kindergarten

August 9. Merced-- In a surprise move last week, Sarah and Justin, parents of Juma, age 5, enrolled him in a local elementary school for kindergarten. His parents thought the half-day kindergarten experience would further Juma's social and emotional development. They worried, however, that their son would be bored learning the ABCs, since he already can read. "He already reads beyond a kindergarten level," remarked Sarah, his mother. "Plus, he knows how to pronounce ornithomimus."

The move comes as a surprise, since the family will be moving to Zanzibar, Tanzania in September, to stay for 9 or 10 months. Juma will be home-schooled in Zanzibar.

Juma's parents were hopeful that having Juma in school would free up some of their time to work on other projects. Justin, a 4th year graduate student, is studying for his oral examinations, and is also preparing for a year-long field study of Zanzibari history.

Sarah, on leave from grad school for one year, looks forward to preparing for the family's next big Tanzania trip. She will prepare home school materials for Juma, Arabic-learning materials for herself, and gather articles for her Zanzibar-based research project on HIV.

Juma said of the school-enrollment move, "I've never even seen inside that school."