School conferences and Swimming Success!

     Super week all around this week.  The kids parent/teacher conferences were this week and the kids are doing well.  Alex was told she has a scientific mind and is being encouraged to pursue her science interests and her math interest as well.  Nice to see the girls being encouraged in a technical direction if they want to!  We have an interview with Cavendish Road High School for next school year.  Queensland considers year 8 to be the 1st year of high school, and in just a few years, year 7 will also be moving in with the big kids.  This follows typical Australia practice, so they are behind the times and working to catch up.  The country is also rolling out an updated school curriculum (sound familiar to those dealing with the USA national curriculum movement?) and Queensland is also piloting a package curriculum that is online based for both school and distance education use.  There are many families out in the bush who home school with tutorial contact with certificated teachers to keep the kids' education on track no matter their location.  It is a huge project and will be refined once the pilot year is done.  It is overwhelming for teachers and parents who use it like a teacher, so am sure there will be some revisions coming down the pipe.  I digress. . . We have to have an interview with the school for Alex as we do not live in the school boundaries and would like her to have a spot there.  I am thoroughly unimpressed with the in district option, so we will also be looking for a home to rent that is in the boundaries for Cav Road HS.  Then they have to take us!
     Annika's conference was also a good one.  She loves math and science, her handwriting is shaping up nicely (having to redo some work neatened her up quite quickly :-) ) and is a pleasant kid to have in class.  Everyone is her friend, but she does tend to drama and chattering a bit too much when seated next to her friends.  No surprise to anyone who knows this kid!  All in all, doing well and we expect it to continue.
     Ian's first conference was a bit more difficult.  He is in a super class with amazing teachers and kids.  I am so grateful for this, as he is struggling a bit more than the girls did with school.  I keep reminding myself that if in the USA, he would not be in school for Kindergarten until this upcoming September, and the Prep curriculum is very similar to our Kindergarten.  He just turned 5, and is one of the youngest in his class as well.  Before we left Wenatchee I had an screening with the speech therapist at school, and as we well knew, he has some issues with pronouncing specific sounds.  I was told that he was not that far behind and the issue would correct by about age 6.  He has made great progress this year, but his teachers want a referral made here because his friends and teachers are having difficulty understanding him, and he is starting to isolate himself a bit because of it.  On the other had, he has also become more socially initiating, especially since his birthday party.  He is remembering names of his classmates, which is good!  On his academic tests, he only knows his numbers to 2 and none of his letters.  Now this I really did not believe, so I started working with him at home.  He does know them up to about 8 and can identify 5 letters, but I think the test situation was different and he did not know what to really do and lost confidence.  In the meantime, we are working on counting, recognizing numbers, letters, etc. and he will be rescreened next term to check progress. He loves counting his cars and legos away into his toybox and counting steps as we walk to school.  He is singing his ABC's with us and writing his name fairly clearly.  Progress!  He does love school and is excited to go most days, so as long as he continues making progress and enjoying it while he is doing it, I'm happy.
     Now for swimming!  Alexandra earned 148 points for her swims this year!  These are based on her times and their improvement over the course of the season.  She came in #12 of 125 club swimmers and was so pleased!  In a surprise win, she got the runner up trophy for girls 10 and up (the oldest girl swimming is 16) in the backstroke!  This is also based on improvement over the course of the season and totally from out of nowhere!  We are so proud of her.  Here is a picture of her at the trophy night.  When the trophies were all handed out, the kids got first run at the dessert tables and then some free time in the pool.  It was a madhouse!  The coach supervised an after school pool party Thursday and they had a ball again.  I loved the night swim as the kids went right to bed and slept in until nearly 7 o'clock!

Here is a video clip of the pool full of kids!  If you look carefully, you can spot all 3 of ours!  Annika is in a pink cap with green goggles, Alex with a turquoise cap with black goggles, Ian in a yellow chest and back float and a noodle.  He had a ball in the water with the big kids!  Swim lessons were a great investment for him.

