Supermarkets, Parties, & Day Trips

As Luc’s teacher, math has got to be my least favourite class to teach yet is his favourite subject to learn so that makes for a difficult combination. We’ve been doing well going through the curriculum in his books but being homeschooled isn’t just about classes and books, life skills are important too! On Wednesday morning last week, I set up the HATS Supermarket in the gallery while he was busy playing. I found various odd items from around the house and set them up with price tags on them. I printed out Canadian play money and put his “salary” in his envelope.

I found him and told him he needed to quickly put his shoes on, and grab a basket because Mama needed us to go to the market to get groceries for the week. He couldn’t find his shoes, so we left anyway. Our tap-tap never showed up so we had to walk the exhausting 20 feet from the bedroom to the gallery, pushing our way through the (non-existent) crowd. I was exhausted by the time we got there but he was getting more and more excited the closer we got. I gave him the first scenario, he was to buy groceries to feed the family for week. He had to count his money, take a look at all that was for sale and make good decisions.

He did well with budgeting and didn’t even give a second look to the $72 half eaten jar of Nutella (for those of you who don’t know, this kid LOVES his Nutella!). He did find his shoes and bought them back for $20 so he wouldn’t have to go home barefoot.

I was impressed with his budgeting, reasoning, and counting skills. He dropped the groceries off at home while I set up another store. In the second scenario he had to buy a birthday gift for his son, but payday was almost two weeks ago so he didn’t have much money left. Once again, he made great decisions and got a cake and gift for his son. The third scenario he had to buy clothes for his kids and he did great. Who says math class can’t be fun, and practical?!

All of our younger boys have had an ongoing head infection that has been difficult to treat. There is a wonderful pediatrician in St. Marc that I met one time we dropped off some extra meds to his clinic. We mentioned the boy’s heads to him and he suggested we bring the worst one in to see him next time we were in town. We knew were headed in the next week, so we decided to bring Jofky along. We sent him to school that day since we weren’t leaving till later in the morning. I went over to find him right before we left and of course it was recess for all of the elementary grades and some lower secondary grades. Trying to find one little boy in a crowd of close to 200 kids who all wear the same uniform, are generally the same size, and look the same is interesting. After looking for 10 minutes, I enlisted the help of Dienuel who quickly found him for me. Poor Jofky thought he was in trouble being brought home from school during recess. I tried to explain to him that he was going to see the doctor, but he still didn’t seem to sure of the idea. Before we left I grabbed a handful of granola bars, candies, and a couple bottles of water. You never know how long you’ll get stuck in St. Marc. We spent most of the day going from store to store getting different things and of course going to the clinic. He was a happy boy sitting with me in the back seat eating candy (he was giving the granola bars away once he knew I had brought candy) and playing games on my phone all day. If we ever have to take him back in to see the doctor, I’m sure he won’t mind being taken out of recess again.

We try to take the kids out to walk along the canal a few times a week. We all enjoy these walks and it gives the kids a chance to explore. The gardens are getting ready to be planted with rice, so the kids have enjoyed running along the paths and exploring the fields.

Last Sunday we had a birthday party celebrating Leica’s and Sandra’s birthdays. The girls were dressed beautifully, and all the kids enjoyed cake, pop and candy.

We played musical chairs at the end which was so much fun. All the kids were good at it, even the little kids caught on quickly. I think they enjoyed dancing to the music more than playing! Judel gave up his seat to one of the little kids more then once so they wouldn’t be sad about being out. He showed amazing sportsmanship the whole time. The day ended with lots of laughs and happy smiles and wonderful memories made.

~Jocelyn