Love and Respect Make a Difference

Transformational education is an approach that embraces whole families, not just their children. Teachers at the Baby English Club in Minsk, Belarus, have witnessed this in the past school year.

A boy in the preschool has diabetes, and his mother stayed with him during the school day to monitor his health. She observed the biblically-based lessons and talked with the teachers about that message. Soon she began attending the local evangelical church and took her son to the Sunday school. In the coming school year, this mother will teach gymnastics. She was a competitive gymnast in the past and speaks English.

This mother experienced something in the bilingual school that is much more important than academics; it is an atmosphere of love and respect toward children. Many parents not affiliated with a church say that the most important aspect of the school in the beginning was the English immersion. As they observed transformation in their children, they realized that the approach of the teachers toward the students was a practical demonstration of the biblically-based curriculum. Their attitude toward the evangelical church, long considered a “cult,” is changing.

The school is adding a Kindergarten this coming school year and changing its name to Preschool Giraffe. They plan to add primary school classes in coming years.