Apr. 24, 2008
Guam Blog Has a New Helper.
Hi everyone. My name is Les and I am Colleen’s husband. Colleen has been busy this year and I offered to help keep this blog up to date. We are now a tag-team.
I have a little story to share with you. I want to explain what my wife has been up to this year. Some folks know what we do, but I think many do not understand why we do it.
Several years ago, our family was suffering from financial distress. During this time, we took our kids to a VBS at a place called Guam International Christian Academy. We met the headmaster, Mr. Calkins. He invited us to bring our kids to school, even though we could not afford private school tuition. At the time we had three kids of school age. He also offered Colleen a job, which was a great help and a blessing at that difficult time.
That year, our eldest son, Kevin, jumped a grade and graduated from GICA. We also found that Adam belongs in home school. He is still famous for hiding under the stairs to avoid the aggressive P.E. teacher.
The next year, I began to teach at the school. That was the year the Calkin’s helped us start our driving school business. We used one of the school's classrooms for our evening classes, we made our class materials on the school’s copier, and they even helped us with money for a down payment on a driving school car. Two years later, our business was doing pretty good and I took a year off from teaching at the Christian school.
I found I missed the kids and the ministry opportunity. So I did what I am sure most Christian workers would do if they were able; I continued to work, but did not collect a paycheck.
For four years now, Colleen and I work and teach and preach at the school on a volunteer basis. It is a ministry and it is a blessing. This year Colleen is teaching the kindergarten and the lower elementary classes in a one-room setting. Very cute, but exhausting for her.
We hope we have shown our children that people are more important than money--a priceless lesson for Christian kids to learn. I also sincerely hope this explanation will assuage the critics who tell me it is wrong to work for no pay.
This is likely our last year of volunteer work. For the next couple of years we need to focus on expanding our business so it can feed our growing family. I looked at my kids last night and realized they are a hungrier bunch than I have ever had in my house. A 19, a 13, an 8 and a 5. And they eat more every day!
Kevin(23) is now in the US Air Force and we are proud of him. He is serious about his career. He even called us at tax time to be sure we are compliant. My son is now officially more mature that I am. And I don’t even have to feed him.
Adam is 19 and is staying in the fold for a while. We appreciate his help with the family business and with the little kids. Colleen and I are not in our 20’s any more and the 5-year-old’s shenanigans that used to be cute when we were younger are now just irritating. So we rely on Adam's help and we're happy he has chosen to stay with us. Adam plays guitar and writes music.
Stephanie is 13. She loves to sleep. I think she is joyfully oblivious to how blessed she is to be homeschooled. I like it that way. She enjoys drawing and writing. She is also a good helper around the house and yard. I love to spend time with Stephanie. She wants to be a little girl for a while longer, and I am happy to oblige her.
Eric draws video games. He is eight. His main character is a jaunty cat named Whiskers. Eric will draw amazing video game levels on pieces of paper. He then cuts a tiny “Whiskers” out of paper. Armed with his patented confident grin, which only Eric can draw, and is--as far as I can tell--Whiskers’ only super power, the action hero bounces and fights his way through each hand-drawn level. When the game is finished, Eric just creates another level. Eric does not agree with school. Teachers do not appreciate his style of stretching out on the floor with his art supplies arrayed around him. But that’s how he works, so he stays home where his talents can blossom.
Cassie is 5, and she is in school until this year is finished. She agrees with school and school agrees with her, but the hassle of getting up early, getting her to school, all the peripheral things parents have to attend to to have a kid in school—I am tired just thinking about it. I think next year she will be home schooled, but with a more structured approach than we are accustomed to.
We are not extremely active in the Guam home school community. Oh, new-comers do contact us and we are happy to get people started, but we do not attend every function. Our style of homeschooling is best described as unschooling, though I don’t really like the label. We just use teachable moments and keep the learning happening from morning to night.
Because of our home school style, we do not participate much in conversations about testing, curriculum, transcripts and other such details. To be honest, these things don’t concern us.
In the past, we have been very active in the local home school group. Colleen has been the coordinator and contact person. We have been home schooling for about 20 years and also started a Christian School in Canada. Colleen is still moderating the homeschool Yahoo group, and I think she still keeps the web site. We do know what is going on on Guam, and we will keep you posted.
I also plan to write some blogs about Guam so others can know more about our historic and often-misunderstood island.
OK, a bit about me: I have been married to my wife for 25 years. I spent over a decade cutting timber in BC, Canada before I hung up those boots to come to Guam. Now I teach driver education. Driving lessons are only slightly less stressful than logging, so I am still looking for a long-term career solution. Yes, you read that correctly. I am still trying to decide what to be when I grow up.
Please come back for another visit.
LES |
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May. 20, 2008 - Very Nice.....
I have enjoyed reading your post here and learning more about you and your family.
You two are doing a great job here !!! Thanks !
Pat Mills
Manager of HSN