Back to School! (with guest posts by the kids)

The first week of school is in the books!  Whew.  Of all the changes we stood to face upon moving to New Zealand, I probably worried the most about the school situation.  I'm happy and relieved that we are underway, and so glad to report that the kids are feeling positive and even excited about the upcoming year!  Here's a pic from the first day, after arriving home from school (the smiles are mostly genuine). :)

I thought I'd have the kids write their own thoughts about their school experience.  It's been fun for me to read what they've written!  Maybe I'll have them post again at the end of the year.

Emily:

Hi!  I go to school now!  My friend is Danielle.  I see the rabbits.  I like school.  I like bananas.

Cameron:

Hi!  Thanks for reading this.  Before I started school, I was nervous and scared that it would be really different, because when we walked up to school, there were chickens running around freely.  There are also cages with bunny rabbits.  I was so happy when I found out that I didn't have to wear a uniform.  It was kind of confusing at first being new, but aren't all first days of school confusing?  I quickly made friends and so far everything is going fine (but I do hear at least 5 or more swears a day).  Mostly the "s" word and sometimes OMG.  I didn't hear many swears at my last school.  Something that is different is that some of the kids in my class take off their shoes and socks in the morning and don't wear them all day.  My friend, Adrian, asked me to call him but he said "ring" me, which I think is funny.  I'm glad to be making friends.  People usually ask me things like "What do you call this in America?" Sometimes it's the same thing and sometimes it's different.  I don't have to do as much homework and it is due every 4 weeks.  In my Utah school I had to read 30 minutes a day but here I only have to read 10 to 15 minutes 3 times a week.  I like to read so I read a lot more than that.  We are about to start a new week of school, and I don't want to wake up early again.  I wish our house had central heating because it gets pretty cold in the night.  It's hard to get out of bed but we have a fireplace so I like to lay by the fire.  I love it here but I do miss Utah.  Here I don't have any real Lego's so I play a computer game called Minecraft which is like computer Lego's.  Can't wait to see everyone back at home. 

* Note from Mom:  Interestingly, none of our older kids have ever gone to school with Emily.  She's always gone to different schools for their Functional Skills programs.  Emily is in pure heaven with Cam at her same school.  The whole school has recess/tea time and lunch together, so she races to play with Cameron.  He patiently plays with her, for all or most of the recess time.  He helps her peel her bananas, and makes sure her face is wiped after lunch ... he's truly his sister's keeper, and we appreciate his genuine love and concern for Emily.  She is in a regular classroom with a part-time aide.  We are meeting with the school this week to assess how things are going.  So far so good!

Julia:

Hi everyone!  Thanks for reading my mom's blog!  My mom has asked me to talk about school here.  Before school started, I honestly wasn't very excited.  I had asked my parents multiple times to homeschool me, and groaned every time the subject of school was mentioned.  I didn't want to wear a uniform, and I just didn't want to go.  My first two days didn't go very well, but the rest of the days went a lot better.  I've actually grown to like the uniforms :) There are a lot of big differences here...like spelling.  A lot of the words are spelled differently here.  Such as: Center is spelled Centre, and Neighborhood is spelled Neighbourhood.  They also have a thing here called morning tea, or tea time.  It's pretty much like snack time and recess together.  I think I like the school system better here because everything is more relaxed.  I often get the question "Do you see famous people a lot?" and when I tell people I like their accent, "(gasp) We have an accent?" Also, "Is it true that Americans eat cookie dough RAW?"  They were surprised to hear that Americans watch Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.  They say, "It's filmed in NZ so I thought only we watched it." Hehe, yup.  We watch it, too.  I do wish I didn't hear as many swear words, though.  In my old school, I probably heard the F word once or twice in the whole year.  Here though, I hear it several times a day.  In shop, we are making little wooden gumball or "lolly" machines, which I think is pretty cool.  I ride my bike to school some days, and my required biking gear is complete with a helmet and a BRIGHT yellow neon vest.  Not too fun, especially with a knee-length skirt.  We aren't allowed to wear any makeup and we have to wear our hair in a ponytail (unless you have really short hair).  The boys aren't allowed to use any hair styling products.  Overall, I'm liking school and am very grateful for this amazing experience. See ya soon!

* Note from Mom:  Prayers are answered, that's all I can say.  We were SO worried about Julia...she's always been an excellent student, has made friends easily, and has really enjoyed school, so it broke our hearts to see her so distressed about going to school here in NZ.  The fact that we are only one week in and she's saying that she really likes school is truly an answer to our prayers.  Hooray for Julia!

Rachel:

