by Sarah Hughes | Sep 10, 2015 | 2015, Education, World Interviews, World Motherhood
Although the weather in New Jersey, USA feels like the summer is still going strong, the school buses around my neighborhood are one of the signs of fall. Just last week my 7-year-old son started his adventures in public school by taking the school bus for the first time and starting 1st grade. My daughter also started Kindergarten, our first year of school in the US at age 5, and I am barely keeping the tears back lately!!
Our family tradition is that we get a Back to School picture of both Hayley and Derek, and both, my husband and I, take the kids to school that day.
These huge milestones for my kids and our family had me thinking about other kids and moms around the world. I wondered what “Back to School” looked like for them. Are their kids in uniform? Or play clothes? When do they start school? I invite you to join me on a World Moms Blog around the world, back to school photo journey!…
First, we’re in Belgium. Say bonjour to our contributor, Tinne’s daughters on their first day of school!
Next, we head over to Kenya, where Tara Wambugu shares this photo of her daughter and her teacher, Miss Eva, on her first day in Nairobi!
Next, meet us over in the USA, where World Mom, Jennifer Prestholdt’s three children, are off to school in Minnesota! Below is her son’s first day of 10th grade at Washburn High School (in red), her son’s first day of 8th grade at Lake Harriet Upper School (in neon green!), and her daughter’s first day of 5th grade at Lake Harriet Upper School!
Next, we’re in the UK, where World Mom, Michelle ‘s twin girls start their first day of school of year 4 for 8 and 9 year olds in September! Her older son (not pictured) is starting Senior School this year, too. Hello, there, in the UK!
Big Yellow School bus, anyone? Here is World Mom, Jennifer Burden’s daughter, walking to the bus on her first day of third grade (8 years old) this year in New Jersey, USA! She went back to school this September.
Let’s fly on over to preschool in Krakow, Poland for our contributor, Loren’s daughter’s first day! Loren just moved here from Washington, DC, and her daughter went without knowing any Polish! The report? Mom says all seemed to go well!
World Mom, Kirsten Doyle in Toronto Canada, shared this pic of her sons’ first day of school this September! They started grades 5 and 7 this year.
Susan Koh, a World Mom in Singapore, shared this photo of her daughter’s first day of school in K2! Kids there go back to school in January. Peace!
Our contributor, Alison Fraser in Canada, has had a school built in Arusha, Tanzania through her organization, Mom2Mom Africa. The kids there also begin school in January. Here are some of the students in their school uniforms! (We are also proud that another fellow World Mom sponsors the education for one of these awesome girls!)
Speaking of going back to school in January, World Mom, Karyn Wills, wanted to make sure we mentioned that school children in New Zealand and Australia are three quarters through their school year already, too!
Now, some more fantastic pics from a few friends of the blog in the UK!
Edie and Ruby’s first day of school at St. Walburgas Catholic Primary School, Shipley, West Yorkshire, England.
And, another from the UK…
Matilda and Reggie’s first day of school at The Downs School in Bristol, England.
Oh, those hats! We love them!
And, we leave you with an additional photo of Tara Wambugu’s little girl in Nairobi, Kenya. She’s all business with her lunch box!
When is back to school in your country? Wish to share a back to school photo with us? Head on over to our Facebook Page and leave it as a comment on this post over there!
*P.S. Did you catch our contributor in Jordan’s back to school advice for kids yesterday? It’s a MUST read!
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by our Social Media Manager, Sarah Hughes of the USA. You can also find her on her personal blog, Finnegan and the Hughes.
Photo credits to the World Moms and friends!
Sarah grew up in New York and now calls New Jersey home. A mother of two, Derek (5) and Hayley (2), Sarah spends her days working at a University and nights playing with her children. In her “free” time Sarah is a Shot@Life Champion and a volunteer walk coordinator for the Preeclampsia Foundation. Sarah enjoys reading, knitting, sewing, shopping and coffee. Visit Sarah at her own blog Finnegan and The Hughes, where she writes about parenting, kid friendly adventures and Social Good issues. Sarah is also an editor, here, at World Moms Blog!
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by Sarah Hughes | May 30, 2014 | 2014, Family, Kids, Maternal Health, Motherhood, Parenting, Sarah Hughes, USA, Working Mother, World Interviews, World Motherhood, Younger Children
Sarah Hughes has been helping out behind the scenes at World Moms Blog. Read her interview to learn more about our newest contributor in North America! (more…)
Sarah grew up in New York and now calls New Jersey home. A mother of two, Derek (5) and Hayley (2), Sarah spends her days working at a University and nights playing with her children. In her “free” time Sarah is a Shot@Life Champion and a volunteer walk coordinator for the Preeclampsia Foundation. Sarah enjoys reading, knitting, sewing, shopping and coffee. Visit Sarah at her own blog Finnegan and The Hughes, where she writes about parenting, kid friendly adventures and Social Good issues. Sarah is also an editor, here, at World Moms Blog!
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by Sarah Hughes | Sep 7, 2013 | World Tour
“Stiches of Love”
I come from a family that rarely said ‘I love you’ with words, but nonetheless, I always felt loved to bits. My family showed their affection with handmade sandals, jumpers, dresses, skirts.
I wore them with joy, and they witnessed my climbing the trees, eating cherries in the yard, jumping over fences and sometimes bruising my knees. Now, years into adulthood and motherhood, I know how much love my grandparents and my mother put into stitches that held together my clothes because I do the same with my children’s things.
One morning my daughter walked next to me, focused on the day she was going to have, thinking about her kindergartens activities.
