C has been preparing a piece of German that he had to read. I’m not sure if he is supposed to read it off the overhead projector, the same as the other children (as they had done during the Besuchermorgen last June) but he comes home and tells me that he read it to his teacher in private, at her request. I’m very pleased that she has handled this with sensitivity - he could easily be embarrassed or open himself up to teasing by reading aloud to the whole class.
They finish school at lunchtime as the staff have a training afternoon (at least I think that’s what the letter said. I don’t think it was talking about an afternoon in the pub for them, but who knows ?)
With WAC homework, music practise and school homework, they are still finished by 1.30pm, with J working at his desk and C at the kitchen table - but me banished from the room. This is incredible - is there something wrong with the clock ?!
What is really reassuring – for me, having had the problems earlier in the year with C’s maths – is that C has 80 sums to do for his homework, he gets 75 of them right first time and instantly understands one particular concept that was like Greek to him 6 months ago. The maths teaching certainly appears to be both rigorous and thorough.
OH has also had the first salary payment without being taxed for the international school fees - he is on a local contract rather than an ex-pat one, and the school fees were a perk. Obviously we knew he was being taxed for the fees, but hadn't realised by how much………..
Monday 29 September 2008
Week 6 - Thursday
Of course the only problem with J having a desk is that C now wants one, but unless we have any more brainwaves then he’ll have to wait until he’s in Grade 4 and they have separate rooms, since they share a room currently and there’s only room for one desk.
But J has, in a fit of generosity, offered C his desk when he’s not using it, so, this being C’s afternoon off, he takes himself off to the new exciting desk - complete with Winnie the Pooh DO NOT DISTURB sign – and completes his homework in record time instead of faffing around at the kitchen table. Hurrah !
J comes home with a very heavy English / Deutsch dictionary that his teacher has lent him, and I decide that rather than give himself back strain heaving this heavy tome back and forth from school, I’ll order it for him online and we’ll keep a copy here. It’s a fantastic book, really comprehensive, bargain at 16.95 Euro. At least, I think I’ve ordered it…….. http://pons.de/produkte/3-12-517836-3/
But J has, in a fit of generosity, offered C his desk when he’s not using it, so, this being C’s afternoon off, he takes himself off to the new exciting desk - complete with Winnie the Pooh DO NOT DISTURB sign – and completes his homework in record time instead of faffing around at the kitchen table. Hurrah !
J comes home with a very heavy English / Deutsch dictionary that his teacher has lent him, and I decide that rather than give himself back strain heaving this heavy tome back and forth from school, I’ll order it for him online and we’ll keep a copy here. It’s a fantastic book, really comprehensive, bargain at 16.95 Euro. At least, I think I’ve ordered it…….. http://pons.de/produkte/3-12-517836-3/
Week 6 - Wednesday - meltdown morning
J is half way through his breakfast when he remembers that he has forgotten about a handarbeit test on how to thread a sewing machine. He is very distressed, and I feel sorry for him, since he had hardly any time to relax last night after school and his homework. So we quickly practise threading my sewing machine, and I run through the (English) names of the parts.
He then loses his temper with me and starts shouting because it’s the wrong type of sewing machine, and I gave him the words in the wrong language. I then lose my temper with him, on the basis of:
Whose problem is it if he has forgotten about a test ? His, not mine ! I was half way through the ironing when he remembered about this, and I’ve not had my breakfast yet, but I’ve just taken 10 minutes to help him anyway. He’s got to get his act together.
And
Of course I don’t know the German names for the parts of a sewing machine, I can just about manage the supermarket run and that’s it. It’s a Norwegian sewing machine bought in England in 1989, with an English instruction manual. I can’t do better than that, he should be thankful that I have a sewing machine at all.
I just about calm down enough to tell him repeatedly to not panic about the test otherwise he’ll forget everything and get it wrong.
They leave for school, J crying but he has to leave otherwise he’ll be late and on the naughty board again.
I feel dreadful, as this has been brewing ever since his homework regularly started to take up to 2 hours a night, and 4 at the weekend. Dreadful for losing my temper with him, and dreadful for telling him to get his act together - he’s not to blame for his own lack of organisational skills. Then I have a lightbulb moment:
1 How the hell can I expect him to get his act together and get organised if I haven’t taught him how nor given him the tools to do it ?
2 Perhaps the time has come for him to have his own desk in his bedroom, so he can work in peace and quiet and without me telling him to sit down and concentrate every 5 minutes.
In my despair I turn to http://www.flylady.net/ for help on how to teach children organisational skills, and as usual her website has bucketloads of helpful hints. I print off the Student Control Journal for him. Reading through it is like manna from heaven - I know this will speak volumes to him in a way I never will.