Hey homies. ;)  To begin, NZ's ice cream is the best ice cream I've ever had.  Even the cheapo brands are deliciously creamy and I think I'm in love.  The Cadbury milk chocolate is amazing, too.  My mom just told me that they actually sell Cadbury in the States, we've just never bought it.  My reaction: "What???"  My school uniforms are pretty cool, and it's really nice not having to worry about deciding what to wear, especially since I don't have a ton of time in the mornings.  Early morning seminary is from 6:20-7:40ish (that's including travel time), so it takes up a chunk of time.  It's been great though, and I'm so glad that I get to experience a different seminary setting.  In Utah, it was just one of my class periods during the day, and there were like 25 kids in each class.  Here, there's 5 boys and 2 girls; but I don't feel the Spirit any less than I did in Utah seminary.  My new teacher, Sister Foua, is amazing; she has such a strong spirit and testimony and is a great example to me already, even though I've only been to a few classes.  I really like the ward, too.  They've been super welcoming.  When it came to school, I never really wanted to think about what it would be like too much because I knew I would over-think it and get nervous.  But, everyone has been really friendly so far and are really interested about what life is like in America.  People will ask me, "Do you guys have lockers?  And a cafeteria with tables?  And bells that go off when class ends?"  Yes, we have those; but some people have watched a little too much High School Musical...  They'll ask, "Do people really dance and sing on tables?  And do they ever throw papers in the air when school is out for summer?"  Haha!  It makes me laugh, because there's no lockers or cafeteria tables or bells here.  I've been asked about Mormonism, too.  When I say I'm from Utah, a couple people have automatically associated that with Mormons.  I love answering questions about what I know and what our church does.  It's good practice for my mission and makes me really excited.  Some of the subjects are different, especially math (they call it "maths" here).  They use the metric system, which I'm less familiar with, so it's confusing and I'm pretty far behind.  The rest of my subjects aren't too hard though, because the education system is really relaxed.  Electronics (phones and computers) are openly allowed; in Utah, if a teacher saw you with an electronic, it would be confiscated and taken to the office to be picked up by your parents.  In P.E., we're not allowed to wear shoes, so everyone is barefoot.  Something that's totally different from schools in Utah is the language; it's been the hardest thing to get used to.  At lunch and Interval (morning tea), students can go anywhere they want, which is so weird because in Utah, the hallways are blocked off with cones and the doors are locked.  Also, there's only a couple of indoor halls (they're called corridors here, like at Hogwarts), and most of the school other than classrooms is just courtyards, which I like.  It's nice to get out and walk around between classes instead of being cooped inside all day.  They have the coolest accents here, and people are fascinated with "American accents".  I guess Americans have accents?... Anyway, I've really enjoyed New Zealand so far, and I'm excited to see what the rest of this year has to offer! 

* Note from Mom:  Rachel spent a few hours testing on the first day, so the counselor would know where to place her academically.  I got a call from the teacher who was performing the testing and she sounded so excited..."I have been administering this test for years, and Rachel is the very first student who has ever gotten 100% (50/50) on the spelling portion!"  When we picked Rachel up from school that day, I congratulated her, and she rolled her eyes and said, "Mom, she had to take me all over the school and tell anyone who would listen that I had gotten a perfect score on the spelling test!  It was embarrassing."  We ran into the same teacher at the store a few nights ago, and she went on and on about it again.  Funny.  Rachel is starting to train with the school soccer team today, so hopefully that will be a good experience, too!

Not to be left out, Luke and Landon walk around all day saying, "I go school?  Please?"  I might have to find a kindergarten ("kindy"), or preschool, to enroll them in for a few hours a week.  I've enjoyed more mommy time with my little buddies.

I found it interesting that the three older kids mentioned the bad language.  I know that the kids have noticed some swearing in their other schools, but it's something that has stood out to them more here.  Rachel said it's more than just swearing, but the type of language that is different, especially from the girls her age (she is getting some education of a different sort).  I am grateful that they are making new friends despite the language issue, and they have met several kids who use mostly clean language, so I'm relieved.  Julia said that she cringed with every swear word the first few days, but now she is getting used to it and learning to tune it out.

The uniforms were an issue for like... a day.  The girls have grown to really like them, especially the convenience of not having to worry about what to wear.  Each uniform (including new shoes and gym clothes) cost us $300.  I'm glad they like the uniforms, because at that price, they're probably going to be wearing THE SAME uniform every day for the entire year. :)     

The hardest adjustment for me, by far, has been the busier schedule.  Starting the school routine after a long break is always a bit shocking to the system, but I'm realizing that I was very, very spoiled last year!  Rachel, Julia and Cameron all walked the short distance to school (Rachel had seminary during school hours), and Emily's bus picked her up and dropped her off at the end of our driveway... (sigh).  It's a good thing I love Big Red so much, because we are spending an awful lot of time together these days.  There aren't staggered start and end times here like in Utah, so all the kids in the whole city (all ages) start school at around 8:45 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.  It makes for very heavy traffic and lots of time in the car!

I have seen only a very limited number of buses (not traditional American-style school buses, but they look like city buses with a "school" label during school times).  I'm not sure, but my guess it that the buses transport some kids who go to school out of "zone"?  My kids all go to schools within zone (geographic areas), so I don't think they are eligible to ride the bus.  I need to look into it.  I honestly love seeing so many kids walking and riding bikes, most of them in uniform, but it does add to the stress of the traffic situation with kids and bikes and cars in all directions!

The elementary (primary) school is fairly close, but a little too far for Emily to walk with just Cameron.  He likes to ride his bike, but I still have to drive or walk with Emily.  Rachel and Julia's schools are both pretty far away, and in opposite directions...Julia is feeling more comfortable riding her bike, but Rachel's school is the farthest and is accessed via busier streets (besides, she doesn't have a bike yet). 

Including the early-morning seminary travel, I've spent nearly two hours in the van every day over the past week, just taxiing kids to and from school... and that doesn't include any errands I may have to run during the day!  I'm still testing out new avenues, trying to figure out the best routes to all the schools, with the least traffic.  I frightened my poor kids this morning by cutting it too close while crossing a busy road (after waiting nearly 5 minutes for an opening).  Uggh!  No fun.  I'm expecting the kids to be cheerful and adaptable about our new situation, and I need to follow my own advice by figuring out ways to make the school-time commute less hectic.  On the days that Steve is home in the morning, we plan to split up the taxi duties (only one car so one of us will walk/bike), which will be a refreshing break.  

All things considered... the transition to school has gone more smoothly than expected.  We are thankful, as always, for our good kids who are resilient and brave.  They are great examples to us, and we feel like pretty lucky parents.