your legs rush to the surface. There are signs with guidance directions all over.


Trust me. Salt water is NOT your friend. Our lips were burning from it. The pain if you got a droplet in your eye!!! And the taste! UGH! Needless to say, we were very careful about not splashing. 

The first time my legs floated up, I panicked. You can't figure out how to get your legs back down. The usual tricks used in pools don't work too well when you are buoyant. 






Zane is actually sitting on Jay here.


Soon a group moved on from their sheltered area and we moved in, setting up camp. We purchased a 6 person tent. HA! maybe if you all weigh 100lbs and don't want to move? It fit 3 across with Jay stretched across the end.
We BBQ'd that night, enjoyed music from our neighbor and paid our 5 shekels to use the toilet inside the tourist center.

The salt running and drying down my legs.






 Hotels seen in the background of the Dead Sea. 


As the night approached more and more people moved in to camp overnight, or as one group decided, to party. All.Night.Long. It was still quite warm as we headed to bed, but as the night went on a wind kicked up and cooled it nicely. Around 3:30 we all woke up and needed to pee badly. As I mentioned before, no where to pee officially. So we trecked off to the dumpster and added our mark. Poor Jay did not sleep a wink that night. I think he finally fell asleep around 5 and got up with the rest of us at 7:20. Lena woke up at 6, joining Abed to watch the insane tourist group from the Phillapines screaming and shouting as they frolliced in the water at sunrise.
We ate our breakfast and went swimming for a few more hours. We really got the hang of floating by then. Oh, I forgot to mention that the salt water burns the crap out of anything newly shaved. Our legs were burning with little bumps all over, Jay's neck was bright red and a few other body parts were feeling the sterilization of the salt water.
Around 12:30 we packed up and loaded the car for the drive home. Abed assured us that this alternate round would be shorter and easier. HA. The road took us straight through the West Bank.We really didn't realize this until we were stopped at a checkpoint and asked for our ID's. I handed over my Drivers License and explained that we were coming from the Dead Sea and Jay's ID was in the trunk. We were asked to show it. When I opened the trunk and had to pull out sleeping bags, and coolers, she realized that we were telling the truth and honestly had no idea we were in the West Bank and let us on our way after asking Jay a few questions,without having to unpacking the entire car for a piece of ID.
The "shorter" drive home took just over 3 hours. 30 minutes longer than going down.
Next time we will take the 6 and call it a day.
Jay has some great pictures on his phone, but he is at work. I will try to download them later.
And to answer the question of why we didn't stay in a hotel? The rooms that were available were about $260 a night. It doubled the day of our arrival to $550 a night. Thanks, but no thanks.
And even though I personally am not a camper, please do not let this derail you from visiting the Dead Sea. It is a very unique experience that everyone should have the chance to encounter at least once in their life!









Wednesday, March 5, 2014

On Living Here

Everyone asks me, What is it like living in Israel?
This is a very difficult question to answer. Israel is a very complex place to live. There are so many ways I could answer this, and I am going to do my best to be honest and keep politics out of it. Which is hard, since Israel and politics go hand in hand.
I met a woman a few weeks ago that told me she has traveled the world, she was born in Cairo and while Egypt will always hold a special place in her heart, Israel (with a hand placed over her heart and a wistful look on her face), Israel is home.
For an American Christian, I do not feel at home here. I feel like a stranger. I feel like I am a grey in a world of colors.
Israel is very spiritually dry to me. Both Jews and Muslims have their rituals that they perform every day and every weekend. I hear the prayer call 5 times a day from 5 different mosques in the area. I have seen orthodox Jews bobbing on the side of the road praying as the sunset. Listened to the hours long lectures about Islam being blasted from the loudspeakers in town on Friday afternoons. The Jewish men in their kippa's coming back from their local Beit Knesset in the evening. To me, those are just that. Rituals. I do not feel their spirituality. I am not moved physically by their worship. I have never felt farther from God than in the home of His people.
I have yet to encounter one Christian that I can have fellowship with.
Growing up and being married in America to an Israeli Arab is a completely different world than being an American Christian married to an Israeli Arab in Israel.
In town (an Arab town) I am constantly stared at. I am a great oddity to people. I do not dress like someone from here. I do not look like someone from here. I do not speak like someone from here. At times I am too loud in my laughter, I am too free with my touch. I don't like coffee or tea really (Mint or Yansoon only)! I have a set number of stores that now know me and that I am comfortable going into. When I venture outside of those, I have to deal with a constant barrage of questions and unrelenting stares. First, I am spoken to in Hebrew, even if I greet them in Arabic. When I say that I only speak English or Arabic, they look at me like I suddenly grew a second head. Then the questions begin. Where are you from? Why are you here? Who is your Husband? Where is better? America or Israel? I always say Canada as it was my favorite for the 4 years we lived there, and that confuses them. =) Do you teach English? Why don't you open a salon, a day care, teach at the school? And my favorite. You were living in America and your husband brought you here? Is he crazy?
In Jewish towns, I don't stand out as much. Except when I try to get service and the woman helping is just a little too nosy (or Israeli) for  my taste. When I say I don't speak Hebrew, they ask me their own set of questions. Where are you from? Nevada. (you can see them trying to figure out how big of a Jewish population there is in Nevada) How long have you been here? Sometimes I lie and say just a few months. Other times I tell the truth and say a year and a half, but then I get the lecture. AND YOU DON'T speak Hebrew yet!!! (No, do you speak Arabic?) Mazal Tov on your Aliyah!!! I just smile and say thanks.
When I am out I try to keep as low of a profile as possible. I don't like having to answer so many questions. I just want to buy my things and leave.
Then, comes a whole other set. The mom's. Ugh. I am extremely introverted and socialization can be painful for me. I have completely giving up on Arab women, I just can't compete with their life long friendships that they have formed after generations of living in cramped villages. It has taken over a year for me to broach any kind of friendship at my daughters gymnastics. I decided from the get go to be honest when asked one of the million questions listed above. No, I don't speak Hebrew, and I really should learn someday. My husband is Arab, I do speak some Arabic. We live in Zemer, it's just north of Bahan.. South of Magal... Lena speaks Arabic, but she is slowly learning Hebrew. But like most sport teams, there are the cliques. Most of the mom's I meet don't seem to care about my background. And for that I am really grateful.When I go to parks in the area, I once again try to keep a low profile as to not bring attention to myself. I just want to be free of the labels. I just want to meet someone who doesn't ask me about my background and just wants the kids to play together.
Some days I come home mentally and physically exhausted from all this.
Now. On the positive side. The weather is amazing. The scenery is beautiful. Amazing places to visit. People are very friendly. We have an amazing house with a great view. And it's great that my kids are learning new languages, getting to know my husbands family and culture.