Looking at the clock, I realise I can get a desk sorted out for him (we have a spare table on the balcony that’s not being used) and set up by the time they get home for lunch, so I work flat out to get the table cleaned up and moved into their room, nip down to bau & hobby to get a small table lamp and a corkboard, and some stationery bits and bobs from the Migros. I realise he needs a calendar, but it’s too late for the remaining months of 2008, so I print off September – December from Google calendars and stick them on the corkboard, so he can put the dates of his tests on the calendars and then he can be prepared for them in advance. He is a very creative little soul, but needs some help learning how to most efficiently organise and use his time (don’t we all), and the Swiss system encourages them to be independent in their learning and organisational habits from an early age - not very exciting to a 9 year old who wants to play James Bond all the time.
I’m happy with my morning’s work, and when they get home for lunch I send J up to have a look. He is thrilled, and continuously thanks me and tells me that he really wanted his own desk all along. Obviously I had been very slow on the uptake – I had realised that he would need one by Grade 7 but hadn’t appreciated that it would be such a huge jump to Grade 4.
Anyway, he’s chuffed to bits, and he’s also chuffed with the Student Control Journal, repeating “Mum, this is brilliant, this is really going to help me SO much”.
Re the test: it was OK. In fact, it went very well: he sweet talked the handarbeit teacher into letting him name the parts of the machine in English rather than Deutsch. So that’s a huge relief, but he’d better not make a habit of it as I don’t want his peers thinking he’s getting preferential treatment over them.
An afternoon at the WAC as usual, and J has one piece of homework to finish when we get home. He accomplishes this, in his room (with his very scary Winnie the Pooh DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from the handle) in record time.
Hallelujah. I think we’ve made a breakthrough.
He then loses his temper with me and starts shouting because it’s the wrong type of sewing machine, and I gave him the words in the wrong language. I then lose my temper with him, on the basis of:
Whose problem is it if he has forgotten about a test ? His, not mine ! I was half way through the ironing when he remembered about this, and I’ve not had my breakfast yet, but I’ve just taken 10 minutes to help him anyway. He’s got to get his act together.
And
Of course I don’t know the German names for the parts of a sewing machine, I can just about manage the supermarket run and that’s it. It’s a Norwegian sewing machine bought in England in 1989, with an English instruction manual. I can’t do better than that, he should be thankful that I have a sewing machine at all.
I just about calm down enough to tell him repeatedly to not panic about the test otherwise he’ll forget everything and get it wrong.
They leave for school, J crying but he has to leave otherwise he’ll be late and on the naughty board again.
I feel dreadful, as this has been brewing ever since his homework regularly started to take up to 2 hours a night, and 4 at the weekend. Dreadful for losing my temper with him, and dreadful for telling him to get his act together - he’s not to blame for his own lack of organisational skills. Then I have a lightbulb moment:
1 How the hell can I expect him to get his act together and get organised if I haven’t taught him how nor given him the tools to do it ?
2 Perhaps the time has come for him to have his own desk in his bedroom, so he can work in peace and quiet and without me telling him to sit down and concentrate every 5 minutes.
In my despair I turn to http://www.flylady.net/ for help on how to teach children organisational skills, and as usual her website has bucketloads of helpful hints. I print off the Student Control Journal for him. Reading through it is like manna from heaven - I know this will speak volumes to him in a way I never will.
Looking at the clock, I realise I can get a desk sorted out for him (we have a spare table on the balcony that’s not being used) and set up by the time they get home for lunch, so I work flat out to get the table cleaned up and moved into their room, nip down to bau & hobby to get a small table lamp and a corkboard, and some stationery bits and bobs from the Migros. I realise he needs a calendar, but it’s too late for the remaining months of 2008, so I print off September – December from Google calendars and stick them on the corkboard, so he can put the dates of his tests on the calendars and then he can be prepared for them in advance. He is a very creative little soul, but needs some help learning how to most efficiently organise and use his time (don’t we all), and the Swiss system encourages them to be independent in their learning and organisational habits from an early age - not very exciting to a 9 year old who wants to play James Bond all the time.
I’m happy with my morning’s work, and when they get home for lunch I send J up to have a look. He is thrilled, and continuously thanks me and tells me that he really wanted his own desk all along. Obviously I had been very slow on the uptake – I had realised that he would need one by Grade 7 but hadn’t appreciated that it would be such a huge jump to Grade 4.
Anyway, he’s chuffed to bits, and he’s also chuffed with the Student Control Journal, repeating “Mum, this is brilliant, this is really going to help me SO much”.
Re the test: it was OK. In fact, it went very well: he sweet talked the handarbeit teacher into letting him name the parts of the machine in English rather than Deutsch. So that’s a huge relief, but he’d better not make a habit of it as I don’t want his peers thinking he’s getting preferential treatment over them.
