The spectacular weather in South Wales is continuing. We spent some time down at Dunraven Bay today near the village of Southerndown today. While Kelly and Abbie went to the beach, Dad and I took Preston on a walk up along the cliff tops.
After a week back in the US, my dad flew back with me on my return trip May 19th to visit us for 3 weeks! His first international trip out of North America.
Saturday, after our arrival we had a cake and ice cream to celebrate Pappie's retirement!
The weather in Wales the past couple of weeks has been spectacular, so on Sunday we took the opportunity to visit Cardiff Castle. I had visited it over a year ago, but it was the first time for my dad, Kelly and the kids. During our visit we happened to catch 'Roman' day with displays and activities. The first few pictures are from the castle, and the last few are from the streets near the castle.
In the late afternoon, Hunter had a birthday party up in the village of Pontyclun. We decided to try a pub in the local area so we ate at the Boars Head pub in Pontyclun. Good pump ale, good atmosphere and good eats!
Saturday late afternoon we took a drive down to the bluffs above Marcross beach. It had been nice earlier in the day but was getting a little windy and cool so the kids wanted to try out the kites they had each got for Hunter's birthday. Here is a great video of the boys laughing as Noah's kite does some interesting acrobatics on its own.
Few more photos too!
More exploration of fun things close to our house. Ogmore Castle which is believed to have started construnction in 1106 is an interesting set of ruins on the banks of a river about 10 minutes from our house. If offered fun scrambles for the kids and a little bit of sheep chasing as they roam the castle grounds as well. It could be a good place to come back for a picnic on a nice day.
We decided after the first week of sending Hunter to school that Noah should start too. We were going to wait till the fall, but after seeing the classroom and spending the time in we knew it would be a place Noah would love and would place where he would flourish. Mrs. Morgan is his teacher and has gone out of her way to make Noah feel comfortable in class. He is very excited to hear that the class will be going on a field trip to Barry Island in June to explore the coastal environment. Noah loves the beach, so this will be a perfect first field trip for him.
A very rainy and cool weekend in south wales. When we ask people when summer will arrive, they say this is it!... in a joking manner ... but only half joking...we never seem to get a straight answer.
On Saturday, we were running some errands in a local village just south of our place called Llantwit Major. A great seaside village with a really fun beach to explore on the edge of town. Here is a picture of the beach from up on the bluffs above.
The month of April has been a record rainfall here in Wales. Driving the children to school has been a wild water ride down the dirt road to the village where Hunter goes to school. Hunter started year 2, which is first grade in the US at Wick and Marcross Church in Wales Primary School. The school is in the town of Wick, or also known as “windy Wick." It is a charming village with a small store and post office and a couple of pubs, a church and the primary school. When it is not raining out you can see the sea from the playground. It is a very pretty setting. The school is very small, about 90 students to be exact. The classes are combined with two grades in one. Hunter is with year 2 and year 3 students. We could not be happier with the school and upon our visit fell in love with it right away. Mrs. Thomas the head teacher or principal reminds me of Mary Poppins, "practically perfect in every way," she is just delightful. Hunter's teacher is Mr. Turner and he seems to be a great fit for Hunter. He is excited to go to school each day and that is important to us as parents that school is a place that our children want to be.
The primary schooling here in the UK is heavily focused on learning through hands on activities, play and exploration. The children are exposed to cooking, gardening and art, as well as reading, writing, math and science. Seat work is done, however, not like in the American school system from what I remember being a teacher. Homework is given but not in excess. Reading is encouraged nightly, but hours of homework are not. Homework in their opinion does not make for more learning or a smarter student, but rather can sour children’s attitudes toward school. Homework in small doses builds study habits and self-discipline. Being a former teacher I did a little investigating and found that countries that have less homework tend to outperform countries on achievement tests than countries that pile the homework on. I thought this was interesting food for thought.....
