The first Nursery School class we went in had all the kids in a circle and one kid at a time was in the center filling up each of the little containers with the designated amount of balls (probably 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...) while everyone watched. While this might be a good way to learn patience and waiting your turn, Ethan might go crazy. I could already see him sitting close to the kid in the middle and reaching for the balls to help the kid put them in. Ha, I might be a little ADD and he might get this from me because I was annoyed just watching. One kid at a time while the whole class watches and everyone has a turn and there are around 20 4yr old kids that need to take a turn? Couldn't they do stations or something where there were less kids and they got to do more things? Ok, I am no teacher and shouldn't be critical, I just wondered about it being the best fit for Ethan. And then the next class had split up into groups and they were having practice conversations while the teacher typed away on her tablet, frantically taking notes on how the kid was doing the whole time. I couldn't help but think, "man, that poor teacher that is just typing away all day". Ok, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that he should go to the other school instead. I did like that the school was very diverse and teachers and students alike were from all different countries. Unfortunately, they didn't have morning session openings either (both schools only have afternoon ones which is super inconvenient for nap times etc). And Ethan might be a tired crabby mess towards the last half of class and when I pick him up (when he would normally be napping). At least we could still do things together in the mornings and get him to school on time no problem at 12:30. Ah, I don't know what to do! I wish that he could go just a few days a week for 3hrs/day like he did back home-that was ideal. Ah, at least preschool here is free-that's nice!
Three things I learned:
1. They call braids "plaits".
2. All the schools around here seem to have the girls in gingham dresses for the uniform. And when they are older (high school?) both males and females are in Blazers.
3. School lunches here are free! I'm guessing they are healthier than US lunches but I still need to take a look at the menu, etc. The jury is out.
Then we caught the train to Dorchester South.
Here is Ethan staring out the train window:
I don't know what this yellow flower or crop is but there are fields full of it (it certainly is abundant in this area):
They were doing all this construction developing the "Brewery Square" into an arts building and shops etc. I just wanted to know if the big old Brewery was still operating (some samples, perhaps?):
Any guesses as to what this is? I'd put my money on old beer brewing equipment but Ethan was convinced it was an alien spaceship:
I love this dress from Next and wish they had it in my size! (I was hesitant to buy a dress for Hailey for when she's 5). I'm curious where this picture was taken. Any guesses?
Little Ethan-sized doors (Ethan is striking a pose here):
Then we made our way to The Dinosaur Museum and my phone went dead so I don't have any pics from there. The kids really enjoyed it though and I learned a lot as well! The saber-tooth tiger and armadillo looking animal with tail spike video were very well done and looked like real footage! Ethan wanted to keep watching the video over and over! And a huge dinosaur footprint that was discovered in the UK (a Sauropod I think).
Here are the kids hugging Chris' legs when he got home and was prepping some stuff for the BBQ:
Oh and check this out-this size of chips is brilliant. Enough that the rest of the bag doesn't go stale or so you can cut yourself off:
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