An afternoon at the WAC as usual, and J has one piece of homework to finish when we get home. He accomplishes this, in his room (with his very scary Winnie the Pooh DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from the handle) in record time.
Hallelujah. I think we’ve made a breakthrough.
Week 6 - Tuesday
J gets home from school late, having been obliged to stay on until 4pm to finish a task from the afternoon lesson. He then takes a further 2.5 hours to complete his homework, at the kitchen table. Getting him to concentrate is proving a major problem, and I am beginning to resent having to supervise him to this extent.
Tuesday evening sees C’s elternabend, which I am dreading after the brainache evening we had for J 4 weeks ago. C’s teacher is very nice and throughout the evening continually corrects her own Hoch Deutsch. The evening is again a group presentation in the classroom, covering introductions, handarbeit (but at a much less scary level - I am relieved at the lack of pictures of 7 year olds with power tools,) language, maths and English.
The English teacher is the Friday teacher - who had to mop all the spilt blood the other week - and she explains the English learning scheme, which is rather cute. English is taught through a cuddly puppet doll called Ginger, who only speaks English, and, and judging by the colour of his hair and his outfit – checks – perhaps he should be called McGinger. But then, my mother always used to say that the best English is spoken in Inverness. There is a colourful poster giving the cross section of a big ship with about 6 decks and all the activities that can be found on board. I guess that despite the Swiss having loads of lakes and ferry trips thereon, a boat like this that takes more than 1 hour to reach its destination might be a novel concept. In fact it reminds me of the boat we used regularly to cross to continental Europe from the north of England via Hull - Zeebrugge when we were in the UK. Aaaaaaah, sweet memories.
One point of note was that children who live within a 1km radius of the school are not allowed to use their bikes to get there. I think this is because the bike shed isn’t huge by Swiss standards (though I must say it’s a darn sight bigger than the one at my secondary school 25 years ago) and they like to reserve the spaces for the children who cycle in from the 2 smaller outlying villages. Fair enough. My boys are happier to scoot anyway, and C isn’t going near his bike with his backpack on until he’s a foot taller, since he just can’t balance well enough.
This time we’re home by 9pm and a great deal happier than last time.
Tuesday evening sees C’s elternabend, which I am dreading after the brainache evening we had for J 4 weeks ago. C’s teacher is very nice and throughout the evening continually corrects her own Hoch Deutsch. The evening is again a group presentation in the classroom, covering introductions, handarbeit (but at a much less scary level - I am relieved at the lack of pictures of 7 year olds with power tools,) language, maths and English.
The English teacher is the Friday teacher - who had to mop all the spilt blood the other week - and she explains the English learning scheme, which is rather cute. English is taught through a cuddly puppet doll called Ginger, who only speaks English, and, and judging by the colour of his hair and his outfit – checks – perhaps he should be called McGinger. But then, my mother always used to say that the best English is spoken in Inverness. There is a colourful poster giving the cross section of a big ship with about 6 decks and all the activities that can be found on board. I guess that despite the Swiss having loads of lakes and ferry trips thereon, a boat like this that takes more than 1 hour to reach its destination might be a novel concept. In fact it reminds me of the boat we used regularly to cross to continental Europe from the north of England via Hull - Zeebrugge when we were in the UK. Aaaaaaah, sweet memories.
One point of note was that children who live within a 1km radius of the school are not allowed to use their bikes to get there. I think this is because the bike shed isn’t huge by Swiss standards (though I must say it’s a darn sight bigger than the one at my secondary school 25 years ago) and they like to reserve the spaces for the children who cycle in from the 2 smaller outlying villages. Fair enough. My boys are happier to scoot anyway, and C isn’t going near his bike with his backpack on until he’s a foot taller, since he just can’t balance well enough.
This time we’re home by 9pm and a great deal happier than last time.
Week 6 - Monday
Well, we’re 6 weeks in. Time flies when you’re having fun….
C starts piano lessons. These are the lessons that had been arranged by the Musik Schule Leitung. Luckily it’s in his the hall of his school (rather than another school), at teatime. I take him down, and the teacher is very nice. C takes his old music books from which he was learning last year, and the teacher (whose name, I realise with embarrassment, has escaped me already, drat) also gives him a couple of sheets from another book that appears to be published in English. He doesn’t need me to get any other books at the moment.
C coming home with homework he doesn’t understand and hasn’t asked for explanation from his teacher is becoming a source of immense frustration for me, but we manage to struggle through it and I think it makes sense.
J’s class have had a visit from the dental nurse who, J tells me in a confessional tone, spoke to the class in Schweiz Deutsch, as if this is some kind of horror. So I presume from this that Schweiz Deutsch in the classroom really is frowned upon.
