Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Second Day of School
I'm writing this post from Catie's classroom, using the school's wireless connection. Yay! This is so much easier than my dial-up connection in my house using RACSA. I have to find out how to get wireless at home! I may come here tomorrow to use it and post some photos. I have lots, but it would take too long to upload them from home.
Kev's teacher Jen is back today, and I had a chat with her first thing this morning. I explained how frustrated he was in the Spanish class, as he couldn't understand anything, and she had an immediate solution. She put him in a tutoring class with one other boy from the U.S., where they learn basic Spanish. I sat in on the class (and luckily sat next to some gardening books, which provided some helpful tips) and watched Kevin have a lot of fun with the other kid and the teacher, who taught everything as if it were a game. They took turns playing Simon says, pointing out various objects in the room in Spanish, and then played a game drawing animals and guessing what they were, in Spanish. I think Kev will be a lot happier tonight.
Jen said that she can tell from his writing that he is way beyond the level of the other children in the class, and if his reading is also way above (which I suspect it is, given that he reads novels) she will either find a way to give him different work, or arrange to have him take certain classes with a higher group. Things are looking up for Kev.
It doesn't seem to bother Catie that she doesn't understand the Spanish in her class. Occasionally I notice one of the bilingual kids lean over and translate for her, but other than that, she's fine. Today the class had a field trip to the woods that surround the school. By woods, I mean primary forest which has never been cut, with towering trees and thick underbrush. The children were learning about various forest animals, and to illustrate their habitats, the teacher whipped out an empty coffee sack (like a sack for races) which was tied to a thick blue rope, threw the rope over a high branch, and invited the child holding a card with a sloth on it to see what it was like to live like a sloth. He put the kid in the bag, and then using the rope as a pulley, pulled the bag up about 25 feet in the air next to the tree. All the children thought this was just great. I was imaging what a group of parents at LHPS would think about this activity! Next, the spider got a turn, then the toucan, and then the hummingbird (Catie!) and her friend the Blue Morpho Butterfly had a turn, and up they went!
Cate has another hour of school, and then she and I will take the school bus home. I think we might stop in town and do some food shopping, and then take a taxi home.
Kev's teacher Jen is back today, and I had a chat with her first thing this morning. I explained how frustrated he was in the Spanish class, as he couldn't understand anything, and she had an immediate solution. She put him in a tutoring class with one other boy from the U.S., where they learn basic Spanish. I sat in on the class (and luckily sat next to some gardening books, which provided some helpful tips) and watched Kevin have a lot of fun with the other kid and the teacher, who taught everything as if it were a game. They took turns playing Simon says, pointing out various objects in the room in Spanish, and then played a game drawing animals and guessing what they were, in Spanish. I think Kev will be a lot happier tonight.
Jen said that she can tell from his writing that he is way beyond the level of the other children in the class, and if his reading is also way above (which I suspect it is, given that he reads novels) she will either find a way to give him different work, or arrange to have him take certain classes with a higher group. Things are looking up for Kev.
It doesn't seem to bother Catie that she doesn't understand the Spanish in her class. Occasionally I notice one of the bilingual kids lean over and translate for her, but other than that, she's fine. Today the class had a field trip to the woods that surround the school. By woods, I mean primary forest which has never been cut, with towering trees and thick underbrush. The children were learning about various forest animals, and to illustrate their habitats, the teacher whipped out an empty coffee sack (like a sack for races) which was tied to a thick blue rope, threw the rope over a high branch, and invited the child holding a card with a sloth on it to see what it was like to live like a sloth. He put the kid in the bag, and then using the rope as a pulley, pulled the bag up about 25 feet in the air next to the tree. All the children thought this was just great. I was imaging what a group of parents at LHPS would think about this activity! Next, the spider got a turn, then the toucan, and then the hummingbird (Catie!) and her friend the Blue Morpho Butterfly had a turn, and up they went!
Cate has another hour of school, and then she and I will take the school bus home. I think we might stop in town and do some food shopping, and then take a taxi home.
