After a week of unpacking boxes and preparation school has begun for the children on the 12th of September. We are not travelling full speed ahead yet, but in three weeks time we hope to have a full school week.

Home education is new to us, so we need some time of adjustment. Apart from the different setting, the books are different from what the children were used to and they have more subjects. Apart from their Dutch subjects Math, Dutch and Handwriting we also offer them the English subjects Bible, History & Geography, Language Arts and Science. Apart from that we hope to have enough time for some purely practical subjects, such as PE.

Sofar we enjoy our school journey, especially the time spent reading together!

After travelling for 16 hours bij car and boat we have safely arrived in Aston Eyre. We left our Dutch house on September the 3rd at half past eleven to arrive at the cottage on September the 4th at a quarter to two at night. We had even already received post!

We are very happy to be here, we feel quite at home – despite all the boxes! Jurgen is busy assembling furniture. He is also looking for an English car. Katja is busy putting things in the right places and preparing for the children’s home education that starts on September the 12th.

The children are finding their way on the farm and look forward to being schooled. Jurgens education will start in the last week of September.

After 9 years of advocacy the work is done: Katja has ended her work as a lawyer in the first week of August. Katja is thankful to have been so privileged as to have been a lawyer. Much (and many kinds of) knowledge has been gained.

On August the 4th Katja had her last court hearing at the Court House. On that day she showed her family around and played out an almost real case with a familiar suspect …

On August the 18th there is a smal farewell party with her collegues.

Finally our house has been sold! Although we are not receiving the money we had hoped for we are very glad. It is a great relief to be leaving our house knowing that the mortgage will be paid off soon.

The buying party had stipulated that they could come back on the buy when they would be unable to finance the mortgage or when a building expert should discovers unpleasant surprises.

After the report from the building expert we saw the price drop some more. On the 20th of July we were informed that the buyers are able to finance: it is now final!

The date of our arrival in England is nearing rapidly. Jurgen is kept busy by the logistic puzzle involved. To sell two Dutch cars and buy an English car may seem an easy and straightforward job, but really … it is not. And how do you get 6 people across the canal with some furniture? What to do with that lovely larder and library cupboard? Apart from the logistic problems emotions are involved.

We are happy to receive help from family members and friends in Holland. We have a home front committee with two members especially appointed to help us in our logistic struggles.

So far we have worked out that we will move the furniture we will not need in England to the balcony of our church on Saturday the 3rd of September and on the 5th of September we hope to move ourselves and some smaller things to the United Kingdom.

It is preparation time for the children. On the 22nd of July they will say their good bye’s in their primary school. We try to make it a positive experience for them with treats and such. Vanya, Issa and Abbey will give of have already given a good bye party.

The children are actively involved in the process of moving to England. They are included in some decisions (regarding what to do with this or that thing / toy etc.) and they help us clear things, pack and shove boxes.

We try to mentor the children emotionally as good as we can. We use the help of others and of special talk and do book about moving to another country.

The move comes with double feelings: on the one hand they are excited on the other sad to miss friends.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Dutch.

Our choice for homeschooling means that the responsibility for the curriculum lies with us as parents. This raises important questions relating to the overall issue of what to equip the children with towards adulthood. We have studied many possibilities.

We think it is important that the children become familiarized with the Dutch language. That’s why we won’t just offer them Dutch as part of their program, but Math, Handwriting and History will also be offered in the Dutch language.

We are glad to have found a good homeschooling curriculum on the internet. We hope to buy materials from Sonlight, a homeschooling company with an international focus. Since 1990 Sonlight has been offering homeschool programs and they have won many awards.

We feel confident that we can make homeschooling a succes through the use of both the Dutch materials and the international curriculum.

We are very glad to let everyone know that Jurgen has been admitted to the bible college. He applied to a place the Trinity School of Theology in november 2010. On March 29th we were informed he can commence his studies in september 2011.

Finally the baby has arrived! We had to wait a long time, but on Monday the 21st of February Dani was born in hospital. His weight was 3430 grams and his length 49 cm. Both Dani and Katja are doing fine. Sofar Dani is a happy baby who hardly cries.

The older children are very happy with their new brother. They think it is a pity that Dani sleeps a lot since they love to have him on their lap. Dani gets lots of kisses and hugs from his sisters and brother.

After the leave there lies 1 month of work ahead, until the end of July 2011. In August we hope to make the last preparations for our move to England, planned in September.