Category Archives: School

God, Kaity & Krissy, Kaity & Krissy's Europe Adventures, Parenting, School, Stockholm, Sweden, Testimonies

Why K&K go to Swedish Schools!

April 7, 2017 Michelle Job 4 Comments

There are three kinds of schools in Sweden – the Swedish, the International and the Bilingual. The Swedish schools follow Swedish curriculum and it’s Swedish medium. The International schools follow International curriculum (eg. Cambridge) and it’s English medium. Bilingual, as the name suggests, is a mix of both!

Kaity and Krissy go to Swedish schools. It is a common practice for Indian parents on temporary residence here to send their kids to International schools for obvious reasons – kids learn English and find it relatively easier to catch up with Indian education on their return. So when I tell my girls go to Swedish schools to other Indian parents, I get a mixed reaction of shock and surprise!

Well.. Here is why they go to Swedish schools 🙂 Continue reading Why K&K go to Swedish Schools! →

Firsts, Kaity, Lessons Learnt, Parenting, Proud Moments, Rants, School

Trust Him to Teach

July 31, 2014 Michelle Job 1 Comment

Who would have ever thought making a 4 yr old sit for 15 mins at one place to write her homework would be one ginormous task? At least I didn’t!

The whole concept of home work was alien to KT until she joined LKG. The very first day of school, her teacher, Ms. S, sent home three notebooks – for English, Tamil and Numbers respectively, to practice hand writing.

I got the pencil, eraser and notebooks ready. Gave her a pep talk on how important it is to do the home work, how it will not only make her teacher happy, but how much fun it is to learn to write! She seemingly paid good attention and appeared eager to start the home work. All she had to do was write one page of one English alphabet, one Tamil alphabet and one number! How easy that must have been!

It wasn’t =(

She took the pencil and just when I thought she was about to write, she started off with what happened at school that day. It went on for 5 mins. I listened. She then wrote one alphabet once. Before she could finish it, she heard our house gate screech and quickly escaped from my presence long before I could even realize to welcome my brother who got back from college. After 10 mins of narrating to him all that she had previously narrated to me, I dragged her back to the bench after much persuasion. Although my mercury slowly began to raise, I was fully under control!

Almost an hour went by, all she had written was one alphabet five times. Her distractions and playfulness soon transformed me from a mom into a hysteric monster👿! I lost my calm. I lost my peace. I started yelling at the top of my voice (trust me, you wouldn’t want to see that avatar of me!) and the poor kid freaked out 😨!

(Now please don’t give me that stare😠! I endure sleepless nights! The demands of a newborn are not too easy to meet. Krissy constantly needs my attention. And its only during those couple of hours she naps, I can concentrate on KT! I hope you understand! Exposure to a sleep deprived/hungry woman can be dangerous!)

The next few days, just the mention of ‘home work’ scared the wits out of KT!

I was completely broken down by this episode – first for yelling at my girl and the bad example I set and secondly at the daunting task of teaching her! Just at that moment of despair, I heard a voice! That still small soothing voice! It whispered,

“All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace.” Isaiah 54:13 NIV

I have read this verse a numerous times, heard sermons on it and thought it meant my kids will grow up learning about God and as a result they will enjoy peace. But only this time when I paid a much closer attention, I discovered something astounding!

My kids are going to be taught ‘BY’ the Lord!

Really?

Seriously?

How amazing is that?

The Creator of the universe teaching my child the secrets of science! The One who calls the very stars by name unravelling the mysteries of physics! The only Person who could convert water into age old wine explain chemistry! Those very hands that multiplied five loaves and two fishes to thousands teach math! And those very fingers that wrote the DNA of my being teaching my girls to write!

“This is three much!” You may exclaim!

Is it possible? How?

Yes, it is! Through me! Through you!

God loves our children so dearly. He longs for their company not just when they whisper their cute little prayers. He desires to be involved in every aspect of their lives – be it their health, hobbies, education, etc. He is ever so eager to teach them, guide them and see them scale great heights in life much much more than we do! Children are a gift from Him after all (Psalm 127:3 NLT)!

