Explaining Divorce to Korean 6th Graders

We all have favorite and least favorite classes at work.

This class is my all time favorite- 6 girls 2 boys- all 6th graders- pretty good speakers- They are make me laugh and laugh at me when I try to be funny. They are hard workers and we have a great time in every class. They also ask questions and are interested in the material- if only every class was as good as this one.

The other day we were talking about Mother’s day- and I explained to my students that I have a mom and a step-mom.

They gave me that look.

They were clueless.

It took 20 mins for them to get it. At first they thought I was saying my Dad had 2 wives. They asked me if I had meet “Peggy Mom”, they asked me if my parents were married when I was born... oh what a mess

I eventually drew a time line- showing the years my parents were born, when they were married, when my brothers and I were born, when my parents said “I do not want to be married anymore” ( they started to understand a little here). I wrote the year that my Dad married my step-mom and showed them that I had 2 step-brothers too.

They asked so many questions about divorce. They said 3% of Koreans are divorced. I explained that 50% of American families are divorced- they were shocked.

It is a shocking stat- I’m just relieved I finally was able to explain fully and they understood that my Dad does not have two wives ;)