Christmas this year was perfect. It’s always a good feeling when you think back and feel satisfied with how everything went. We really had a lot of fun together and it was good to spend this beautiful season together!
The only thing I was missing was my 17 year old daughter. Hopefully we can persuade her to join us next year!
Here’s a movie of all our adventures!
I have so many things that I love to do for christmas, to keep it focused on Jesus Christ. Here are a list of some of my favorite traditions:
Service
Singing to people/Christmas Carolling
Reading Stories that are inspiring
Read Christmas Stories
Listen to Christmas Music
Wrap up Christmas Picture books and put it under the tree
Bake Christmas Goodies
Go skating
Go sledding
Build Fires
These are just a few of my favorite things to do at Christmas Time. Please drop a line and tell me what your favorite traditions are!
The warmth of the sun rises, and the cool of the evening sky sets on our family classroom.
It happens through the summertimes, and during holidays, starts early in the mornings and ends late at night.
There are no limits to the students curiosity, no walls to their classrooms, no ages to their classes, no boundaries to their questions.
This is the place where it’s okay to teach kids about God, Jesus, giving up and holding on. This classroom thrives on physical touch, hugs, high fives, and arms wrapped around each other.
In our family classroom it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to leave. It’s okay to choose not to participate.
Our family classroom is rarely clean. In fact, it’s usually overflowing with messes, and spills and books and toys and projects.
There are never enough walls in our family classroom to hold all the priceless treasures that my children create. And I mean that honestly. For somehow, each one of them is exceptionally talented.
Oh, in case you wonder, our family classroom is noisy too. There are squeaky flutes & pounding pianos, and loud teenage music (that I rarely like), and kids squealing and teenagers crying, and toddlers racing, and moms and dads yelling to be heard above all the commotion. But it’s a happy, busy, noise, and if it’s too much, there are quiet corners. In our family classroom I’ve noticed that one rarely chooses to escape to silent bedrooms when instead they could be enjoying the community we find in being together.
This classroom is a safe place to make mistakes. It could be the mistakes of the teacher, or the mistakes of the student but either way, you are given the grace to figure it out and try again while still being loved and accepted.
One of my children took her first university course at 12 years old, another was just opening a book for the first time to read on her own. But in our family school, there are no bully’s to make fun, or grades to compare.
It’s okay to show up late, or show up in your jammies, as long as you’re willing show up at all, you can join us.
Some months our family classroom looks like endless mathematical equations, other months it looks like flying across the world and standing at the top of a volcano while hot lava literally explodes in bombs above your head, or diving to the bottom of a sea discovering creatures you never dreamed existed all around you.
All. Across. The. Globe. I get people asking me if I really think my family classroom is the healthiest choice for my kids.
My answer is… ‘Yes, it’s the greatest thing we’ve ever done!’
Hanging out on the Windy Prairies of Alberta, Canada
Some people may peek into my classroom and wonder when I’m gonna teach spelling rules and calculus. I reassure them that they need not worry, because at precisely the time when my children’s minds are ready to expand, they will get to immerse themselves in these important subjects, and nothing will stop them!
Until then, I am going to go from one end of the world to the other, and hopefully, spark a love of learning so deeply in their souls, that it can never be extinguished.
Riding the Ferries on Vancouver Island, British ColumbiaKayaking, Shipwreck diving, And Snorkeling at Irriki IslandSurfing on the West Coast of Long Beach, British Columbia, CanadaMaking New Friends on The Island of EfateTaking Hikes In The Mountains of Waterton Alberta, Canada photo credit: www.thousandwonders.netCollecting Seashells on The Beaches of VanuatuSharing food in the South PacificStanding by 400 year old Siguaro Cactus, Mesa ArizonaStarting a Primitive Fire with no match in Wilderness of ArizonaClimbing trees in the Jungle of North Island VillageTrying on Sombreros Street Vendors on the boardwalk of San Felipe, MexicoDiscovering Spiders on the boardwalk of Brisbane, Australia
See you around,
BeckyBoo
P.S.
YES!
Yes my kids will learn to read, and hopefully also learn to change the world with the wisdom they’ve gathered from endless hours sitting in the sunshine, basking in the ideas of history’s greatest thinkers.
Yes my kids will learn to write, and hopefully use that gift to spread the cause of freedom, & equality.
Running With Dad on The Run 4 The Rescue a 500 Mile Run in Chains to bring Awareness to Human Trafficking, Washington DC
Yes my kids will learn to socialise, because from the time they were tiny they got to play with kids from cultures and countries across the earth, and philosophise with adults, and have one on one conversations with leaders and politicians.
Yes my kids will learn to add and subtract, and multiply and divide, and hopefully use those tools to seek further education or build something beautiful or to heal bodies & hearts.
My oldest left home at 17, is attending emergency medical training in another country, and trying to decide if she should go to Indonesia on a 6 month service mission with her cousin.
My 2nd oldest left home at 16, and is using this time on her own to discover the world. She is paying her own rent, buying her own groceries, and getting her own jobs.
My 3rd oldest of 15 years spends most her days reading, dreaming about horses and studying for the ACT.
My two next girls attend our local public school in grades 6 & 8, (don’t worry, I’ll help them catch up later).
My two little boys spend everyday chasing words and animals and books as we explore together. They dress up, dig up, and build up all blessed day long.
