On Wednesday, school started at ICS - this year, for both Jack and Kate. While they are at the same school, they are at different campuses (about 1/2 mile apart). So on the first day, Jay helped out, and took Jack to his class, while I went with Kate to hers.
Jack's first day went very well. His teacher's name is Miss Mills, and she is young, enthusiastic, and very outdoorsy (originally from California). This year, he will have "Waldkinder" (classroom in the forest) every Friday afternoon, rain, snow or shine - I'm quite sure this will be his favorite class. He also adds Computers, German (3 days per week), and continues with Library, P.E., Music and Dance. Of his class of 17, 9 of them were in the same class last year - so I think he felt really good to see so many familiar faces. And of the 17, 12 are boys! For some reason, his grade is really short of girls.. so each class only has 4-5 girls per class. And he gets to see his former teachers quite often, as Mrs de Koning is the new pottery teacher, and Mrs Rao is now an assistant in one of the other Kindergarten classes.
And Kate's first day also went very well. It was only one hour long, and the parents stayed the entire time. While this was good for most students (especially since this is the first school experience for many of them), our little independent girl kept asking, "When can I stay alone? When can I stay longer, Mommy?" Needless to say, she had a great time the first day, and even made a card for her new teacher, writing "Mrs. Lilywhite" on it, before presenting it. (Kate may have a bit of her mother's brown-nosing streak in her!) She has 18 children in her class, and a good mix of boys and girls. She has already made some "BFF's" with two little girls (Sofia and Delaney), who she talks about nonstop. She will start with just mornings next week, and then work her way up to staying for the afternoons on Mondays and Thursdays, and thru lunch on Tuesdays.
Over the course of the week, we also started our after-school activities. On Mondays, the kids both take tennis after school. They are in separate groups, but they meet at the same time. Kate is THRILLED to carry her tennis racket to practice, and seems to love the class - but keeps asking me when she can get a tennis dress or tennis skirt to make the outfit complete... oh, vey! And Jack is doing great at Tennis. All of the practice this summer seems to have paid off. He and his friend, Malu, even had a 3-shot rally last week - a first for him. He is having a great time and its nice to see his confidence and enjoyment of the lessons increase.
On Tuesday, Kate has started dance lessons in the afternoon (while Jack is still in school). She is in an adorable class called "Creative Dance," and it is a great introduction to all types of dance - they pretend to be animals, automobiles, anything... so far, she seems to love the class - as well as the accompanying outfits, of course. On her second week, she was so anxious to get to class that we arrived 30 minutes early and just sat outside the classroom, waiting. Here is a little excerpt from our time in the hallway.
Next week, Kate will also start swimming on Wednesdays (also while Jack is still in school), and then Jack will add Soccer on Thursdays. More to come on those activities...
Our first week back in school also meant Parents' Evenings for each class. It was nice to meet both of their teachers, and to hear about all the exciting things they have planned for the year. I told Jack and Kate I think this may be our best year yet, which I really feel - they seem to be getting off to such a great start, and once that's in place, everything else seems to follow pretty easily.
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