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!
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!
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