Sadly, many of us restrict God only to the spiritual aspect of life and oh yes, for protecting our kids in our absence and blessing them with good health. We hold the reins of everything else and try to get things done with our own strength and wee bit of wisdom. The result – freaked out, stressed out kids!

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we allow God to work through us. All of ours is replaced with all of His – His love, His joy, His wisdom, His strength, His knowledge and His understanding. The result – His peace!

It is God’s peace that will enable our children to enjoy and grasp what they learn. They will not only learn their academic lessons, but also life’s invaluable lessons that no school, but only God can teach!

KT continued to be her playful-self. But I kept my cool. I kept reminding myself that it was not by might, nor by power, but only by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6) that I can win her over. Gradually things changed. These days the minute she arrives from school she does her home work!

A couple of weeks back, the teacher sent home the portions and time table for the 1st Mid Term Exams. (1st Mid Term Exams for LKG??? Slightly shocking!! It’s 2014, Mich. Not 1985 😱) Trust me, I had never felt so anxious even for my BE exams!

I coached her to the best of my ability and kept waiting for the results. Yesterday, KT brought home her answer sheets! (Allow me to show off a little, please! It may not be an IAS or IPS exam! Just LKG 1st Mid Term! But for me, it is the very first exam my little girl has written – so precious and unforgettable!)

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So proud of you KT doll! Mamma’s over the moon 😍

And thank you, Jesus, for a great start to an incredible journey!

Events, Kaity, Milestones, School

Another Year Sails By

March 19, 2014 Michelle Job 2 Comments

How time flies and how fast kids grow! I can’t believe I’m already preparing documents for her next academic year. She’ll be taking her first step into the 14-year-long system of education in June. The last couple of years at Playgroup and Nursery was all fun and frolic. Listening to some mums tell me the syllabus of their kids in LKG and UKG is already unnerving me. I don’t think I’ve been this nervous during my entire schooling and college. When it came to my education, I never took it seriously. I was never the studious kind. I was never ambitious. I just enjoyed life as it came. I’m frankly amazed how I made it past with decent grades. However, when it comes to KT, it’s no longer my life. I just can’t take the risk of being careless even for a moment. There is this huge responsibility on my shoulder to do all that I can to the very best of my ability for this young, tender life to be molded and shaped into a girl of character, worth and wisdom who will face the world with courage and make a difference. I am wholly depending on divine wisdom and guidance. The years to come – her education, her exams, etc. are going to be a whole new adventure for me. But I am confident I can face it =)

Okay. Keeping my anxieties apart, I would like to record how KT’s nursery days went by. Unlike her playgroup days where she initially had problems leaving home and settling down, this year has been a smooth ride. KT enjoys going to school. On days when she missed her van, she’ll compel me to drive her to school. Sometimes even on festival holidays when the school was not working, she’ll insist that I take her to school (that’s konjam unlike me ;)).

She has made her own set of friends, mostly girls. Most of them accompany her in her van. They are five girls and one boy in the van. And my! I totally enjoy the 3 minute drama I get to see when I pick her up from the van. On most days, the girls behave like they are BFFs. Each will compliment the other on how good they were at school. But there are days when I get to witness girl-war – fight over who shared their snack and who didn’t, pinching/beating, quarrel over whose dad owns the big toy shop on the way to school (they imagine big when it comes to their dads, don’t they?) and who gets the window seat! It’s pure entertainment!

KT has also learnt a lot – numbers, alphabets, shapes, colors, etc. She has even picked some Telugu lines. She has become an expert in coloring. Her coloring style is unique and different. I simply love it!

Here are a few pics from some of the school events she had this year –

Annual Day Performance - Dancing for "Lakdi Ki Kaathi" — Annual Day Performance – Dancing for “Lakdi Ki Kaathi”

That’s more or less the highlights of KT’s Nursery Year! So grateful for the precious memories and good times! Look forward to more in the years to come =)