Each of these 7 children will take their own path, but hopefully, if I’ve done it right, they will each know who they are, or at least how to become who they want to be. That is the beauty of my family classroom.
We wanted to see the turtles and the local man told us that little tiny island off the coast of Efate was the place to go. After parking your car you were supposed to walk to the dock or wait until someone in a boat offers to drive you. Once they arrive you pay them 1$ for each person in the boat and get dropped off at your choice of spots on the little island.
It worked! We waited on the dock and within a few minutes a boat showed up and offered to drive us. In went the Women, in went the children, and in went the men, then when you thought we couldn’t possibly fit another person, in went the jugs of water, the bundles of coconuts, and the bags of groceries. It was epic, and kinda stressful-I was so glad the boys had their floaty suits on!
Apparently they have no safety regulations for exactly how many people can fit in a boat. And in order to make the most money in each trip they really piled us in!!!
At first I thought maybe the island was so close that it didn’t matter if we sunk or not, but it took a good half an hour at least on the ocean to get there.
The day was bright and sunny, and the water was so crystal clear and turquoise blue that you could see right to the bottom. Isaiah could not resist dragging his hand through the water as the boat moved forward and I couldn’t blame him.
Because the tide was out when the boat driver was dropping people off there were places where he had to pull up the engine, hop into the water and push the boat over the coral growing in the white sand beneath us just to get people close enough to the shore. They still had to carry their bags and bundles through the ocean just to get home.
When we finally got to the white sand beach with clear turquoise water the boat driver asked when we would like him to return and after I told him he sped away.
It was magic! The beach was covered in sand dollars and starfish. The kids spent hours picking them up, finding out they were still alive, letting them go, and discovering all kinds of interesting facts about them in between!
The tide was out and there were so many truly fascinating things to discover on the reefs, in the ocean, and in the tidepools.
The sea urchins were plentiful today so the barefooted beauties had to be careful not to step on them. The last time someone got stung by a sea urchin it was disastrously painful, so we were very happy that situation was avoided today:)
Locals were like little ants in the distance collecting shells and trapped fish for dinner, filling their buckets and bags as they laughed and chatted.
We never actually saw a sea turtle, however, we saw so many other amazing things it didn’t even bother us in at least. The only thing we were missing on this perfect day was my second oldest daughter who had decided to stay home on the adventure.
#shemissedout #ithinkthismustbeheaven
The Proffitt Family hanging out on a log in Paradise
What do you think, could you handle a day in paradise? I gotta say, this world schooling experience won’t be easy to beat!
There were 7 weddings in the village this week, the girls attended two of them.
There is only one day in the month in which you are allowed to get married regardless of what church you belong to, so last Friday was full of celebrations for everyone!!
When Analaea asked one of her friends what he was doing that day, he replied he was on his way to buy his cousins bride.
Apparently every man in the family over a certain age goes to purchase the bride from her family the day before the wedding. All the Village gossip was about the extraordinary price that their family had brought to purchase the bride.
With the minimum wage being $2 an hour here the bride gift Of $1350 USD was unheard of!! The Vanuatu government passed a law 10 years ago saying that no brideprice over $800 was allowed, but I guess people are still willing to accept higher bride prices when offered.
In addition to the bride price, one week prior to the wedding every member of the grooms family must take off work and move into the grooms village where they spend the week preparing for the upcoming celebrations. In this case they killed five cows and two pigs for their feast amongst many many other things!
Once a bride and groom have been married you throw flour on the couple to show your support of their union.
Marriage here in Vanuatu is pretty much a matter of practicality. I’ve only seen one couple who looks even remotely in love and even they said that one day the bride received a phone call from a distant cousin who she had spoken to only once in her life. “Can I take you to the Mormon temple to get married after you get home from your two years of service?”
The young girl presented the name to her Family, and they discussed the pros and cons of the union. After two days they decided that he would be a suitable match. So she called him back and said yes. When her service mission was finished he picked her up brought her to the temple in Fiji and they got married. They are now living in two separate countries, as he is in Australia trying to save money for the island wedding well she works here in Vanuatu.
When I asked about their island wedding, she said they would probably celebrate that in two or three years. The trouble is in order to have a custom island wedding The family of the groom must pay a high bride price as well as all the costs for the celebrations. This puts a great financial burden on the family purchasing the bride.
If by chance you want to get married but are not able to afford the price of your bride you can give your first born daughter to your brides family. They then get to keep your daughter for the rest of her single life. That’s the case with my brothers house girl and their first born which they haven’t seen since giving away.
It’s so sad to see some of the local customs that are clearly trapping people in financial bondage or sadness. Weddings and funerals are particularly expensive for locals in Vanuatu.
One woman I know well said that after her husband had been requested to share his seed with other woman in his home village she wanted to leave him. She took the pikinins with her and boarded a boat. He found out before the boat left and also boarded. When he found her he beat her until she was unconscious and then threw her overboard. He jumped over himself and swam them both to shore where he announced she could not leave him. She’s been with him ever since.
I will be celebrating my 18th wedding anniversary with Eric soon. Our marriage is by no means without stress but I am grateful that at least he doesn’t drink Kava all night, beat me, share his seed or give our children away.
Thank goodness for the values that we share that make marriage just a little bit easier!!I think that this world schooling lesson that my girls learned today will stick with them forever!
What about you? What strange customs have you come across while traveling?
