My homeschool world

All started when I move from Arizona, USA in February 2008 to United Arab Emirates (UAE). I was born in Arizona in 2001, I'm 7 years old now, my mom is Latin and my dad Arab. At the age of two I attended maternal school at International School of Arizona, a French speaking school, I was there until I finish first grade, then, I stopped going to school because my mom had my baby brother and she wasn't able to drive. My dad was back in his country, he went back as soon as he graduated from college. At the time my dad left, my mom was six months pregnant. All alone, me and my mom we had to wait for my baby brother to came to this world. Wile at home, my mom started homeschooling me, but she has not much experience, she didn't follow a curriculum, she hire a math and writing teacher for me. Ones the baby came( he was so cute!), we wait for him to get strong, about six months, then, we left everything behind and we move to UAE to be with my father.

I remember it was a long trip, my mom had eight huge suitcases, plus she had car seat, stroller, my guitar, diaper bag, me and my baby brother. I was so exited, I wanted to see my dad, who I haven't see for one year. I was so happy to start a new life in a new place with my parents together. I had a picture in my mind... a happy family, with cousins aunts, uncles and grandparents. Back in America my mom had a very small family, uncles that always busy with there lives, my aunt, my cousin Karime that she never let me in her room and my grandma that she loves me so much, I miss her!, I miss all the special food she make for me, she spoil me so much!.

My dad have a huge family, so I was thinking I will be in heaven. Well I had a culture shack, people in Arab world had different mentality and is not what I was expecting. I came from a warm loving culture, here is so formal and uptight all the time. I can't relax and be my self. In America I had a room full of toys, a closet full of clothes and shoes, my mom donate and sold everything, we only took with us my books and my mom's yoga Cd's. "We are moving to a new country, so, we have to start new for our new life", she said. I don't think it was that!, my dad told my mom not to bring nothing, because women wear different style clothes in this country. After having everything I ever wanted, after having swimming,piano,tennis and capoeira lessons, after having tutors for French, Italian, Chinese and Japanese, after all that, now my world change. Don't think my mom was rich, no!, mi mom work so hard and every penny she had she spend it on me. My mom always told me that she was investing in my education, for me to have a good future. When I was a baby I always smile to everyone, so my mom started teaching me language, "In case you are not good in school at least you have a way to make money by translating", she said. After my regular school, I always had some activities or class to attend, Saturdays and Sundays I attended Chinese and Japanese school. It was not a problem for me, I was used to, for me it was something exited and fun when I went to my classes. I learn to interact with several cultures and traditions, witch has help me now in my new world.

My mom and me we always talk about how happy our lives was going to be ones we move to my dad's country, well, our happiness begin with the welcoming of our dad's family!. Since he marry outside the Arab world, you know, Arabs marry between them and when someone break the rules is a huge problem!. My dad keep us a secret for six years, in other words, he never told his family that he married or had babies back in America. The first time he told them about us was when we arrive from the airport. My dad's family was not happy!., they didn't accept us and for a wile we where homeless, we went from hotel to hotel until my dad's family feel sorry and give us a home to live. In this country the government of UAE give free houses to all the locals, not little houses, I'm talking huge buildings, they are huge!, they intend for all big families to live together. Since my dad's family didn't accept my mom, they didn't wanted to live with us, so the huge home is all for our selves.

My mom used to be very sad every night beacuse she miss her life back in the States, but in the day she was always so strong. She decided to make the best out of our lives. She always tell me "Every bad or good things that happen in our lives have a purpose, and our purpose why we are here- is for me to study and be creative. If we where not here maybe we never discover the world we had discover wile here. I guess out of something negative we can create something positive. We live so far away from the city, far away from civilization, the schools are so far away and also my mom did not liked the curriculum and way of teaching of the possible schools closed to our home. After a lot of research, she found K12 International, a virtual school from Arizona, a home school curriculum. I also use a lot of computer programs along with K12, to make my homeschooling fun. After six months without school. I started K12 from first grade, I did first and second grade in one year, It was a lot of work, but I did it!. Now I will be starting third grade in September 2009.

My mom didn't wanted me to miss out from all the activities I did in USA, so she enroll me to all activities online. Piano online, Capoeira with videos, tennis in a empty room, swimming in the bathtub, well, just the breathing part!. My world is my home school, my home school is my world. The only things I miss is my friends, specially the ones from my French school: Maxim, Christian, Dominic and my best friend Oliver from Japan. Here I don't have friends, only my baby brother. My mom try so hard for me to have friends, I mean she try!!. Every time we went out, to the store, restaurant or any place, she look for women with children my age, she ask people if they know anybody that speak English, she will get phone numbers from people, she will call them and ask them to came to our home for a play day, she try everything!. One day we went outside the house and knock people doors, this is total no in this culture, but we broke the culture rules, we just wanted to find out who live next door, we saw some kids playing and I wanted to know who they are?. Of course we fail in our search for friendship, "People here are different" mom said. People in UAE are to busy in the malls, to busy in there material, fake world, nobody wants to be friend with someone without car, is a shame for them, who wants to drive out of there way to go visit friends from America? besides it's to hot .We give up!! I don't need friends to came to visit me. I have the entire world in my computer. I can create all kind of friends with my imagination and pencils. In my world is a lot of art and writing waiting for me to make it real.

I already wrote my first book call "The Adventures of Dirty Diaper", is a book about my baby brother, soon to be publish. Mi baby brother is part of my world, a very important part, I love him, he also home school with me.

And that's my homeschool world!! I will live you with my poem I wrote about my teeth when they fall off:

Ones upon a time I had everything I wanted. Even I had all my teeth, but nothing last for ever. Now, I don't have everything I want. Not even teeth, they all fall off. I learn to have what I need and not what I want. Thanks to the hard times, my imagination and creativity grow more and more in my mind. I lost everything I had, including all my teeth, but now I can write, paint and think.