Choosing an overseas preschool

Before we even got to Laos we thought that we would enrol Bea in some kind of school. At 2 years of age she was definitely ready for some experiences out of the home environment.

The main reason we wanted her to attend school was for her social development. Bea can be incredibly friendly around people she knows well, and the complete opposite to those who she does not know. This is her, and we love her for it. But a few encounters away from us, to see how other kids are interacting and playing together was a goal.

Finding a preschool overseas is tricky. Firstly, there is a real lack of information online, or information in general. Most of what we know about the schools here has been from work of mouth. At first glance you would think that only having a handful of schools to choose from would make the choice easier but in fact I beg to differ. Having only a few schools to choose from means that everyone we meet has a child at one of them and consequently has an opinion. Unlike in Auckland where every child was undoubtedly at a different place, this makes for more comparisons.

The other difficulty was that they all had pros and cons. Resources, language, expenses (a lot more than standard kindergartens in Australia/ NZ), quality of teachers, teaching methods etc. In Vientiane there are a handful of international schools, including Vientiane international school (VIS) but Bea is too young for any of their kindergarten classes. So that left us with essentially 3 main choices: 2 Montessori schools and a french school. All three of them had something we liked and something we didn't like. And all of them have issues with training, and certification.

In the end we enrolled Bea in the French preschool for a couple of reasons.

1. It was a pretty nurturing environment
2. Most of the kids were 2 years old (at the Montessori there were 6 year olds and we thought Bea would be a bit intimidated)
3. The main teacher speaks fluent French, English and Lao so although the bulk of group activities are in French there is someone who could explain things to Bea in English if need be.
4. The outdoor area has a lot of shade
5. Bea might just pick up a little bit of french!

Bea has now been at the school for over a month and so far so good. She can now count to ten in 4 languages (English, Spanish, French and Lao FYI) and is constantly singing songs in French (although we have no idea what she is saying so cannot correct her mumbled lyrics!) She is still shy and is often stuck to the teachers hip but she enjoys the time there and is excited when she comes home.

Would you enrol your children in a school that has a language other than your own?

Sporadic blogger alert

When I started this blog I thought I would have a 'blog schedule'. That it would be easy to fit in. And that I would post at least a couple of times a week.

What I have learnt in the last few months is that that isn't realistic here. Laos is too unpredictable. In fact, life in general with a family is too unpredictable. And I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm one of those people who doesn't really like routine. One of those people who doesn't like doing the same exercise, or eating the same food for breakfast every morning.

So, to help my guilt on having no consistent blogging agenda, and to help you keep track, let me introduce a little friend to you. It's name is bloglovin. And I am a big fan.

I have been using bloglovin for a while now. Essentially you sign up, search for the blogs you like, add them to your list and then bloglovin will send you an email with a summary of posts and links to them. Simple right?

For example if you type in "travelling with chickens" this blog comes up and you can follow me. It means that if I post something here you will get an email and ultimately not need to keep coming to the site and sighing at the lack of new content.

I am in no way linked to bloglovin but am of the opinion that it is a handy little tool. Check it out here if you want to read more about how it works.

How to raise globally aware children

We have always been keen on raising children to have a genuine interest and desire to know more about the world around them. I imagine many families have a similar interest. This started very early on in Bea's life. In the beginning it was reading books about different kinds of places- places with extreme seasons, cold places, deserts etc.

As she got older we progressed to trying to introduce her to language- both through books and music. In Auckland Bea and I went to a weekly Spanish music class which we both loved as an alternative to the usual library run music sessions. We still sing the Spanish songs we learnt there. I would really recommend it.

Now in Laos, we have enrolled Bea into a French speaking preschool (although i may note this has been for more than one reason).

There have been a few key resources that we have used to aid us in our desire to raise a global child. And they are accessible wherever you are living.

Today i wanted to talk about the simple blow up globe

We actually have 2 of these. One has the countries on it, the other is just the geography. At the moment, here in Laos we have the geography one. The possibilities with these things are endless. It is a great travel toy. We use it all the time. Sometimes we use it to burn off some steam and kick or throw it around. Sometimes we roll around on top of it. But other times it is more educational. I was impressed when Bea wanted to show we where the penguins live the other day and could spin the globe around and around until she found the land mass of Antarctica. She can also accurately identify Australia and NZ (Laos is proving to be a little bit more difficult).

At the moment we have been using it a lot as we track our various friends and family members. My parents are somewhere in Russia, Joff's mother and sister in Kenya. The globe has been great for explaining where everyone is.

I can also see it being put to use in the future when we want to show other kids and adults where we come from.

If you don't have a blow up globe i really recommend getting one, they are such a fun, educational toy!

Melinda xx

Dora the explorer- Beatrix explores the ruins

                             Confession 1: Beatrix has quite a thing for Dora

                             Confession 2: So do I

Its true, i like Dora the Explorer. I am no expert, i haven't seen any animated Dora, just read some of the books but at this point I like her. She is cute, she speaks Spanish, her best friend is a Monkey and she loves exploring- what's not to like?! I also like that she knows how to read a map, has very good manners, and never seems afraid.

