‎"telling someone what they have to learn is a long and tortuous road, often ineffective; giving someone the opportunity to explore what their brain finds particularly interesting at the time opens the gateway to optimization of that individuals potential" anon

More Bai Tio and Back to School

 Foundation Blog  No Responses »
Jun 172010
 
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It seems like we’ve got stuck in our ways with Huay Tung Taow having been the weekly Bai Tio destination for several weeks now.

Must be because its perfect for our requirements.

Lots of space to run around and play;

plenty of food and drink available if you need it;

the beautiful lake for swimming;

and general all round ambience, with the views of the mountains behind, means I get a chance to chill out to.

On the 10th of May Tai was the first to go back to school, starting Mattayom 1 at his new school in Sarapee.

Tai proved himself to be a good student when he first arrived and finished Prathom 6 at Pasak  School.

He did very well in the entrance test for his new school , getting an overall mark of level 4 out of 5.

Already it is clear that this level in Mattayom 1 has much work and Tai often spends 2 to 3 hours every evening doing homework.

Keep it up Tai, you’ll go far.

A week later Mae Salab school opened and the rest of the children who had attended Pasak School last year,  started at their new school;

which is much more convenient, being just 3 minutes walk away from home.

New girl Jor also joins the crew at Mae Salab.

Gu, our oldest child, at 14, took a little longer to start the new school year as there was some delay getting all the necessary paperwork from his old school in Nan.

But he eventually started at the same school as Tai two weeks later. Gu has started Mattayom 2.

He has started at the lower level but we hope that with extra support here at Stratton House we will see an improvement in his school grades over time.

He certainly appears to be putting some effort in already which was apparently a problem back at home in Nan.

The start of the new school has been quite a drain on the Foundations funds, what with Thai schools having several different uniforms for the children to wear.

Also term fees for the Mattayom level boys as well as money for lunch everyday which is not free in the Mattayom school.

All the children seem to have settled well in their new schools and all are very good at getting their homework done every evening; the ‘no TV until homework is finished’ rule helps alot.

Check out our photobucket album here for more photos , including general activities in the house; playtime; homework; cooking and more.

April Holiday.

 Foundation Blog  No Responses »
Jun 162010
 

A few days after our volunteers left, it was time for the kids to spend time with their families during the end of year holiday. Yong and May(1) went home for a 3 weeks and Jack went for 2. The rest of the kids, who all come from Nan Province had 7 days, during which Boon and myself had a well earned break fromthe day to day running of the home.

We left Chiang Mai on the 8th of April, getting an early start at 4am, to give the kids as much time with their families as possible.

Its a long haul to Nan, especially with just one driver in the April heat, so there were lots of rest stops on the way.

We finally got to Pua in Nan at around 1pm after dropping May(2) off at her village near Tung Chang.

Needing to keep to a low budget Boon and myself booked into a guest house in Pua at 300 baht a night.

The holiday had been delayed due to Tai needing to sign in at his new school in Sarapee, so our original plan to get home for Song Kran was scuppered. This was maybe a good thing as it meant that the children got to celebrate this important cultural celebration with their loved ones.

Me and Boon spent most days at the nearby Silaphet Waterfall, a beautiful spot to stay cool in the summer heat…and free!

Its very popular with the local population, but luckily the stream is accessible for quite a distance up the mountain. This means that with a bit of trekking you can always find a spot that’s not so overcrowded.

On the 13th we went into Nan city to join in the Song Kran celebrations ourselves.

We booked into a guesthouse there for one night and rented a motorcy for the day.

In many ways Nan was quite a relief from the mayhem you tend to get in Chiang Mai.

We spent the day riding around the town, getting doused with the rest of the revellers. Once we’d had our fill of getting soaked we took refuge in a coffee shop in the main street and took time to get some photos of the fun.

Whilst on this break we got two new enquiries, one for a 12 year old girl, friend of Mays; and one for a 14 year old boy from Santisuk.

On the 14th we drove out to Santisuk to assess the boys case. This involved a long hard drive to his very remote hilltribe village.

In the end we agreed to take both children, Jor,the girl and Gu, the boy.

On the 15th we collected all the children and returned home to Stratton House.

Already friends with May(2), Jor settled in quickly. Gu took a few days to find his feet and come out of his shell but is now well established as part of the group.

The April Holiday is a long stretch and we are thankful for having the small river so close which gave daily respite from the sweltering heat. Weekly trips to Huay Tung Tao also helped.

The rest of the time we kept the kids occupied with art, karaoke, English language lessons and playing with the board games they had made with Mikki and Siva. We also purchased a version of Monopoly which became almost as popular as Uno.

Chess has also emerged as one of the childrens favourites and Tai even made two chess boards from some perspex we had left over from making the collection boxes.

For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.

First day Out—Huay Tung Tao

 Foundation Blog  1 Response »
Nov 082009
 

After a hectic week with the new arrivals and excellent behaviour so far, we decided to take a trip out for Sunday. the lady who had put us on to Mae and Yongs case, Pee A had asked to take them swimming with her young son, Dio, so in the end we all went.

House Mum , Wasanaa, also brought her young son, Bon , so it was a proper family affair.

2Excited by the proposed trip the children all ran riot around the house in the morning,

but in a good way, playing well together letting the adults get everything ready.

As mad as it got they were all very good and keeping to the designated play areas without to much control needed.

The boys did a great job washing the bus before we left.

36You may notice that the grounds are looking much tidier.

This is down to Boons Dad, who is here for a while and will also be making collection boxes for placement in and around our local community.

We have a Police visit very soon to finalise the contract allowing us to do this.

39Boons Dad, Boonma, is also a dab hand in the kitchen and helped out as we prepared for the trip.

Pee A and family arrived at around 11.30 and we loaded up the bus with all the picnic stuff and headed off to Huay Tung Tao.

A great day was had by all.

Kids spending quite sometime in the water and the adults chilling out and keeping an eye on them.

29Wasanaa had prepared a great picnic with Kaow Pat, fried chicken and more that was polished of half way through the fun.

Unbelievable the kids were still full of energy when we got home in the late afternoon, but after some running around blowing off steam they are now settled again, making plaster-cine pictures and watching cartoons.

A  nice end to our first week.

For all the photos from our day out please visit our photobucket album here.

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