C starts piano lessons. These are the lessons that had been arranged by the Musik Schule Leitung. Luckily it’s in his the hall of his school (rather than another school), at teatime. I take him down, and the teacher is very nice. C takes his old music books from which he was learning last year, and the teacher (whose name, I realise with embarrassment, has escaped me already, drat) also gives him a couple of sheets from another book that appears to be published in English. He doesn’t need me to get any other books at the moment.
C coming home with homework he doesn’t understand and hasn’t asked for explanation from his teacher is becoming a source of immense frustration for me, but we manage to struggle through it and I think it makes sense.
J’s class have had a visit from the dental nurse who, J tells me in a confessional tone, spoke to the class in Schweiz Deutsch, as if this is some kind of horror. So I presume from this that Schweiz Deutsch in the classroom really is frowned upon.
Thursday 25 September 2008
Week 5
Week 5 begins with a day off for Knabenshiessen, the traditional Zurich shooting competition for boys http://www.knabenschiessen.ch/?m=index&action=view_home
But C is still feeling a bit rough so we don’t go and visit. Maybe next year……
Tuesday they are back to school, and C is much improved. He starts to bring home homework that he can’t understand, which is frustrating. We’ve told them both repeatedly that they should ask the teacher if they don’t understand (and J does this happily), but I think C lacks the confidence to do this. I hope this doesn’t go on too long, as I’m really struggling to understand it myself at times ;)
The Director (Leitung) of the Musik Schule rings later in the week with news of the boys’ lessons. He is very charming and repeatedly asks me if I understand throughout the conversation – I think so……
C starts piano on Monday at school. J will have to have guitar lessons on Saturday mornings as they are fully booked during the week, and he will start after autumn half term. I hope it’s going to be early on Saturdays so we can still go skiing for the day in the winter (priorities !!). No matter, the important thing is that they’ve found them spaces. I want them to both join the junior choir too, but J is resisting, so I think I will have to ask for some help from musical friends with that one.
I’m relieved that it’s an uneventful week at last.
But C is still feeling a bit rough so we don’t go and visit. Maybe next year……
Tuesday they are back to school, and C is much improved. He starts to bring home homework that he can’t understand, which is frustrating. We’ve told them both repeatedly that they should ask the teacher if they don’t understand (and J does this happily), but I think C lacks the confidence to do this. I hope this doesn’t go on too long, as I’m really struggling to understand it myself at times ;)
The Director (Leitung) of the Musik Schule rings later in the week with news of the boys’ lessons. He is very charming and repeatedly asks me if I understand throughout the conversation – I think so……
C starts piano on Monday at school. J will have to have guitar lessons on Saturday mornings as they are fully booked during the week, and he will start after autumn half term. I hope it’s going to be early on Saturdays so we can still go skiing for the day in the winter (priorities !!). No matter, the important thing is that they’ve found them spaces. I want them to both join the junior choir too, but J is resisting, so I think I will have to ask for some help from musical friends with that one.
I’m relieved that it’s an uneventful week at last.
Week 4 Friday - C's latest tumble
Friday sees C lose his grip on the witch’s hat roundabout thing on the playground and fall off at speed, badly ripping the inside of his bottom lip in the process. Add to this a nosebleed and cut finger – and he’s a bit of a mess.
His Friday teacher rings me at 2.40pm and I dash down to school, without phone, purse or key for J (note to self – don’t do that again).
He’s badly shaken - as is his teacher since she’s been the one to clean up most of the blood - and I gather him up to take him …. where ? Hospital ? Nurse ? I haven’t the faintest idea what to do, quite honestly, this is the first time we’ve had an accident here.
His teacher – after explaining to me in English that it’s up to our insurance to pay for any costs incurred by this – recommends that we pay a visit to the Kinder doctor in the village. Luckily this is where we had the boys' tick jabs done earlier in the week, so they know us. On the way out of school I stop by J’s classroom and tell him to go home and wait on the doorstep for us as I’ve not brought a key for him (see note to self above)
We wait for about 20 minutes - I love Swiss healthcare - and the doctor says there’s no point going to hospital as they can’t stitch it where the flesh is torn. But it’s a real mess, and he’s lucky he didn’t lose any teeth. She prescribes some peroxide solution - I think - to clean round the wound after every time he’s eaten, and says he needs a weekend in bed and all his food liquidised.
So I get him home, then, as I hadn’t taken my purse first time round (see note to self – again), have to go out again to get the prescription made up and some soup ingredients. I’m not sure how we go about the prescription thing, but hand over the docket and am given the bottle in return. How to pay ? They take C’s health card and swipe it like a credit/debit card, so the cost goes directly to the health insurance. Whizzy, eh.
Luckily the weather is filthy, so a weekend on the sofa watching telly is all any of us feel like, and by Tuesday the next week he’s much better, poor little lamb.
