Last year Marianne and Robert Franson from Slangerup decided to realize their lifelong dream of showing the world to Cecilie and Julie, their daughters on eight and six respectively.
The doubts about proper schooling was solved, when they heard about the newly opened Danish section on the Swedish School Lanta Sanuk on Koh Lanta, a small bounty-island by the west coast of Thailand. And the decision haven’t been regretted a minute.
“Before we had children we both travelled around the world as backpackers and we always wanted to travel again before the children got to big. The journey has really made us come together as a family and being together the entire time has allowed us to get to know each other on a whole different level without the girls missing out on school” Marianne Franson – who works as a nurse when she doesn’t recreates – explains.
She believes that the stay, with guest lections given by monks, imams, yoga-reachers and leaders the nearby Kareng-tribes has been a leaning experience beyond the classroom for the girls.
“One the most important lessons they have leaned on Koh Lanta is that people form other countries aren’t that dangerous, or different from themselves, after all”.
Less stress makes better pupils
Some parents to the pupils on the school use the time on Koh Lanta to study or maybe writing a book, but most of them, Like Marianne and Robert Franson, see the get-a-away as an opportunity to slow down and gather new energy to the busy life, that awaits them back in Denmark.
“People here come from all kinds of places in their life, it is a fantastic way to relax while you meet people you probably wouldn’t have met under “normal” circumstances. Every family should allow themselves to do this., Robert Franson, who usually has a long working day as self-employed in his own company, says.
And the stress-less life of the parents on the island rubs off on the children.
“The parents are quite active here, most of us participate in the morning gathering, and this means that we are a bigger part of the girls’ education down here, than back home. In addition all teachers here really enjoy being here making the lesson mere exiting. Compared with that some teachers seem a bit burnt-out back home” Robert Franson explains.
House renovation on hold
According to Robert and Marianne Franson, it is not complicated or expensive as it might seem to pull the plug for a couple of months.
“It is all about priorities, we chose to go away for a while as an alternative of extending our house, unlike the school back home it does cost money to attend Lanta Sanouk, but to us it is money well spend”, Mariane Franson says, adding that it had been quite interesting to see her daughters grow in the new environment.
“Out here none of the children had to live up to the ‘roles’ they have in they have among they classmates back home, and because of the short period of time, they have become less shy towards other children. Another difference is the temporary lack of most of the toys which fills their rooms in Denmark. As a parent it is nice to get confirmed that nature experiences sometimes can beat the playstation”.
