Touch wood, things are going swimmingly well so far!
The twins have settled in to Grade 1 really well. They each have a lovely teacher and as I keep saying, I absolutely love our school. I don't have any experience with other schools (my schooling was so long ago that it is all a distant memory*) so I can't say if our school is any better or any worse than other schools, but I am extremely happy with how things are run. Everything is so organized and so efficient. And the support I get from the other professionals on site (the educational psychologist and OT) is fantastic. I feel incredibly lucky (long may it last!).
*Adam asked me if I was ever in Grade 1, so I said 'yes, a long time ago'. He asked whether it was when dinosaurs were around. It was that long ago.
Just as an aside - sometimes some people can drive you crazy! At the end of each year and the beginning of the next, the conversation in the car park ratchets up several notches with talk about which teacher your child will get. "I hope we don't get So and So because she is very strict / shouts / other stuff." Or "I hope we get Teacher XYZ, she is the best". The first year I was there, I got myself into a bit of a state listening to all of this because I was pooping myself that one of the kids would get Teacher So and So who shouted / was very strict / other stuff. And then I realized that throughout their schooling, one of my kids would not get the 'best' teacher as they will never be in the same class. One of them would get the second best teacher or heaven forbid, the Teacher Who Shouts. There is absolutely no point in getting worked up about it. I might be very naive but I don't believe any of the teachers are truly horrible. Perhaps there might be a personality clash with a particular child but I choose believe that teachers are professionals and they will provide the best service they are capable of. I hope that if my child does the best he or she can, that the teacher will recognize and appreciate that and teach my child to the best of their ability. And yes, perhaps some teachers are stricter than others. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. So, I am not going to get caught up in the hysteria of whether the kids have got the 'best' teacher or the 'strict' teacher. My faith in the school is such that I believe they will have the good teachers who do their best.
If I am being totally naive about all of this, don't say anything. I prefer to believe that most people are good than worry about the few that might not be.
Moving on...
Sister Mel has been terrorizing me for years about HOMEWORK. Apparently homework is the bane of any other mother's life and she couldn't wait for me to spend my afternoons listening to 7 year olds s l o w l y spell out words about Kipper and Biff and Chip. I must be honest and say that I am not so excited about the prospect of doing homework for the next few years. If there is one motherly duty I could outsource, it would be this. However, we will soldier on. The kids are really excited and keen about homework. Novelty and all that.
Yesterday we were thinking of all the words that started with a W. The kids were shouting out words like watermelon, walrus, water, wave etc and then Adam added: "Wose!" (Rose) Rose and I had to try really hard not to laugh. We didn't laugh. He would have been very upset. Adam hates being embarrassed. Who doesn't!
I know it is a real stereotype but it is amazing how much better Kate is at reading and writing and how much better Adam is at sums and numbers. Adam LOVES money, so has been very quick to pick up addition and subtraction.
As for Maxy boy, well well well. I was so anxious about sending him to school. I was scared he would miss me. I was scared he would be sad and lonely (even though I absolutely love the teacher and I KNOW the school he is at is fantastic). I was scared he would cry and cry and cry.
Well, not one tear shed (besides mine). He has taken to school like a duck to water. Unbelievably. I do realize that this might change and that he must not want to go to school at some point, but so far so good! He is obviously more like Kate (didn't cry ONCE) than like Adam (cried Every Single Day for eight months). Praisethelord!
So after all my anxiety and worrying about how it would go for them, it has gone really well, thank goodness.