His Friday teacher rings me at 2.40pm and I dash down to school, without phone, purse or key for J (note to self – don’t do that again).
He’s badly shaken - as is his teacher since she’s been the one to clean up most of the blood - and I gather him up to take him …. where ? Hospital ? Nurse ? I haven’t the faintest idea what to do, quite honestly, this is the first time we’ve had an accident here.
His teacher – after explaining to me in English that it’s up to our insurance to pay for any costs incurred by this – recommends that we pay a visit to the Kinder doctor in the village. Luckily this is where we had the boys' tick jabs done earlier in the week, so they know us. On the way out of school I stop by J’s classroom and tell him to go home and wait on the doorstep for us as I’ve not brought a key for him (see note to self above)
We wait for about 20 minutes - I love Swiss healthcare - and the doctor says there’s no point going to hospital as they can’t stitch it where the flesh is torn. But it’s a real mess, and he’s lucky he didn’t lose any teeth. She prescribes some peroxide solution - I think - to clean round the wound after every time he’s eaten, and says he needs a weekend in bed and all his food liquidised.
So I get him home, then, as I hadn’t taken my purse first time round (see note to self – again), have to go out again to get the prescription made up and some soup ingredients. I’m not sure how we go about the prescription thing, but hand over the docket and am given the bottle in return. How to pay ? They take C’s health card and swipe it like a credit/debit card, so the cost goes directly to the health insurance. Whizzy, eh.
Luckily the weather is filthy, so a weekend on the sofa watching telly is all any of us feel like, and by Tuesday the next week he’s much better, poor little lamb.
Week 4 - Monday to Thursday
Not a huge amount to report this week…….
Got the first tick jabs done. For more information about this, please see http://www.englishforum.ch/family-matters-health/27647-ticks-forest-vaccination.html
It’s quite scary really, and I’m a bit alarmed that it took nearly a year of us being here and taking full advantage of the outdoors lifestyle before I found out about it – it would help if new residents were made aware of the dangers when they register, particularly as Kanton Zurich is rife with the little sods.
The problem seems to be that if you are asked if you’ve had all your jabs, then the answer is yes – because you probably have, but if you’ve lived in a non-tick problem country (like England) then you won’t have had this particular jab, therefore exposing yourself to risk, unwittingly. When I explained to both doctors receptionists here that we needed the tick inoculation course because we don’t have this problem in the UK, they both looked completely baffled – but then I’m not sure if that was the whole concept or just my German…..
Anyway, we’re on the case now. It’s the first jab now, another one in a month’s time and the final one about 9-12 months after that.
J gets a letter saying he’ll have 2 extra Deutsch lessons per week – his teacher has already told us that she doesn’t want him removed from the class for a large amount of time as if they did that would be difficult for him to keep up. He seems happy enough with his allocation, anyway.
J also starts to stay after school for a couple of reasons – the first being when he’s not finished a task in the time allotted during class and needs to finish it ….. and the second being when his teacher says they are allowed to stay on to do their homework until 4pm. They did mention wanting to start a homework club at the school during the brain-ache parents meeting in the second week, but I don’t think this is it, and I ain’t volunteering to help with that one.
The work that J brings home (Grade 4) is about the same level as the stuff he was doing last year in the international school, and is very structured. But they are seriously hot on presenting the work beautifully – which he needs to work on ;) and there is a great deal of it.
The work that C is bringing home (Grade 2) is also about the same level [or slightly easier – if your mother tongue is German ;)] and, again is very structured. I have no problem with this: from what I can see, they all catch up in the end, and at least my children have an opportunity for a little breathing space to get to grips with the language before they are accelerated again. After all, the language learning itself accelerates them.
Got the first tick jabs done. For more information about this, please see http://www.englishforum.ch/family-matters-health/27647-ticks-forest-vaccination.html
It’s quite scary really, and I’m a bit alarmed that it took nearly a year of us being here and taking full advantage of the outdoors lifestyle before I found out about it – it would help if new residents were made aware of the dangers when they register, particularly as Kanton Zurich is rife with the little sods.
The problem seems to be that if you are asked if you’ve had all your jabs, then the answer is yes – because you probably have, but if you’ve lived in a non-tick problem country (like England) then you won’t have had this particular jab, therefore exposing yourself to risk, unwittingly. When I explained to both doctors receptionists here that we needed the tick inoculation course because we don’t have this problem in the UK, they both looked completely baffled – but then I’m not sure if that was the whole concept or just my German…..
Anyway, we’re on the case now. It’s the first jab now, another one in a month’s time and the final one about 9-12 months after that.
