First Day of School

 M started school last week.  It's what the British call Year 1 which is the equivalent of US kindergarten.

           

 

The week was OK.  It seems they are giving the children ample time to settle in and M thinks there is too much playing.  He told me he's dying to do some math and loves learning new things.  Hopefully things will take a turn for the academic soon.  He's used to a rigorous pace:  in Reception last year (the equivalent of US Pre-K) they learned how to read and how to tell time!

Coffee and Tea

After weeks of having nothing to do, today I actually had three appointments on my calendar. This morning was the big kick off of the weekly parents coffees at M's school, then I went out to Buittenveldert for a newcomers coffee at the local women's club, then back to school for a class meeting. And I fit some grocery shopping in there. Compared to my life in the states this was nothing, but by the time I picked M up I was utterly exhausted. It was all I could do to keep the TV off until 4:15. We had an early dinner and after, had a little tea party before bath. M very kindly brought the train shaped biscuits and when I pretended to take a bite of James, he was thoughtful enough to warn me that I was biting the paper.

21st Cenury Life

With a big shout-out to my husband, who stayed up until 2:30 last night setting it up, I'm thrilled to announce we finally have Internet!

Turns out that the "open house" at M's school wasn't really an open house after all.  Rather, it was a uniform sale.  I stopped by the school and learned that I was supposed to have received an email in early August containing vital information about M's school schedule for the first week, the protocol for organizing a home visit and instructions for making payments.  Oh well, a one-letter typo in the email address meant I didn't receive any of this information.  I'm happy that the preschool director was able to accommodate our request for a home visit even though we missed the deadline by 3 weeks.

For you Americans out there, it's common practice in British preschools for teachers to visit students at home at the beginning of the school year to solidify the link between home and school.  I think it's a great idea (like a parent-teacher conference at the start of the year) and I think it's the kind of thing that will help M adjust to his new teachers.  I'm looking forward to it.

M's schedule for "Induction Week" was quite abbreviated: one hour on Tuesday and Wednesday and two hours on Friday.  On Tuesday he didn't start until 10:30 and he was so excited about school we actually arrived at about 10.  He had a great time playing with the toys and meeting his teachers.  He also impressed his teachers by sitting cross legged at circle time without being asked (thank you, 3-and-a-half years of daycare).  On Wednesday one of the other kids in M's class was outside the school when we arrived.  He recognized us right away and waved.  It was a great welcome and really made us feel like we belong.