The cons.
Arab area's are FILTHY. Everyone burns their garbage that doesn't get picked up. They litter. Everywhere. Building supplies are just dumped in the closest empty lot. Leaving it for everyone to see. Everyone smokes. You can not go into a store in an Arab area and not find someone smoking. People can not drive worth Sh!t for the most part. The constant police intimidation sucks. How many police check points are really needed? The military training points on the street corners, with soldiers carrying their suitcases and riffles.Unless you live down by Gaza (which is about a 2 hour drive) you don't feel any tension, other than training days for the air force. Sonic booms kill me. One evening we sat outside and counted 18 jets fly over in a 30 minute period. That happens about once a month. Just like if you lived in California near Travis Air Force Base.
All houses have bomb rooms by law. We do not own a gas mask. Arab towns are not targets from neighboring Arab countries.
Everyone is friendly with everyone else, but there is a major separation. You have Jewish towns and Arab Villages. They rarely co-habitate except in larger cities like Tel Aviv, Netanya, Haifa...But you will still have your neighborhoods.

Five things kill me.
First is when I see 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 year old's from the West Bank on the street corners begging for money. Once I gave a boy of about 8 all the change in my wallet. He ran to a group of other kids only to be yelled at that he didn't get more from me. He returned asking for more, which I didn't have. He went to the next car, got more change. He and his friends then ran down the road to a felafal kiosk and came running back with food and proceeded to eat it on the street corner. Some days kids as young as 4 and 5 are standing there. You can tell they are worn out from asking the same questions over and over. No hope in their eyes. When it's Zataar season, they are selling bunches of fresh Zataar (Thyme) for 5 shekels. Or key chains. Sometimes there are moms standing holding babies. In town there are heavily veiled women who have apparently been "bused in" from the West Bank by organizers who take a percentage of the money. They often hold papers showing a surgery they or a loved one had, or debt papers, sometimes a child with a handicap. They can be quite bold and will often knock loudly on your window, or stand so far into the street that you have to hope you don't side swipe them as you pass. But it's the kids that are out there with out an adult that pull at my heart strings.

Second is the Wall.

My husbands hometown was cut in half by the wall. Neighbors were deemed the enemy because of a line drawn by the government.

We drive along side the Wall daily as I take my husband to work. To see it from my front window and see military vehicles patrolling our neighborhood looking for any mischief. How can you have this 30 foot (10 meter) wall that divides one city from another?  Israel is safer for it, but it just sucks.

Third is the fact that my husband had to hide the fact that he is Arab from his potential employers in order to get a job. One asked where he lived and he flat out told them. They never called back after that.

Fourth. When I am standing at a gymnastics competition and they have everyone stand and they play the national anthem. I feel such emotional turmoil behind that music. Because of the people who make up Israel. The Jews who escaped such horrors of WWII and because of my mother and father in law who were kicked off their land that had been in their family for hundreds of years to make room in a so called barren land.

Fifth is the filth. As I mentioned above it's only found in Arab villages.

Once you get into a Jewish area, it's clean, well maintained and has sidewalks. Why? Arabs pay their taxes just as much. They don't have parks or green areas. Things are constantly half done. Garbage everywhere. Broken furniture left on the side of the road...

All in all, living in Israel really does not feel THAT much different than living anywhere else. Especially if you can stay out of the politics. =) When we are asked why we left America to live in Israel, we answer why not? You live here don't you? It must be ok.

*edited for spelling error and clarity