Our Foreign Exchange Experience

The story I submitted to our local paper to tell our story and advertise for more host families in our area.

G T is the first Turkish graduate from H High School. A participant in the Youth Exchange and Study program, G has spent the last 10 months living in M, IN and attending H High School. The Youth Exchange and Study program is administered by the U.S. State Department. The program is vital in expanding communication between the people of the United States and the partner countries. By living with host families and attending typical American high schools, students come to understand American values and the qualities of leadership while helping educating Americans about their countries and cultures. G has been a wonderful representative from Turkey and has learned much about the United States.


As a student at H High School, G has participated in volleyball, German club and softball. She has taken classes in government, economics, U.S. History, chemistry, physics and biology. Through her daily interactions she has grown in her ability to communicate effectively in English and has a more complete understanding of what it means to live in the United States. "It was hard to understand people in H at first. Now that I know them better, I like them better. I’m sad that I need to go back home soon," said G.

G’s host family, the Js, has enjoyed hosting a foreign exchange student. "I didn't realize when we decided to host G how much we would get from the experience. I expected it to be about giving our home, our time and our family. Now we have extended family in Istanbul, Turkey. I never knew how many benefits there would be in sharing our home and our lives like this," stated R J.

The opportunity to share the United States with a student like G is available to anyone. The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), a non-profit organization, is seeking host families in southern Indiana. Students will be arriving in the United States prior to the start of school to spend the 2010-2011 academic year. CIEE exchange students hail from all over the globe and are eager to learn about the United States. Students live with host families, attend high school, and become true members of their new families and communities. The USA High School program provides an opportunity for host families to form lifelong relationships and unforgettable memories.

Students participating in the exchange are between 15 – 18 years of age, have studied English for a minimum of three years, have their own medical insurance & spending money, and have undergone a thorough personal screening and interview process. Many of these students arrive in the United States with dreams of immersing themselves in the American culture through living with a host family and participating in clubs, sports, arts, music and other activities. They return to their native land with improved English skills, a sense of independence and self-confidence, more maturity, and a better global understanding. Most importantly, they will have built American relationships that will last forever. Hosting a CIEE student is the perfect opportunity for communities to meet an ‘ambassador’ of an overseas country, and to develop skills as an ‘ambassador’ of the U.S.

To become a host family or to request more information on this rewarding experience, please contact:

Weekly Recap 5/24-5/28

Though our school year is officially over, we had a fun week and I wanted to share it.  It's been great for all of us to just take a break. 

I am even enforcing a break for myself.  No lesson planning or homeschool scheming or plotting until after the middle of June.  I have to admit I've caught myself a few times going for my well worn copy of The Well Trained Mind.  Habits can be hard to overcome.  I have enjoyed reading for pleasure alone and spending time just playing or doing nothing.  This is what summer vacation use to feel like.  Who knew homeschooling would help me recall that feeling of freedom.

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Wordless Wednesday - Reaching Out

Summer To Do List

This summer I would like to:
1. relax - by relax I mean read lots of good books, spend time in my hammock, enjoy my family and feel refreshed and renewed
2. take time to really write not just write a bit - writing tends to be what happens last in my world.  I'd like to find a place that writing will fit and stick it there in a permanent way.
3. learn to make pasta - I'm not interested in spaghetti or long snaky noodles.  I want to learn to make pouches and pillows and stuff them with delightful treats.  I want to learn to shape pasta and seal the edges to keep all the goodness inside.
4.  enjoy my garden - so far my garden has been a delight.  I do find myself holding my breath wondering if it's all going to turn out all right.  I want to be able to take delight in each and every plant and vegetable and glory in the entire process.  I don't want to be fearful of what might not do well and focus on what isn't producing.
5.  nurture those around me - my husband, my family, my friends, my children.  I desire to take special care of each and everyone of them this summer.  I'd like to find a place and time to share with them individually how much I appreciate them and what blessings they are to me.
6.  live with intention - choosing rather than falling back on the path of least resistance or doing what I've always done.  There are well worn paths that bring nothing but misery.  I don't want to wander down those again.

Weekly Recap 5/17-5/21

Our school year is complete!  This was our last official school day for the year.  We actually completed 180 1/2 days.   We do have a few field trips planned that will directly pertain to our subject content this year planned for next week;  a trip to the zoo and a trip to the science museum.  We've all decided they don't really count for school so we can celebrate today as our last day. 

I intend to do some summer learning activities.  We aren't talking about that yet.  I promised I wouldn't try to teach them in any way until the third week in June. 

It feels GREAT to have completed our first year of homeschooling and to feel a sense of well-being and satisfaction as we close the books on this year.

We spent much of this week finishing up tests, compiling notebooks, weeding out things we didn't need to keep and reviewing what we've learned.  I'm not sure our school room has looked this good since the first day of school.

I'm sure I'll be thinking more about what we accomplished and how we met our learning goals. I've got planning to do for next year.  I'll write more about all that later.  Right now, we are on vacation!!!

Odd Jobs

It was an odd request.  "I need to stop by and take a picture of your bathroom.  Would 4:30pm be a good time for you?"  Of course it was.  What would you really say to someone that needed to take a picture of your bathroom?  That kind of need is difficult to understand or deny.

And so, at 4:30pm I shook hands with a stranger.   I smiled, introduced myself and followed him to his bathroom.  Two pictures taken.  Pleasantries exchanged.  Goodbyes said.  We'll probably never see each other again but I'll always have those bathroom pictures.

Wordless Wednesday - Ready to Grow