In her mind she was still singing, most likely. Earlier, when we were leaving home she was dancing to her tune; this fantastic daughter of mine. That morning she had decided to put on the pants I sewed for her. Every single stitch of these pants contained my unconditional love for her. I do tell my daughter that I love her, but somehow the magic of my handmade clothes cast a spell of love on her. The motherly spell of all the wishes I have for her. The clothes selected and made only for her, individualized, crafted for her particular needs.
Last month my mother came to visit me in California. She came all the way from Poland, and it had been almost two years since our goodbye before I had left to come the States. We miss each other like crazy, yet we always avoid public displays of affection and neither of us are chatterboxes.
Such a period cannot be easily covered with words, so we took out a sewing machine. I made pants for my younger daughter, and she cast her spell of love into the stitches of a skirt that she sewed for me. I am an adult, but my mom’s love is such that she will make a skirt for me. The prettiest skirt ever.
My daughter dressed her doll into a dress she hand-sewn for her. And then my daughter made her first attempt to sew something. I could see how deep the love goes, and how life through sewing made a full circle despite distance. Here was this 5-year-old daughter of mine sewing before she was able to write.
Just like me, my mom, my granny, and many other women in my family before us, we were all sewing affections into the net of life before our ABCs started to matter.
Love can be expressed in various ways, in my family we do it with stitches, there is no denying it, it is sewn deep in our veins.
How do you say your “I love yous?”
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Agnieszka, an expat wife from Poland living in California and mother to four children aged 10, 8, 5, and almost 1. By education she is a linguist in love with everything related to words in various languages. Currently, she is a stay-at-home-mom dedicating her time to raise good, loving, and smiling human beings. Being a stay-at-home-mom is a luxury she appreciates a lot and every day. Her family decided to move from Poland in 2008 to experience an adventure and see the different ways in which people live.
California is the second foreign place they have lived as a family so far. Agnieszka is a huge fan of sustainability; she loves upcycling, so whenever she can, she sews, knits, and recycles old clothes. The whole family is crazy about books and travel, except for their cat who cannot understand their passions, with the exception of their passion for yarn. She tangles every bit of any skein that gets into her claws!
She blogs in Polish about the family expat life, motherhood adventure, and her own third culture kids at http://silvallirion.blox.pl/html.
Sarah grew up in New York and now calls New Jersey home. A mother of two, Derek (5) and Hayley (2), Sarah spends her days working at a University and nights playing with her children. In her “free” time Sarah is a Shot@Life Champion and a volunteer walk coordinator for the Preeclampsia Foundation. Sarah enjoys reading, knitting, sewing, shopping and coffee. Visit Sarah at her own blog Finnegan and The Hughes, where she writes about parenting, kid friendly adventures and Social Good issues. Sarah is also an editor, here, at World Moms Blog!
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by Sarah Hughes | Aug 20, 2013 | Shot@Life, World Voice
In February of 2013 I joined over 100 Shot@Life Champions in Washington, DC, where we were given the training and tools needed to help advocate for global health. To lend our voices to global mothers everywhere, we had the opportunity to meet with members of Congress and ask them to please help fund Global Health initiatives.
And, this month the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign is providing a really easy way for everyone to provide a vaccine a day for a child who needs it most, just by commenting on a post, through their 3rd annual “Blogust” , an online writing initiative!
What is Shot@Life?
Did you know that every 20 seconds a child dies of a vaccine preventable disease?
That adds up to approximately 1.5 million children in developing countries dying every year of vaccine preventable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, measles and polio.
In developing countries, some mothers walk 15 miles carrying their babies, for the opportunity to get their child vaccinated. Imagine walking 15 miles.
I live in the United States, New Jersey to be exact, and my children are lucky enough to receive their vaccinations according to the recommended schedule. I put my children in my SUV, buckle them into their car seats and off we go to the pediatrician. This was something I considered the norm and took for granted until I was introduced to Shot@Life. A campaign of the United Nations Foundations, Shot@Life is a movement to protect children worldwide by providing life-saving vaccines where they are most needed.
I left Washington, D.C. with a life mission to do my part to raise awareness for the need for global vaccines. I want to help children in developing countries reach all the same wonderful milestones as my own children. To ensure they grow old enough to ride a bicycle, play hide & seek and learn to read. This month there is a very easy way to use nothing but your computer keys to support the movement!
How Can You Help & What is Blogust?
Blogust 2013!
Shot@Life is hosting their third annual “Blogust”, a month-long digital dialogue bringing 31 online writers together to help change the world through their words. These writers are new to the movement and each will post each day for the month of August 2013. Every comment they receive on their posts throughout the month will trigger a donation by Walgreens to provide a vaccine for a child in need around the world.
This gives you the power to make a difference by using your words. It’s very simple.
All you have to do is click this link to find the daily post http://www.shotatlife.org/blogust/ and comment to help save a child’s life! Easy, peasy.
One Comment = One Vaccine
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Sarah Hughes of New Jersey, USA, author of “Finnegan and the Hughes.” Sarah has joined World Moms blog as an editor and handles new contributions from our contribute2[at]worldmomsblog[dot]com account. Are you interested in contributing to World Moms Blog? Email Sarah!
Photo credits to the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign.
Sarah grew up in New York and now calls New Jersey home. A mother of two, Derek (5) and Hayley (2), Sarah spends her days working at a University and nights playing with her children. In her “free” time Sarah is a Shot@Life Champion and a volunteer walk coordinator for the Preeclampsia Foundation. Sarah enjoys reading, knitting, sewing, shopping and coffee. Visit Sarah at her own blog Finnegan and The Hughes, where she writes about parenting, kid friendly adventures and Social Good issues. Sarah is also an editor, here, at World Moms Blog!
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