Success in the US

The trip back to the US was fruitful and full of warm hugs and kisses from friends and family. The only downside was that it was too short. Thank you to everyone who was able to host and visit with us while we were “home”, we were well loved.

Evelyn and Ida were able to get dentist appointments in the US (it’s difficult to get proper dental care in France), and it was impressed upon us to get them into braces ASAP. We have an appointment with an orthodontist in a few weeks, please pray that the orthodontist get the girls “straightened out”.

We also did educational testing for Evelyn while in the US. She has always struggled in a scholastic environment, but all of this became more evident and difficult in this foreign setting. This testing revealed her need for extra supports. We are being transparent with this situation as it greatly impacts our day to day. We want her to be successful and need to get her the needed support as creatively as possible.

Now that we are back in France: The girls are re-settled back in school. Their school is much less turbulent than when we lived in Albertville and we are so thankful for that. There is still some struggle with French pedagogy, as there is a lot of shaming that happens in the classroom. This is just something that we are learning to navigate delicately as it is deeply rooted in French culture. On a more positive note, Evelyn is taking an online math class to catch up (through Liberty Universisty’s online academy) and has made great progress. Ida and Ginny are working on reading with varying degrees of success. We have instituted “reading nights” where Jesse reads a fun book to them for an hour or more. Little House on the Prairie is our current book. We really want to instill a love for learning in our girls! We are praying that this winter is full of academic progress, without too many tears.