     Tomorrow is the last day of school this term.  10 weeks nearly straight through.  The last day off was Australia Day, January 26, so the break is welcome.  We'll take 2 weeks to relax, go to North Stradbroke Island for Easter weekend on the ferry and stay in a basement 2 bedroom flat close to the beach for 4 days.  Yay for the holidays!  Hope the weather is great.  Many Aussies love to go camping in the Fall season, so we'll be joining in the fun on the island.  I may get to start term 2 with my 3rd grade class I have been filling in for, but won't know until closer to the start of term.  I said I was available, just in case, when I was asked today.  It also sounds like I will have plenty of work coming to me from Camp Hill, so I am pleased.  I think they appreciate the job I'm doing for them, and am happy to work for them as well.

     Have a great week everyone!  Only 2 months until we see everyone!

What a week!

     Wow, have we ever been busy!  Ian's 5th birthday party was on Sunday, with a rainy, wet forecast leading up to it.  We held our breath and hoped for the best, and were rewarded with a cloudy and humid day, but it did not rain for his party.  Whew!  The thought of 20 four and five year olds and parents in our little townhouse was an ugly one.  The kids rode scooters, bikes, played on the equipment, ran, hunted monsters in the trees and were totally convinced they had found dinosaur bones (palm tree fronds!)!  They were a hoot!  I baked cupcakes in ice cream cones.  They were beautiful the evening before, but thanks to humidity had slumped and were pretty soggy by morning.  Sigh.  I frosted at the last minute at the park and added the sprinkles, so at least they looked fine.  The kids didn't complain, but who would?  Cupcakes for 10:00 tea!  Below is Ian opening his birthday presents on Friday before school.  Big time Star Wars fan he is!  Annika got him some new Hot Wheels, Alex a light saber, Mom and Dad the Star Wars Storybook and new Lightning McQueen jammies, and we got several action figures on orders from Baba.  He loves all of it and plays with them EVERY DAY.  I don't know which is worse, Barbie shoes or mini light sabers.  OUCH.

 

These are his birthday cupcakes (Transformers) and while they were beautiful, they also tasted fantastic! One of the moms at school does this as a home business.  I was happy to have her provide them as I was teaching all week!

The kids mostly have on their sport day uniforms here too!  He got to pass them out and they kids enjoyed them on the front deck during second break.  I was able to swap duties with another teacher and scoot down to take a few pictures.  Ian's right in the middle looking at the teacher's hands.

     Alex is nearly done with swimming this year!  She is at the front of her training lane and hopes to start term 4 in the next highest group.  We hope so too Alex!  She had a great club meet Friday night nearly matching her personal best in 2 strokes.  Awesome!  The last Friday night swim is this week, the age championships are Saturday night, and the awards and recognition night is Wednesday.  Hooray!  Now on to Aerofit!

     Annika is doing amazing in her aerofit classes.  She is bubbling with enthusiasm and is learning the steps and moves so well!  She shows them to us all. the. time. and can hardly wait to perform with a group.  I understand there are some low key performances in May to prep those going to the real competitions in June and July.  It will be fun to see her on stage!

     I have been working at Camp Hill in the third grade and will be finishing the term, so until the end of March and then 2 weeks off for term/Easter Break.  It has been a ton of fun working with the younger kids since my teaching career has been grades 5-8.  I so miss the discipline program we used in Wenatchee and am exhausted with trying to herd these reluctant cats in the same direction!  But they are finally settling into my way of doing things, which is nice.  We can end the term on a positive note that way!  I have been asked to cover a leave for all of 4th term and possibly carry over to the 2013 school year already as well.  Apparently they are impressed with how smoothly the transition has been-I have to laugh because this is how it just needs to be!  Taking duty rotations, covering communications home, working with the grade level teachers to plan the rest of term, this is being a professional teacher and this place pays well to be a professional.  My favorite part is the student council coming down to help get the golden tickets organized for the popsicles they earn for them!  I get to see Alex and her friends during the break time they do this part of their job.  She isn't even too embarrassed to see me!

