School at Koh Lanta

We wake up around 7-ish in the morning and have breakfast. Dave and Jenny and Emma start school at 9:00. The first few days Sophia and I kept falling into the micromanagement trap (“go brush your teeth”… “go put on suntan lotion”…. “hurry up we have to leave soon”… etc). Then we created a graphical checklist (see below) which made life a lot easier. Now we just ask “How done are you?”. They stare at the checklist and say something like “I’m 5 out of 7, I just have to get my backpack and put my flip flops on”. We also got a big clock to help them see if they are on schedule. Less nagging, less stress. 

Around 8:45 we all get into our cute little tuk-tuk (rented for 7000 baht per month) and zip off to school. It’s not far, and the traffic is a bit erratic, so we cruise along at a nice leisurely 20-30 km/h, the kids usually singing “Iiiiit’s a smaaaaall world aaaaafter aaallll …” to the amusement of pedestrians that we pass. 

The school (“Lille Svenska Skolan”) is basically a handful of bungalows leased from a resort. Very intimate.

Here’s the “sala”, or central gathering space. 

Every Monday morning and Friday afternoon all kids & teachers & most parents gather for information. We end each meeting by singing the Thai national anthem while raising the flag. Feels very funny hearing a bunch of Swedish kids singing in Thai :o)

Here is Dave’s classroom, housed in an air-conditioned bungalow. His 2nd grade class is only 3 kids! I think a few more will join soon. 

Once per week the classes gather on the beach for games and physical exercises. Pretty nice open-air gymnasium! A tad hot though :o)

Afterwards they get hosed down by the teachers.

All in all the kids seem to be enjoying themselves in this school environment, so different from home.

One of the teachers commented that “this is like school the way it is meant to be! Focusing entirely on the kids’ personal development, and not being caught up in a bunch of rules and bureaucracy!”.