October 26th, 2008

School Woes

We spent the 2007-08 school year in the US to give our boys the experience of an American education, and we feel like we accomplished our objectives. It was the right time and the right place for us. Before this, our visits to the US since 1997 have been for vacations. We have always stayed with friends or family, and never led a normal life in the US.

Tyler was in a private Christian high school for 9th grade, and Cameron was in a public school for 5th grade. Both had great experiences, and learned a lot that will help them in future transition when they try to fit in to American society (which is often difficult for kids who grow up overseas).

Now integrating back to life in the Singapore has had its ups and downs. They miss American football and the youth groups at church (its not as fun or relational in Singapore). We DID find the American football league at the American school that they have joined and loved. And we have started attending an international church to get them in more American-style youth groups. However, they have also had challenges fitting back into the educational environment here.

For our first six years in Singapore, our boys went to Singaporean public schools, where they were the only foreigners and were required to study Chinese as a second language. They did pretty well, made friends, and even excelled in the rigorous academic environment. But we felt that by 7th grade, we ought to switch them to an international school setting where they got more affirmation and less shame, and where the curriculum was based more on thinking than on facts needed for examinations. There are many large private schools for the international community here (American, Australian, Japanese, Canadian, etc.) but they are all pretty expensive. A small Christian school was started in the ’90s for the missionary community, and when we enrolled there in 2005, there were less than 200 children for K-12. Although it was only about 1/3 the cost of other international schools, it was still a big jump for us to spend $18,000/year for tuition.

Coming back to this school in Singapore after his exceptional experience in the US, Tyler has felt academically underchallenged. He got all A’s in his classes this semester, but wishes he was in a setting that pushed him to think more. He also misses the comraderie of being around a lot of American teenagers.

On the other hand, Cameron has had challenges with academics and adjusting to more responsibility in middle school this semester. After being the star pupil in Pasadena’s public schools, he was failing three classes here after the first month. We have worked hard with him, with his teachers and had an educational counselor helping, to give him more structure for his studies.

We appreciate your care and prayers and giving to help our boys grow up well and get a good education. We will keep working hard with Cameron, but are also considering sending Tyler to the Singapore American School next year. Although this would be a bigger financial challenge, we feel these teenage years are crucial to give them training and opportunities for the future.

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