Abbie started school a week after the boys started. Here they are all together on her first day.
Jubilee celebrations are everywhere for the next 4 days. In the village of Wick where the kids go to school they had an event on the village green. One of the booths had animals to hold. The boys of course both went for the snakes.
As part of the lead up to the Queens Jubilee, Noah's reception class re-enacted a royal wedding at the church across the street from the school.
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.
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.....
Date night at the local pub in Wick. - The Lamb and Flag. It's about a mile and a half from our house just down the street from where the kids will go to school. According to the (new) owner, this public house dates from the 16th century. The beef and ale pie was excellent!