     After spiders, this little guy was a fun catch.  Ian shrieked like a little girl when he saw it in the upstairs bathroom and it took 3 days to finally corner it on the stairs Sunday night.

So, an eventful week.  Plenty to talk about next week with birthday parties for friends and the final swim weekend!  Love you all!

Weekend Recovery

     So, we finally have a super weather weekend and are booked and can't go to the beach.  Ian was especially bummed, but we had so much to do!  Here's a run down of the weekend that we need a weekend to recover from!
    Friday night swim club-only 2 more to go, then age championships and the break up party with a family pizza and dessert party and family swim night in the pool.  Alex had a good night!
     Saturday afternoon Alex got to go to Laserforce, a lasertag kind of place, for Laura's birthday party.  Laura is a neighbor girl and is such a dear!  She and Alex spent a lot of time together over the summer (Christmas) holidays and have so much in common.  Laura is one year behind Alex and attends the school down our street.  The girls really only get to see each other on Skype since they are so busy with school, which I find hysterical as they live just down the block!  They do homework and visit.  Technology!  I remember doing homework while on the phone when I could get away with it-remember the oven timer that was only supposed to be set for 10 minutes that didn't go off for an hour?  Yeah, well, these conversations also took place on a phone with a round dial AND and cord that was never long enough!  Showing my age. . .
     I digress.  Saturday evening was the school disco.  Now these are a blast!  The Prep-year 2 kids get to attend from 5-6:30 and the DJ is so funny!  They were doing the song "Going on a Bear Hunt" and actually marching around to find the bear.  So cute!  Age appropriate as well.  Ian sat by me until his friend Jacques showed up, then they played tiggy (tag) until it was time to go.  Annika jumped and danced right up front with her friends and had a blast.  The sausage sizzle was from 6:30-7:00 for everyone, then the older kids were in from 7-8:30.  I was not allowed to stay for this one as Alex made me leave.  Sigh.  I know she had fun!  The DJ switched over to older stuff and was teaching line dances to the macareana (pretty sure that is misspelled) and other songs.  They also had a dance off with the shuffle.  Alex claims she looked like a bush turkey scratching in the dirt.  Next term for PE there are dancing lessons followed by a school disco to show off the new moves.  Bet she improves!
     Ian got to go to his first Aussie Birthday party on Sunday morning.  We went to the arcade in the mall where he got to see a magician for the first time he really remembers.  He got to go up front and was shocked when money came out of his ears!  He keeps trying to pull silver out and is so mad when it doesn't really come.  He just knows there is some trick he isn't getting, but is laughing that it isn't working as well.  He is so funny!  He got to bring home one of the class books based on the classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What to you See?  Ian, Ian, who do you see?  I see Angus looking at me!  This helps to learn friends names, which he needs some help with.  He knows the names of maybe 8 kids in the class of 24, but recognizes everyone now.  Everyone is his friend and he loves going to school.
     Alex spent the afternoon at her friend Megan's house.  The chased the chickens, got bit by mossies, looked at pond water under the microscope, played ping pong and had creative ping pong ball finding expeditions, drew pictures, visited, you know, girl stuff.  Megan has a pretty impressive garden around the house where she grows different herbs.  Alex was quite impressed with one that she makes lemon flavor tea out of, and a variety of peppermint with chocolate flavor!  I'm quite impressed as well.
     I've got some time teaching for a week!  I've been engaged to work from Tuesday to Tuesday, with the possibility of several days extension.  Anything over 2 days or so goes to a short term contract for a little bit more money.  I'm not complaining at all as sub pay is very good here!  I'm doing 3rd grade with 22 kids and am loving it.  The kids really are pretty good.  I really miss Make Your Day discipline program, even with a good class.  I forgot how much time and energy go into behavior management without it.  Little things that drive me nuts, like constant chatter, that are so much easier dealt with when you can simply lean over and say You have chosen step 1 for talking and they go sit out, problem stopped for most kids!  I started teaching them about step 1 today, we call it take a break, and it was much better than the first day for sure!  I also am chucking many of the worksheets that were left (sub plans are always like this-just in case you get someone who can't teach their way out of a wet paper bag) and doing some real work.  The kids and I were BORED today and ready to work on some different things for the time I have left with them.
     Well, not much about Annika so far this week.  She's such a hoot!  She has to (Alex's version), or gets to (Annika's version) hang out on the upper campus with Alex until I let her know she can go down for class.  What a ham-Alex tells me she gets all shy and this morning did not do anything except that when a boy called her a chicken she began to cluck at him.  Then chased him about while clucking at him.  I guess that is flirting if you are all of 7 years old?!
     Ian's birthday in on Friday!  Big 5 years old!  I have a friend making cupcakes that look like transformers for the class and hope to have pictures, but will have to depend on his teacher to take them. One of the drawbacks to working, but have not been in class for the other kids birthdays either.  His party is Sunday morning.  I'm doing cupcakes in ice cream cones, fruit, chips, dips and we are having a playdate with his class at a local park.  They are bringing their scooters, I'll bring the band aids, and hope the weather cooperates!  Fill you all in on it next week!
     Love you all!  Miss you tons.  June can't come soon enough!