There are times when travel with a 2 year old can be tough. It is those times that we have Dora up our sleeve. Sometimes it is in the form of a tiny travel sized Dora book to take a minute out and be whisked away on an adventure. And other times we use her to explain to Bea that we are about to do something really cool like Dora would do. Whenever we say this Bea lights up with a big smile and looks quite excited that she is an adventurer like Dora. Thanks Dora and co.

Last weekend while we were in Champasack we visited Wat Phu, a very Dora-esque location. There were no monkeys but there could have been. Wat Phu is a UNESCO listed site of Khmer architecture, not dissimilar to Angkor Wat (to my eye). It sits at the base of a sacred mountain and extends up the slope of the hill somewhat in shade which makes it a lot cooler to explore. We had a brilliant time exploring the ruins, climbing up huge steps, looking over beautiful vistas and generally being awed by how well preserved it was.

Ruins and temples are a fantastic place to take toddlers. Old enough to walk around themselves, but young enough to get excited by the climbing. Bea won't remember visiting amazing places like Wat Phu but it is still important. It is important because she has spent another day loving adventure.

Trip Review: Champasack

Last weekend we took advantage of some cheap flights and discounted accommodation to head to Southern Laos. It was an area of the country that i had really wanted to get to but was unsure whether we would find the time to explore it properly.

We flew down to Pakse, a reasonably sized hub for Laos, and headed out to Champasack town, approx 40 minutes away by tuk tuk.

It was a lucky weekend and we are incredibly grateful to have been able to enjoy it.
Everything seemed to go right and it was extremely relaxing!

When we got off the flight it was early in the morning so we headed to a cafe in Pakse to get some breakfast and also try to make some inquiries about tours in the region for the following day. We were sitting there, having just ordered our food when a tuk tuk driver approached us and told us he would wait for us to finish our food and then we could head to Wat Phu (khmer ruins/ temple) We were a bit perplexed, we hadn't booked a tuk tuk. We tried explaining that we didn't want to go, we had only just arrived, and that maybe it was someone else that had booked him?? Let's just say it didn't go well. The tuk tuk driver got more and more annoyed that we didn't want to go to Wat Phu until finally he stormed off.

About 10 minutes later a Swiss guy approached us asking if we had seen a tuk tuk. Oops. I guess all foreigners look alike. Especially when they are travelling with a wife and small falang daughter.But in actual fact every cloud has a silver lining and it could not have worked out better.  For the next 2 days we shared transport and tours with this couple who are travelling around the world with their 4 year old for a year. What fun we had.

We only had time for a very small part of southern Laos but we would love to go back. It is a beautiful part of the country and has so much to offer that a lot of people don't get the time to see.

Happy (and slightly sweaty after some serious ruin exploring)

Beautiful Mekong

Living not blogging

Sorry for the lack of activity. I can assure you that all is well.
We have simply been busy living. Just the way it should be.

There has been lots of fun and challenging things going on- a couple of full week training courses, one of which took me away from Vientiane for the week. I have been training local doctors and nurses on newborn health, in particular how to look after babies in their first few hours of life. It has been a roller coaster of emotion. One moment you are worried that you mustn't be teaching it properly and the next you see something that makes you realise that it has all come together. Teachers- i have always had a lot of respect for your job, but the last few weeks have multiplied this by 100!

Poor Joff was solo dad for 5 days- a challenging week for him as well, although in a completely different way. Although, now that i think about it, perhaps we both were practicing how patient we could be. Bea continues to be a joy, albeit an exhausting one.

I have lots of posts i want to be writing but for now i am just going to leave you with some photos of my travels to Phak Lay (about 4 hours from Vientiane by minibus)

Stay tunes for updates on choosing a preschool for Bea, a weekend away in Southern Laos, and how to survive the heat…

Mekong river

The view across the street from my guesthouse

The power went out the first night we arrived so it was dinner by candlelight!

Pigtails

Its been a busy few weeks.

There has been lots of work, lots of dinners and other things on. And consequently not enough time to update the blog.

Time is rushing by and we have now been in Laos for 3 months. It's flown.

So this morning i started thinking about the small details. The things that are changing, mainly with our not so little girl, and focus on them.

The way her hair is growing. Farrah Fawcett flicks due to the humidity. Tiny golden pigtails.

The way she can now easily see what is on the kitchen table instead on peering on tip toes.

The way she has mastered climbing the three flights of stairs to the apartment. (When she wants to). And the way she confidently jumps down.

The way she can slide under her mosquito net with ease.

The way she informs us when she hears rhyming words. Or the way she has started to tell us jokes.

Its a brilliant thing to watch them grow and develop. Made even more fascinating when you move country, languages, culture. It is exhausting but i love it.