The kids were all up very early ("Mommy, I got up at 5:42!") and ready to go. Where did these big girls come from?!
All my big kids ready to go!
James and I took the kids to school together. It was a cool, misty morning that threatened rain but never came through with it.
What?! Your school doesn't have peacocks behind the library?! (ok, ok, peafowl) This is on the way to the R(Reception) and RR classrooms.
The preschool playground where the boys spend much of their day.
Playground for grades 1 and up. I love the acacia tree- just seems so African.
Animal house (left) and Peafowl hanging out with the bunnies (right).
"But I thought you were homeschooling?" Well, that was originally our plan because we had not heard good things about the schools here. Indeed, the government schools are not an option and most private schools are run by churches and so are also not options. This school, Ridgeway Independent School, is a private school with no religious leanings whatsoever. It's just a private school. It's also rather inexpensive (well, compared to private schools in the States...here it is considered extremely expensive. Also, there is no such thing as a free school here- there are fees for government schools as well as private). This school focuses on academics, basic good values (honesty, integrity, respect for all men, etc), and living in and taking care of our environment- all things that we care about. As you can see from the pictures, it has lovely grounds and the kids are encouraged to be outside and work with the animals and know all about the plants and birds around them. We thought that going to school would be the best way for them to adjust to a new country and make friends. Certainly it is the easiest and fastest way for them to learn the languages (they will have an Afrikaans class and of course the English is different) and culture.
The first day went really well. Charlotte seems to be the only one who had a little trouble, but that was not much. She is a little behind her class, especially in handwriting and a little in reading (here 1st grade is approximately equivalent to US Kindergarten and Grade 1 combined. She finished Kindergarten in the States but is jumping in at the end of Grade 1 here). Rosie went back about 1/2 a year and so has no trouble academically. Because of the age cut off here, she would have been almost 2 years younger than the kids in her class if we had kept her where she was. That was just too big of a gap, especially when adjusting to a new country and dealing with all of the upheaval. She seems to have made a few friends already (when we picked her up she was walking with one little girl and chatting). The boys were happy as larks. Their teacher said that they just had an easy day and mostly played since it was the first day back from a break. Also, a child in their class had a birthday and so there was cake. Play all day and eat cake? I love school!!!! For now both boys are in the same class but that is because they are allowing Henry to go for the last term where he normally wouldn't have started school until January. Next year Henry will be in RR again and Liam will move up to R.
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