Pushing on. . .

     So, the weekend turned out wet and humid.  Pouring Saturday, cleared up a bit by Sunday afternoon, but we got lazy and spent almost the entire weekend at home.  We did venture out between storms to the park so Lyle could get in a run, but that was really it!  BORING aren't we!
     Alex is counting down until swimming is over.  She had a slow week this last week, but her strokes are looking sooooo much better compared to her start last term!  They have their age championships in a couple of weeks and end of swim family party and awards.  Pizza and dessert by the pool, awards, and a family swim night in the middle of the week.  Sounds like fun to me!  She is also enjoying aerofit both after school and the during school team practices.  Looks like she will miss the Queensland regional competition as we will be in the states at that time, but National competition is in Sydney, and if they make it that far, we're going!
     Ian is counting down until his birthday!  He is so excited!  We handed out invitations on Monday for our playday and he is simply beside himself every morning-Is my birthday today yet??  I think we will be taking in dairy dessert cups (aka pudding) for his class treat.  There is a nuts/eggs allergic student that is quite severe, so this will cover everyone without reactions!  Always nice when you can find something for everyone.
     Annika continues to adore her areofit classes as well.  If she sticks with it this year, I'll let her compete next year.  She really is an energetic kid who thrives on the attention and activity the dance/aerobics offers her.  Far as she is concerned, the costumes are going to be the ultimate!  And she doesn't even know what they look like yet!
     Lyle is done with a near solid month of travels to Gladstone.  Nice to have him home during the week again!  I'm also in the midst of trying to get my Utah certificate renewed.  They will not send my renewal forms to Australia, so they are going to mom and dad, who will forward here, I have to fingerprint again, send them back and wait.  Again.  I also have forms heading back to Wenatchee for my former Principal to sign.  What a crazy system!
     Believe it or not, Fall is officially here in Brisbane.  I have to say, not much different than summer so far!  There have been some very heavy rainfalls just to the north and south of us that led to some nasty flooding.  Nothing on the scale they saw here last year, but intense and some fatalities due to trying to cross flooded roads and such.  There was some talk of a cyclone forming off the coast here this week too, but the system seems to have moved offshore and away, so good!  Keep going!  In the meantime, the weather has improved-sunny and puffy clouds today, light breeze, perfection!  Makes up for the cool and humid day that had everything feeling wet and the floors all sticky.  Humid is not good.

Here's a clip of Alex swimming backstroke Friday night in lane 1, the closest to the camera.  She got 5th place in this heat.  I'm so pleased to see her giving it her best whenever she swims!  She decided to nominate for the age championships in the freestyle and backstroke, her two best strokes.  She is pretty sure she will get her hiney kicked, but wants to go for it anyway.  What a kid!

Have a great week everyone-