A Short Letter Home

Getting down to business

One of the common questions we got when talking to people about our plans to go to China was, "What's John going to do?" When we answered that seriously, my primary role was to be that of a homeschooling father. Well, I finally got down to "work" this week. Despite the lack of some books, (we shipped two boxes of our school stuff. One made it here, the other is probably (hopefully) still in transit.) the girls commenced the fall session of their schooling, with me handling the bulk of the teaching. Yauh Neih, who has at least a week of summer vacation left, is still teaching a couple of subjects, and is on hand to answer my numerous questions.

After two days, it's going pretty well. Ironically, one thing that hasn't gone as expected was my relationship with my students. I was expecting to have some trouble with my older, argumentative daughter Ga Dai. On the contrary, teaching her has been rather pleasant. Because she's an early riser, she reads extremely well and her curriculum is so well structured, she is pretty much a self directed student. For the past couple of days, she's done her work and then came to me about midday to have me check it. She's taken any corrections and comments quite well. (And she's even helped me find the answer keys in the voluminous teacher's guide. It makes me feel a bit like Mr. Carlson of WKRP--a mere figurehead.)

Siu Wan, on the other hand, is a nuisance. She whines and drags her feet with any assignment she doesn't like, which so far has been all of them. She's always been able to get away with more from me than with her mother, and that hint of a twinkle in her eye shows that she's exploiting that here. But eventually she does finish her work, so I can't complain too much. I'm pretty sure she's going to learn despite her best efforts not to.

As for the coursework itself, I love exploring the stuff that Ga Dai is learning. There's plenty that I can learn myself. Well, the grammar lessons are just as boring as they were back when I was in school. But I forget all that when we get to math--my favorite subject, back in the day. It's fun to try and guide the girls through the processes. Of course, how much of the fun is due to them still needing my guidance, I don't know.

posted by John @ 7:41 AM