School's Out! ~ Ecole Le Cep

The past academic year, our family was blessed to send the children to a French Christian school, Ecole Le Cep.  This was the first year for the school, so the class sizes were small and it truly felt like being part of a family as we worked together throughout the year. 

I wanted to share a few pictures from some of the activities at the school this spring and the dear friends our children have made.  I am forever greatful for this experience as it has changed both mine and our children's lives.  I was able to become conversational in French and my children quickly surpassed my level - despite nearly 5 years of studying French!

The first weekend of June Le Cep put together a Fancy Fair.  It began with a play performed by the children titled "Heros of the Faith". 

The play was performed entirely in French.  It was exciting to hear the children sing and speak their lines in French.

After the play, there was a small carnival set up outside with games and food.  Thankfully, the sunny weather continued for the outdoor activities.

For one of the last days of school, the children went to a zoo.  The zoo was perfect for the kids complete with lions, monkeys, plenty of play equipment and even a petting zoo.  I could not believe how calm these animals were dispite all the shreaks and squeals coming from these elementary students!

Here is Drew with Jenna's teacher, Mme. Elise.  She was an excellent teacher for the primary students.  A great balance of discipline and fun.  

Through the course of the year, Jenna became very close to the girls in her class.  Here she is pictured with her friend, Maddie.  Can you believe Jenna is only a year older than her?  Quite a height difference!

 I think one of the highlights of the day for the children was this tree limb bridge across a small stream.  Can you imagine ever seeing something like this in a zoo play area in the US?  Only two students lost their balance and had their feet fall in the water!  Thankfully, it was a warm, sunny day, so they dried out in no time. 

Drew began going to school two days a week in mid-March.  The timing worked out perfectly with all of the visitors we had this spring.  Here he is pictured with two of his buddies, Dutch and Logan. 

Finally, the last day of carpool!!  We carpooled with a family from our church who had 4 kids.  We spent many hours listening to Narnia on CD!

In Belgium, the last day of school contains a special ceremony where the teachers pass out the "bulletins"-or report cards.  Each class was called up on stage, the teacher said nice things about the students and then commented as to whether they passed to the next grade.  Thankfully, all the students passed!

This is Drew with the other children from his age group.  These boys were a handful! 

Ethan's class, troisieme maternelle, had a total of 4 students (one girl was not present) and is the equivalent to kindergarten.  Ethan, Joshua and Theo were all similar in nature with tons of energy.  It has been amazing to see Ethan communicate with these native French speaking children and watch his language acquisition take off throughout the school year. 

Finally, our Jenna.  She completed the equivalent of 2nd grade in Belgium.  At the end of June, she took a standardized test given across all French Belgian students and passed!  We are so proud of her determination and good attitude.  She also received the award for most artistic, which I think made her the happiest!

This is a photo of the students of the school at the end of the ceremony (a few families are missing). 

Unfortunately, the school will not continue next academic year.  They were not able to secure enough families to receive government funding to pay the teachers or lease a building.  We have decided that we will resume home educating the children.  Last year when we arrived, I was hesitant to home educate because I feared isolation (all Belgian children start full time public school no later than 2 1/2 years old) and lack of resources for teaching.  However, we now have a strong core of amazing, supportive friends (several of which home educate as well) and I am thrilled to have a more flexible schedule for field trips and traveling as a family during our last few months in Europe.  We have plans to continue their French studies through a tutor and playdates.

Words cannot express our gratefullness at having the opportunity to expose the children to another culture through this Chrsitian school over the last 10 months.  It has opened their minds to another language and also opened our home to families of different cultures.  It has also been the main opportunity for me to improve my conversational French as well.

Merci, mon Dieu, car vous m'avez vraiment bénie. Mon coeur est plein de gratitude.

(Thank you, my God, for you have truly blessed me.  My heart is full of gratitude)