Entries Tagged 'Parenting Issues' ↓

Some people often talk about the TEFL lifestyle and how it affects our families. One of the big issues is the education of our kids. It seems like it is impossible to give them the quality of education that they would be getting back in our home countries without spending out a lot of money.

Fortunately, we are teachers and we can give them a quality education experience. There is nothing to prevent us from taking charge and teaching them at home. We can put together quality lesson that will help them find academic success. The responsibility is on us as teachers.

Lately I have been thinking about how we instill values in our children. I think the work we do as parents in raising up our children in the right way and the moral way is one of the most important jobs we can do. In fact, I can’t even think of anything that compares to its importance.

I am trying my best with our kids, but sometimes it is difficult giving them the right amount of guidance and help to make them into the children I want them to become. I understand it is hard to do it alone and that is why my husband and I have started attending church regularly. The values that we want to instill in our children are helped with our friendships we get in church.

One of the things you must be vigilant on when you are both a parent and a TEFL teacher is unscrupulous schools. In some locations, it can be tough to find a school that you can afford to send your children to. Public schools can be out of the question for non-local kids and international schools can be prohibitively high.

In this void, there are sometimes school that spring up. When these schools are registered with the local government, they can be a Godsend for parents, but what happens when these schools exist solely to take money from parents and don’t deliver a quality education to the students? It’s a travesty.

In Thailand, foreign students are not allowed to study at public schools and they have to pay higher rates to study in private schools. Education expenses can make it difficult to teach English abroad if you have kids.

Right now there is a developing story on TEFLWatch where accusations are being thrown around about Faith Christian Academy in Thailand. There are those who are saying that the school is not legally registered and is operating illegally. I hope that this isn’t true and would hope that the school would quickly prove to everyone that they are legal. We need quality education for our kids, not carpetbaggers trying to take advantage of a tough situation.

Being a family on the go, we never have had a photo album for very long. They are very bulky and easily fill up boxes or even suitcases when we make a move. Most of our photos are kept in shoeboxes or worse. I have decided lately that enough is enough and I have embarked on a family scrapbooking project with the kids.

Basically, a few times a week, my husband, my kids and I will all sit down on the floor of our living room to make scrapbooks. The scrapbooks are very personal and have the goal of telling a story. So far it is working very well and the kids are even getting into the act. I thought they might be a bit young but they love helping out with their scrapbooks.

Has anyone tried family scrapbook nights?

I feel sorry for Britney Spears. I really do. She is going through hell right now and the media is just jumping all over her. They don’t seem to care what she has gone through, they just seem to only care about getting a story. This is very sad for her indeed and makes me very angry at these people who will report any story they can, just to sell a few magazines or get someone to view their show, like Dr Phil.

I think Britney Spears needs to have someone who loves her and cares for her take her by the hand and give her the strength and compassion she needs to get through this tough time. It’s sad to see a girl publicly suffer a breakdown and my thoughts and my prayers go out to her. I pray that the Lord will do everything to change her life.

Oneof the most important things we can do as parents is to bond with our children and spend precious time with them getting even closer to them. The more opportunities we have to bond with our children, the more well adjusted they will be and the more happy they will be. Sometimes though it is hard to find the time to devote to the family a much as we would like to.

My husband and I came up with a great idea to increase the amount of family time we spend with our children. We set aside one evening a week for Family Together Night. From dinner time until bed time, it is family time. It starts off with dinner and after dinner, we all do the chores together.

Next we will pull out some puzzles or other activities and do them all together. Sometimes, I will play my guitar with special songs for the kids. Other times we might work on the family scrapbook. When it’s time to go to bed, we put the kids to sleep together and read them stories.

After the kids are asleep, my husband and I spend time talking, sharing and maybe even play a game of scrabble or chess. The important thing is that it is family time.

Good parenting begins with setting good boundaries and following through on all punishments. It looks like one 15 year old boy learned that well. His father search far and wide for the video game, “Guitar Hero III.” He ended paying $90 for it and knew it was just what his son wanted for Christmas. His father was proud that he had gotten his son such a great gift.
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