J gets a letter saying he’ll have 2 extra Deutsch lessons per week – his teacher has already told us that she doesn’t want him removed from the class for a large amount of time as if they did that would be difficult for him to keep up. He seems happy enough with his allocation, anyway.
J also starts to stay after school for a couple of reasons – the first being when he’s not finished a task in the time allotted during class and needs to finish it ….. and the second being when his teacher says they are allowed to stay on to do their homework until 4pm. They did mention wanting to start a homework club at the school during the brain-ache parents meeting in the second week, but I don’t think this is it, and I ain’t volunteering to help with that one.
The work that J brings home (Grade 4) is about the same level as the stuff he was doing last year in the international school, and is very structured. But they are seriously hot on presenting the work beautifully – which he needs to work on ;) and there is a great deal of it.
The work that C is bringing home (Grade 2) is also about the same level [or slightly easier – if your mother tongue is German ;)] and, again is very structured. I have no problem with this: from what I can see, they all catch up in the end, and at least my children have an opportunity for a little breathing space to get to grips with the language before they are accelerated again. After all, the language learning itself accelerates them.
Thursday 4th September - pillars r us
I’ve spent the week running round trying to make appointments. My phone German is rubbish, and I find it much easier to communicate face to face. I need to book appointments for the tick vaccination for both the children and us (more later), I need to try to find some music teachers for the children, and I need to book a dentist appointment for the children.
So I spend my time and energy going between doctors, kinder doctors, dentists and the music school, smiling and engaging eye contact, apologising sweetly for rubbish German and gesticulating wildly. I must be known round here as that loony English woman.
By Thursday I’ve managed to book the first in a series of three jabs for us all inoculating against the disease spread by ticks in the forests (good) and the dentists appointments for the children. Fantastic ! I can speak German ! I’m not completely stupid ! In my disproportionate euphoria at my small achievements I completely forget about the pillar in my blind spot where I’ve parked the car in the underground car park, and trash the passenger door and wing mirror. Again. For the second time in 8 months. Perhaps I am completely stupid. I manage to get home without any more incidents but take myself off to bed, bawling uncontrollably.
Later in the day I force myself to go to the Gemeinde musik schule and try to book lessons for the boys – I feel I have to, since the Leitung is only in the office for 3 2 hour sessions per week and if I don’t do it today I can’t get there until next Tuesday. Back to smiling like a madwoman and gesticulating wildly, but we understand each other, and he’ll ring me back when he’s found some slots for them.
Home, for a stiff gin. It’s a bloody rollercoaster, this life abroad business.
So I spend my time and energy going between doctors, kinder doctors, dentists and the music school, smiling and engaging eye contact, apologising sweetly for rubbish German and gesticulating wildly. I must be known round here as that loony English woman.
By Thursday I’ve managed to book the first in a series of three jabs for us all inoculating against the disease spread by ticks in the forests (good) and the dentists appointments for the children. Fantastic ! I can speak German ! I’m not completely stupid ! In my disproportionate euphoria at my small achievements I completely forget about the pillar in my blind spot where I’ve parked the car in the underground car park, and trash the passenger door and wing mirror. Again. For the second time in 8 months. Perhaps I am completely stupid. I manage to get home without any more incidents but take myself off to bed, bawling uncontrollably.
Later in the day I force myself to go to the Gemeinde musik schule and try to book lessons for the boys – I feel I have to, since the Leitung is only in the office for 3 2 hour sessions per week and if I don’t do it today I can’t get there until next Tuesday. Back to smiling like a madwoman and gesticulating wildly, but we understand each other, and he’ll ring me back when he’s found some slots for them.
Home, for a stiff gin. It’s a bloody rollercoaster, this life abroad business.
Wednesday 3rd September - lunchtime play
The boys decide they want to get back to school as soon as possible after they’ve finished their lunch and lunchtime homework, for play time. I don’t know if this is OK or not – are there other people to play with that early, or do most people come back in time for 1.25pm ?
I bike back with them one day to see, and they’re right – of course. There are several children in the playground. I’m just not sure if they are supervised.
The Klasse 4 proper rules and homework now start, and J is coming home with 3 or 4 pieces per night, 6-7 on a Friday, and up to 20 pages of a reading book in German each night. This is a bit of a struggle, as I’m trying to get him to do the homework in the kitchen in case he needs any help with it. But it’s difficult for him to concentrate and I find it very frustrating sitting down for so long watching him or being asked questions that I can’t – or shouldn’t answer, when I could be doing something else (like cooking - or blogging).
I bike back with them one day to see, and they’re right – of course. There are several children in the playground. I’m just not sure if they are supervised.
