The Chloe Chronicles, Little Explorers

So, one of the things that Brent and I were looking forward to when we decided to leave Manhattan was escaping the hell that is pre-school, or rather selecting, applying to and getting accepted to pre-school. Never did we dream that there was such a beast here in Accra! Oh we are so naive!

Now let's all keep in mind that Chloe's still a month shy of her 2nd birthday, so it's all ridiculous from the beginning. Nevertheless, as you read earlier, we decided to put Chloe into Little Acorns. It was low key and diverse, and what it was lacking in cleanliness it made up for in caring teachers. To be honest, I think it was really a glorified babysitting service provided mainly for the convenience of parents whose older children were enrolled in the Tall Oaks International School. But that was fine with us as our whole intention was to get Chloe interacting with other children. We weren't exactly looking for academic progress!

Even before Chloe actually started at Little Acorns, I'd heard the whisperings of a "new" school that was opening called Little Explorers, and as it was opening just at the time that Chloe would be starting Little Acorns, I was getting questioned as to why I wasn't putting her in Little Explorers. Well, you know me...I just yeah-yeah-yeahed...and didn't think anything of it. We were happy enough with our decision, and all the other kids at Orchid Gardens were also at Little Acorns, so it was a really nice place for Chloe to be with other kids, yet still have the familiarity of the neighborhood faces.

Also in the whispers was some gossip/drama about another nursery/preschool called Gingerbread. To date, I'm not even 100% sure what it was all about. None of it seems to make sense. But apparently, some nasty embassy-related Americans who had their children in Gingerbread, and believe me, nasty embassy-related Americans are more common than you'd like to imagine, got their knickers in a twist because Gingerbread would not hire an American teacher that was moving to Accra. And it boiled down to "If you don't hire such and such teacher, we will put you out of business!" And, as if by magic, about 90% of the American families instantly pulled their kids out of the program. And where did they all go? Little Explorers.

There is speculation by some that Little Explorers exists only because of this mass-exodus from Gingerbread. I find this highly unlikely. However, both founders of Little Explorers were at one point or another affiliated with Gingerbread. Some say that they left to create Little Explorers, other say that they had already been gone from Gingerbread long before this huff huff happened. Who knows. Who cares, really. The truly shocking to me is the ridiculous behavior of our fellow countryfolks.

Americans affiliated with the embassy are often cited as behaving badly...threatening all sorts of things (i.e. "I work in the consular section and if you don't xyz neither you nor anyone in your family will ever get a visa to go the US!!"), and as a whole just being altogether unpleasant. But this part really takes the cake...It is common practice here for the private schools to hold you to three months' written notice of your departure, or you must pay for the following school term's fees. It's crazy I know, but that's just how it goes here. So, when the board of Gingerbread decided to fight back by pressing legal charges against this group of families for breach of contract, they simply laughed and threw out diplomatic immunity!

Now, I'm not really sure how it all ended. I heard something about the American Ambassador "having" to uphold diplomatic immunity, but God, how embarrassing for her to have to protect such blatant misbehavior! And most of these families...they were leaving the country/their post at the end of the school year anyway. So all the fuss was made for one school term, April 17 - June 25! No wonder the world hates us!

Luckily for us, I didn't really know most of all that at the time that I was looking into the school itself.

I had heard that Little Explorers was going to have a "summer camp" and I decided to check it out to see if maybe I should switch Chloe in the fall. I mentioned it to one of the Danish gals who lives here in Orchid Gardens, the one who had recommended Little Acorns in the first place because that's where her son was enrolled. And do you know what she told me? That she had just that week already switched her son form Little Acorns to Little Explorers! Huh??? She said that she had taken him there once to visit, and her plan had been to put him there for summer camp as well, but when they went back to Little Acorns he was very disappointed. She felt badly because she's the one who had originally recommended Little Acorns to everyone in Orchid Gardens, and now she was the one pulling out her kid. And it wasn't that she was unhappy with the school, but that her son cried every single day when he was dropped off, even after 8 months! So, she just decided to give the new place a try (it is better, but he still cries every day!). And then she told me that the summer school places were filling up so I'd better head over there.

The next morning, Fuen and I headed over. It was love at first sight. We got there at the beginning of the day, so they had us sit through "circle time" and then they talked to us about the school. Night and day from Little Acorns. It was just simply a different animal. Little Explorers is true Montessori. They do not have a full-blown school attached to them. They focus on early childhood and they do it very very well. The teachers, the assistants, the school yard, the activities and the manipulatives...everything was as close to what you'd expect at home as you could possibly get here. Immediately, Fuen decided to pull Carmen out of Little Acorns. Immediately, I decided that Chloe would go to summer camp there and to school the following fall. But pulling her out of Little Acorns? That wasn't so clear cut to me. Yes, of course I knew it was a better environment for her, but was I getting too wrapped up in the package? Part of me felt like pulling her out of Little Acorns was creating drama where there needn't be any. It sort of felt spoiled brattish--like upgrading your perfectly functioning Bug-a-boo Frog just because the new model Chameleon came out and you could mix and match the colors. (By the way, have any of you seen the Bug-a-boo Bee??) But on the other hand, if I was going to change her anyway, shouldn't I just do it then before she got too attached to the teachers there and got used to the routines, etc.?

