Erieversible

Last night we went to the kid’s school for “Open House”.  Now as a child I can remember my parents going to such things, but since there is nothing like it in UK schools, I wasn’t totally sure what to expect.  Having been, there should be something like it in UK schools. 

We got a chance to visit each of our children’s classrooms.  For the first grader, her teacher did a half hour (or so) presentation all about how she teaches and what she expects.  She explained a lot of her notations that appear on homework sheets and worksheets.  She told us all about her background and her life as well.  It was a great chance to find out all about what the little one will be doing this year and also to learn what we are supposed to be doing with all mysterious bits of paper that seem to breed in the little one’s backpack!  And there was a folder of some of her work for us to admire as well.

The fifth grade teachers got together and did a group presentation.

They started with a slide show of all the fifth grade kids…intercut with quotes like “Here we Grow” and “Here we Dream” and ending with a mention of what an adventure this year will be (their last at elementary school) and welcoming them as “the class of 2016″*.  Well, very few of the mom’s had dry eyes at the end of that 3 minutes!  (I held it together so hubby wouldn’t laugh at me!)

They then took turn introducing themselves and giving us some background.  Then they explained the basic curriculum and gave us some information about what to expect as the year progresses.  (They are going to be hatching chicks!)  After they finished, we got to visit our child’s classroom and meet his teacher personally.  Again, there was a folder of work and some other bits for us and a chance to see the classroom and have a quick chat with the teacher.

All in all, a very interesting and informative evening.  It was great to see where the kids are spending so much of their time and to meet the two women who are having such a great influence upon them.  The school seems lovely and the teachers we met seemed dedicated and friendly.  So far the kids are loving school, which is really great.

*For our UK audience, your “Class” is the year you are expected to graduate from high school.  Unlike in the UK where you take set exams for set subjects, over here everyone is expected to go through four years of high school where you study a wide range of subjects to prepare yourself for university or a career.  Assuming you pass all of your subjects all the way through school, you should graduate in the June when you are eighteen (usually). 

Well, the kids have been in school for two weeks now (even if both weeks were shorter than usual) and slowly the difference are becoming more apparent.

For a start, both kids LOVE being able to wear whatever they want every day.  This does cause hubby and I no end of grief, of course, especially with the little one who wants to wear the same dress every day or always wants the one thing that is in the laundry pile, but for them, it is great.

The cafeteria here has much better options.  In the UK, if you bought school dinners (a hot meal), you got whatever they were serving and you had to buy it every day, for whole terms at a time.  (Changing back and forth from packed lunch to school dinners was too complicated for accounting purposes, or something.)  Here, you can just take money when you want to eat whatever is on the menu for a given day or you can take money and buy from the pizza bar or other snacks.  A pizza bar?  They didn’t have those when I was in school, and I went to Millcreek schools!

Homework…well, funnily enough I have the same complaint at the moment that I did in the UK.  The little one has had homework just about every night.  Usually just a reading book and a bit of colouring (she is in first grade, after all), but the fifth grader…nothing yet!  I am hopeful that the situation will change and the homework will start to flood in for the older one.   Watch this space.

Riding the school bus also remains a firm favourite with the kids, and I’m getting used to it.  There is a lot less opportunity for clinging and long goodbyes, which is great, but I do miss seeing the kids’ teachers every day to check how things are going.

Paperwork…I do seem to be drowning in paperwork and there doesn’t seem to be any end to the amount of forms and letters and newsletters that come home from the school.  Now, everyone in the UK frequently complained about the lack of helpful information that came home from the school there…but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I’ll stop there for now…hubby says my posts are too long…but more will be forthcoming as other differences become more obvious.

That post isn’t too long.  It re-uses a subject line from 20th May though.

The kids’ adventures in US schooling can be summed up as ’so far, so great!’.  They have spent 3 days at Asbury School and have both enjoyed all 3 days - 6 for 6 as it might be expressed over here.  It has been good to get the household back into a routine, with something to get out of bed for each morning and deadlines to be met - that has helped both the kids and the adults.

Already the school experience is proving to be, at heart, not that different from the Isle of Man experience.  Sure, there are some fundamental differences around the edges, such as the use of school buses, but many other things are no more different than if the kids had moved to a different school within the Isle of Man.  The biggest difference, buses aside, has been the lack of a school uniform at Asbury.  I never realised just how much of a decision it would be as to what to wear each day!  (And yes, we do let the kids have a say in that….)

Another difference (the longer I keep typing, the more differences come to mind) is the interaction between kids outside school.  On the Isle of Man, if a friend was to visit after school it just sort of happened.  Here, because of the bus system, it is not such a simple exercise.  Apparently getting on a different bus to your assigned bus is not done.

And on a final school note, I understand due to our present lack of income we could qualify for free school meals.  What a generous country this is!  However, we are not intending to take up the offer, it just doesn’t feel right.

(No sooner do the kids get used to school and a routine and there’s a public holiday on Monday!  For Uk readers, that’s Labor Day.)