About Us
This is Montessori with our own high-impact-African-adventure sorta twist. Jenn and I love to see our kids engaging in the unknown, testing the waters, and experiencing new environments as we travel the world. Africa with all her color, culture, languages, animals, and chaos at times, brings an unparalleled level of learning for parents and kids alike. This is our journey to taking full advantage of this unique learning environment with our village, family, and our own self-improvement as parents and leaders. We hope it becomes a resource for those interested in testing out new and exciting methods of teaching and child development that engage parents as much as children. Learning is a family affair and is a safari. In Swahili, the word “safari” literally means journey, not the way it is used in English now as we envision Hemingway or Roosevelt in their Panama Jack hats and vests searching for big game.
Going beyond Africa, safari means much more to us. It is more than a yearly vacation or a simple hike through a park. It is environmental and cultural immersion through presence. It’s staying in the quite German apartment for Christmas as the church bells ring, it’s staying in the outskirts of Holland in a farm house, it’s creating our own village in Africa, it is heading to Kenya for a weekend and driving in a matatu (basically a Kenyan party in a bus) as a family, so jack can feed giraffes. It takes time and can be uncomfortable. Resistance is a major part of the learning process as you are in unique, unfamiliar and oftentimes, uncomfortable surroundings. It challenges your belief systems and views on life. It can cause distress and frustration, but as you make it through, the rewards are immense. We make family travel a part of learning. It is amazing how much kids can get out of travel and these high impact experiences. Will they remember? From our experience, it goes beyond that and even becomes a part of them. Some might say it simply isn’t “worth” it, but I can’t think of a better investment than giving kids an understanding of the world, its cultures, and languages at an early age.
This is a blog about what we have done right, what we have done wrong, and how our parenting has been tested through our safaris and daily life overseas. SAFARI NJEMA!
Going beyond Africa, safari means much more to us. It is more than a yearly vacation or a simple hike through a park. It is environmental and cultural immersion through presence. It’s staying in the quite German apartment for Christmas as the church bells ring, it’s staying in the outskirts of Holland in a farm house, it’s creating our own village in Africa, it is heading to Kenya for a weekend and driving in a matatu (basically a Kenyan party in a bus) as a family, so jack can feed giraffes. It takes time and can be uncomfortable. Resistance is a major part of the learning process as you are in unique, unfamiliar and oftentimes, uncomfortable surroundings. It challenges your belief systems and views on life. It can cause distress and frustration, but as you make it through, the rewards are immense. We make family travel a part of learning. It is amazing how much kids can get out of travel and these high impact experiences. Will they remember? From our experience, it goes beyond that and even becomes a part of them. Some might say it simply isn’t “worth” it, but I can’t think of a better investment than giving kids an understanding of the world, its cultures, and languages at an early age.
This is a blog about what we have done right, what we have done wrong, and how our parenting has been tested through our safaris and daily life overseas. SAFARI NJEMA!
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