The following week, Chloe went to Little Acorns -- but her two best school buddies weren't there. There were tears at drop off where there had never been any before. I weakened. Within two days, Chloe was enrolled in the last three weeks of the Spring term at Little Explorers. An expensive decision, sure! But neither Brent, nor I have regretted it. Little Explorers has been such a wonderful place for Chloe! Her language has developed so much since she's started there! And she brings home little art projects every day that now hang in her playroom.

There's a new building going up across the street from Orchid Gardens. We've been watching it go up quickly. We all assumed it was a house...but the signpost went up the other day...Twinkletots, opening soon...

The Chloe Chronicles, Tafi Atome

While my parents were in town, we took a long weekend to the Volta Region. We stayed at the Afrikiko Resort, right on the lake and took little day trips around the area.

This picture is taken in the village of Tafi Atome, where there is a sacred monkey sanctuary. Centuries ago a tribe from the Central Region relocated to this area and brought their sacred monkeys with them. The monkeys are adorable and they are friendly, too. The guide that takes you through the forest bribes the monkeys with bananas and they come out of hiding quite quickly for this delicious treat. Once the monkeys are accustomed to your presence, the guide will then let you offer the bananas...I'm the only one that took him up on it. With Chloe attached to one hip, I squatted down to the ground, banana in had and a little monkey ran up to the banana and more quickly than Chloe-the-banana-eating-fiend could ever do, peeled the banana and gobbled it all up! Chloe was simultaneously mesmerized and terrified!

After the monkey show was over, we went through a walk in the forest, yes, I had to carry Chloe the whole way!! And at the other side of the forest, we walked through the tiny little village where this picture was taken. Chloe is standing in a pile of palm nuts that have been laid out to dry. Chloe had a grand old time destroying the pile...and then, of course, we put it back together.

From Little Acorns Grow Tall Oaks

Chloe started "school" on Tuesday, April 17. She's not even 2...does it really count as SCHOOL? I honestly hadn't ever considered sending her, but three months without our container -- which contained all the things that were intended to enrich Chloe's life here in Ghana -- was enough to get me touring nurseries, creches and daycare facilities!

There are a surprising number of these establishments here, but then you rule out all those that aren't up to international standards. And then those that have a minimum age of 3. And then, of course, all the French ones (because they are extremely snooty about their French-ness)! And then the British ones (because even for the 18-month set they are extremely regimented)...and what you're left with is Montessori and Montessori-hybrid. Which was just fine with me.

This is what brought us to LATOIS -- Little Acorns Tall Oaks International School. Could the name be any worse? Little Acorns is the name of the program for the pre-school set. Tall Oaks is the primary and secondary school. It seems as if all the families with toddlers and preschoolers in Orchid Gardens send them to this school, so we figured it couldn't be all bad. And it's less than a 5 minute drive away.

Every morning at 7:50 AM, I pack Chloe into her car seat with a bag which contains a change of clothes, extra diapers, wipes, a snack, and a drink cup and off we go. On the days that we are running late, the entry gate is locked and we have to go the departure gate. Luckily, there is absolutely no shame in this. We enter school through the main entrance (pictured above), say hello to all the faculty that are hanging around the lobby, and, of course, to the fish in the tank. Then we go down the hall to the very end where we find the Buttercup Nursery. Chloe takes one look at all the kids that are already there and then mommy (that would be me) becomes invisible.

There are 3 teachers, and Chloe seems to like all of them. One whisks her out of my arms and immediately starts engaging her. Another relieves me of the diaper bag. And I then watch, completely unnoticed, as Chloe becomes her independent, social self. There are about 12 kids, 6 of which are from Orchid Gardens. They are from Ghana, Denmark, Spain, England, Lebanon, Cameroon, and who knows where else. Chloe is the only American. Thobian and Carmen, both kids from our neighborhood, cry every single day at drop off. So, I count my blessings and rush out before my luck changes.

The first couple of days, when I would pick Chloe up at noon, she would be very excited to see me. Those days are long gone. She's quite content there, playing with the toys, reading the books, singing songs, going to the music room, playing outside in the playground, coloring, etc. She often has no idea I am even there, until one of the other kids tells her. Sometimes I get a smile. More frequently just an acknowledgment that I am there and then she returns to whatever task was at hand. But then there is this little boy, whose name I don't know, who has taken a liking to me. He's always so affectionate and wants to be picked up. Chloe catches a glimpse of this, gets quite jealous and comes running over to me! Relief!