Adam

Adam has really grown and learned so much in his first month at school here.  I spent this morning in his classroom as the parent helper.  It was really fun getting to know some of the children and the teachers and seeing his work.  There are 17 children in his class and he has a teacher and assistant (and parent) every day.  There are two preprimary classes on the big school campus.  They have their own marvelous play area and go to school in uniform from 9am to 3pm.  During that time he sings songs, bakes, draws and paints, plays and learns to read and write.  The approach to reading and writing is very different from that in South Africa.  The children are encouraged to write from a very early age and their handwriting is not as important as actually having a go.  In South Africa there seemed to be more emphasis on the patterns and formation of the letters first but here it is all about knowing the letters and getting something on paper.  He has had to do a bit of catch up at home so that he knows all his sounds.  When we get to school each morning I settle him at a desk with a white board and marker and he has a task to do to start his day.  Sometimes it is writing numbers from 1 to as far as he can go, other days he has to write as many words as he can starting with the letter of the week.  On other days he will be given a pile of numbered cards and he will have to sort them into order by size.  He is expected to write a few words every day and even writes his news page!  Today they had to draw ten things they love about their dad and then write a sentence next to each picture.  They have maths workbooks with story sums and grouping problems.  There is an interactive electronic white board between the two preprimary classes that the children can use to play word games and do lessons.  They take turns with the magic pen.  I watched them in action today and was so impressed.  Learning has really become huge fun! 

To help Adam to be more familiar with reading and writing, we have signed him up on a website called http://www.readingeggs.com.au/ which is a brilliant tool for learning to read and can be used at any foundation phase level.  I would highly recommend it for anyone struggling with reading.  He does a daily lesson and is really getting the hang of reading now.

Adam is four months older than the next child in his class but he fits right in the middle in stature.  He is emotionally and socially perfect for the preprimary class and is getting on really well.  So far his strengths lie in the science experiments and maths tasks but generally he loves being at school.  His worst activity at school is "Sip 'n Crunch" which is when the children have to have some juice and fruit.  He just refuses to eat fruit and eats a carrot at school every day just to keep the teachers happy!

Of all the boys, Adam has been the one who has missed everyone in South Africa the most.  He talks fondly of my friends and of his grandparents and has some very sad days when he is missing them very much.  He initiates great craft projects to post home to granny and wants to skype our friends back home.

Our sweet boy has already had a visit from the Aussie tooth mouse and now has three gaps in his mouth!  His hair is long and unruly and he still keeps us laughing with his great sense of humour.