world-view, pietermaritzburg First we want to introduce our family Dean and Kathy parenting four children.
Dylan is 17, Kyndra 15 and we have two younger ones - Wytney 11 and Jynelle 4 - to keep us young.
We
live in a large wonderful 5 bedroom house in a semi-urban area called
"Worlds View". The name goes back to the view point which is 2 km from
our house. From there we have breathtaking views of Pietermaritzburg
about 25 kilometers in 3 directions. At "Worlds View" one can ride
bicycles or motor bikes on specially made jumps and tracks through the
forest. There are many people in our neighbourhood who own horses and
stables.
Behind our house is a nature reserve protected by a construction ban.
In our 7 years experience doing intensive treatment with young teenagers from Germany and 4 years working closely with children coming off drugs we find that the first 3 months the child bonds to me, Kathy and much counselling takes place at this time. Afterwards the whole family plays a vital role in helping these children.
Counselling these youths is an ongoing process throughout their treatment. Often these children have many area's that trigger crisis moments for them. Then we try to spend as much time as they need helping them through these sometimes difficult, angry, sad or rebellious times.
We have found with children that have been with us over the years that most of the good changes have come just by them being part of a family that cares for each other, shares with each other and has strong boundaries. We are involved in a local church which also includes youth for teenagers. These youth times include help with teen questions and good moral teachings and outings which include tennis, pin bowling, braai's, movies, and weekend camps to the beach. At this time all the children are in a play and are really enjoying learning to act and be creative.
Internet schooling is a priority with us and we have an ADSL line which is a fast efficient internet connection to download school work from the Gotthilf-Vollert-Schule in Tuttlingen. This fast internet connection also helps the child with any internet research they might have, or questions they can chat to their teachers in Germany about. As a team working with the teachers in Germany and with our German lady, Mrs. Liesel Meyer, who helps with any problems at least once a week, I enjoy teaching and helping children. As they understand their work they grow in confidence and begin to enjoy schooling, especially if there have been gaps in there education.
As a family we love to play outdoor sports. Dean spends many hours playing cricket, billiards on our own billiard table or soccer with the family. We also enjoy going to the gym.
We eat all our meals together sitting at the table and all the older children have learned to cook and bake. I enjoy sewing and teaching cooking and baking.
Our favorite leisure times are weekends at the beach or day outings to the dam. We love swimming, fishing, rowing and building sand castles.
Dean owns a handy man business which means people phone in with any household maintenance or repairs that they might want done. He is always doing something different for example painting, welding, and tiling, building carports or even varnishing log cabins. The children really benefit from this work as they learn so many useful trades and this in turn builds confidence as they repair, paint or get something working or help someone.
 
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Published on: Monday, May 21 2007 (31175 reads)
Copyright © by Kellhof-Umvoti
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