Schule

The second Monday of German school went really well for both kids. In the morning, Tobin met his friends at the “Bärengruppe” for 2 1/2 hours of playtime fun. Much to my surprise, he had no problems sending me home and even managed to stay accident free all morning without diapers. Look at the second picture (unfortunately completely out of focus) to get an idea how much he liked to be left playing there – that was his “see you later alligator” face…

In the late afternoon, Mika attended the beginner’s reading and writing class which had officially started in September. It was her second time ever, but since the first months were spent on basic letter- and sound recognition, she seems to have joined not too late. Today, the children sounded out words and wrote them down for the very first time on their own. As the German readers can see, she did great! The method is called “invented spelling” and it’s the core of her early writing workshops at PS 29 as well. Fueled by the positive experience, she finished her homework already tonight: all kids got a small stack of Post-It notes and have to label items around the house with their beginning sounds/letters.

Tobin was too excited to nap (yet again!) and powered through the day like a madman. In the late afternoon, barely able to hold his eyes open, he had 3 accidents back-to-back while waiting for Mika to finish her class. Finally i got to use all those extra pants and socks i’ve been carrying around for days ;-)