The Klasse 4 proper rules and homework now start, and J is coming home with 3 or 4 pieces per night, 6-7 on a Friday, and up to 20 pages of a reading book in German each night. This is a bit of a struggle, as I’m trying to get him to do the homework in the kitchen in case he needs any help with it. But it’s difficult for him to concentrate and I find it very frustrating sitting down for so long watching him or being asked questions that I can’t – or shouldn’t answer, when I could be doing something else (like cooking - or blogging).
Tuesday 2nd September - the naughty board mark II
Tuesday morning sees J getting back on the naughty board……. albeit with about half the class. He had stopped to talk to a chum at the adjacent school on the way in, and, having left the house in plenty of time, had made himself late. So this is what they mean about being strict with punctuality (but at least he’s not alone).
I’m not sure what to make of this naughty board business – it seems like negative reinforcement of bad behaviour, but on the other hand, punctuality is an important discipline both in school and the workplace. Let’s be honest, the majority of J’s class will be in the work place in 6 years, and no one ever got a gold star for turning up to the office on time.
I’m beginning to wonder if we should keep a supply of finished, nice colourful pictures, to give to the teacher to get J off the naughty board, but then realise that perhaps that’s giving J the wrong message…….!
Another nice colourful picture, and he’s off it again, with a vow to leave the house 15 minutes earlier in the mornings. Phew.
I’m not sure what to make of this naughty board business – it seems like negative reinforcement of bad behaviour, but on the other hand, punctuality is an important discipline both in school and the workplace. Let’s be honest, the majority of J’s class will be in the work place in 6 years, and no one ever got a gold star for turning up to the office on time.
I’m beginning to wonder if we should keep a supply of finished, nice colourful pictures, to give to the teacher to get J off the naughty board, but then realise that perhaps that’s giving J the wrong message…….!
Another nice colourful picture, and he’s off it again, with a vow to leave the house 15 minutes earlier in the mornings. Phew.
Monday 1st September - the naughty board...
J has spent some of the weekend doing homework and drawing a nice picture to give to his teacher to get himself off the naughty board (they have to draw a nice colourful picture or sing a song in front of the whole class to get off the board).
He was on it because he had managed to get in the way of some loose gym equipment during sport lesson, which he then tried to prop up, but the teacher thought he was messing about. It wasn’t his fault, he said. But he knows to stay away from loose gym equipment now.
Anyway, he’s in the clear again, for now. He loses his watch after sport and doesn’t realise for a couple of hours, by which time he’s at home. I’m not best pleased with this really, but he manages to get it back from the sportshalle in the afternoon - at least it's not disappeared.
He was on it because he had managed to get in the way of some loose gym equipment during sport lesson, which he then tried to prop up, but the teacher thought he was messing about. It wasn’t his fault, he said. But he knows to stay away from loose gym equipment now.
Anyway, he’s in the clear again, for now. He loses his watch after sport and doesn’t realise for a couple of hours, by which time he’s at home. I’m not best pleased with this really, but he manages to get it back from the sportshalle in the afternoon - at least it's not disappeared.
Friday 29th August - a bad start
Still feeling a bit unsettled by the parent’s evening, I send the boys off to school, complete with their empty letter envelopes. I’ve struggled through the letters now, with the aid of a dictionary.
At 8.15am the phone goes, C’s voice on the end:
“Mum, why didn’t you send back the letters ?”
“Because I think I’m supposed to keep them”.
“Mum, why didn’t you send in my swimming things ?”
“Because it’s not your swimming day. That’s next week”.
(this whole conversation repeats about 3 times, by which time I’m wondering if I am on the same planet as C.)
“Mum, teacher says I have to come home at 11am this morning”
“WHY ? You can’t, I’m going into Zurich for a meeting !” (This was true) “OK, I’m coming down, you’ll need a key”.
We had tried to get additional keys cut for the boys in case of emergencies in the summer, but were unable to without a letter of authority from our landlady. Unfortunately this won’t be possible for quite a while since she’s been on a boat somewhere in the Med since April and won't be back til Christmas…….. and I don’t want to risk sending them in with a key every day in case it gets lost – quite possible, knowing my children.
So I bike down to school at top speed, with a key to give to C, and interrupt his lesson, apologising to his teacher. His Friday teacher (team teaching) explains in rapid and stern German that I’ve sent him in at the wrong time and so he’ll have to come home at 11.00am, as they split the class on Fridays for English lessons, and he should have come at 9.00am, not 8.15am. I’m still feeling very fragile after last night, and I burst into tears - how on earth was I supposed to know that ? It’s not on the timetable (not comprehensible anyway). He wasn't in school last Friday as he was busy throwing up the off milk I'd made him drink....
She takes pity on me and I explain that I won’t be in at 11am as I have a meeting in Zurich. She softens considerably and starts speaking English (thank God). C’s half of the class start at 9am on a Friday and come home at 11.50am – the usual time. The other half of the class start at 8.15am on a Friday and come home at 11am, and I had – unwittingly – sent him in for the early session. She reassures me that she won’t send a child home if she knows there’s no-one in, and says that C can stay for the rest of the morning. Phew.
At the end of the day J comes home with the news that he’s been to the Gemeinde library. They had had a trip there during the afternoon, to show them where it is and what’s available. His Friday teacher (team teaching again) has told them that they can go and do their homework in the library after school if they want to. That’s fine, but it’s in the opposite direction to home, so J is happy to come home to do it. He’s still doing his homework at the kitchen table – for now.
At 8.15am the phone goes, C’s voice on the end:
“Mum, why didn’t you send back the letters ?”
“Because I think I’m supposed to keep them”.
“Mum, why didn’t you send in my swimming things ?”
“Because it’s not your swimming day. That’s next week”.
(this whole conversation repeats about 3 times, by which time I’m wondering if I am on the same planet as C.)
“Mum, teacher says I have to come home at 11am this morning”
“WHY ? You can’t, I’m going into Zurich for a meeting !” (This was true) “OK, I’m coming down, you’ll need a key”.
We had tried to get additional keys cut for the boys in case of emergencies in the summer, but were unable to without a letter of authority from our landlady. Unfortunately this won’t be possible for quite a while since she’s been on a boat somewhere in the Med since April and won't be back til Christmas…….. and I don’t want to risk sending them in with a key every day in case it gets lost – quite possible, knowing my children.
So I bike down to school at top speed, with a key to give to C, and interrupt his lesson, apologising to his teacher. His Friday teacher (team teaching) explains in rapid and stern German that I’ve sent him in at the wrong time and so he’ll have to come home at 11.00am, as they split the class on Fridays for English lessons, and he should have come at 9.00am, not 8.15am. I’m still feeling very fragile after last night, and I burst into tears - how on earth was I supposed to know that ? It’s not on the timetable (not comprehensible anyway). He wasn't in school last Friday as he was busy throwing up the off milk I'd made him drink....
She takes pity on me and I explain that I won’t be in at 11am as I have a meeting in Zurich. She softens considerably and starts speaking English (thank God). C’s half of the class start at 9am on a Friday and come home at 11.50am – the usual time. The other half of the class start at 8.15am on a Friday and come home at 11am, and I had – unwittingly – sent him in for the early session. She reassures me that she won’t send a child home if she knows there’s no-one in, and says that C can stay for the rest of the morning. Phew.
At the end of the day J comes home with the news that he’s been to the Gemeinde library. They had had a trip there during the afternoon, to show them where it is and what’s available. His Friday teacher (team teaching again) has told them that they can go and do their homework in the library after school if they want to. That’s fine, but it’s in the opposite direction to home, so J is happy to come home to do it. He’s still doing his homework at the kitchen table – for now.
Thursday 27th August - Elternabend and handarbeit
Thursday of this week sees our first Elternabend, for Klasse 4 – J’s class. Good grief it’s hard work – 2.5 hours of trying to listen and understand Deutsch. But the teachers are very friendly and helpful, and so are the other parents. It is not an individual appointment with the teachers, but a group session in the main hall (the Singsaal) for all the Klasse 4 parents and teachers in the two adjacent schools, followed by another group session for our particular Klasse, in J’s classroom.
There is a long presentation on the value of handarbeit (handwork – sewing, woodwork, metalwork etc) which seems to be regarded as a vital subject, for numerous reasons – social, language, group working, motor skills. I reckon this is where the Swiss tradition of hand skills and precision engineering is cultivated. There is a slide show which begins with a slide that says (in German, obviously): Parents, don’t worry. The Ark was made by amateurs, but the Titanic was made by professionals. And then some truly scary pictures of children the same age as J holding power tools. My previous week’s fears about sewing machines now pale into insignificance: J with a jigsaw ? I’ll just book him a bed at the kinderspital now, shall I ? My fears are not helped by the handarbeit teacher explaining that they now have a policy of working with a group of a maximum of 2 children per adult at any one time, as one child severed a finger last year. I think this is supposed to be reassuring, but for me, coming from health and safety conscious UK, it’s a whole new world of potential bad dreams.
Over to the classroom, where the teacher gives us a slideshow presentation of the childen, with words the children have prepared in class (“I come from Albania, my name is X, I like football etc”). Interestingly, there is a big range of nationalities in the class – about 50% Swiss but also several eastern Europeans, 3 or 4 Italians, couple of French, couple of Turks. Oh, and J ! The teacher says that she will speak to us in English at the end, but for the moment we must listen for the evening in German, so we can empathise with how it is for J each day. Fair enough.
We have heard that the jump between Grades 1-3 and Grades 4-6 in Swiss schools is massive, in terms of difficulty of work and stepping up a level with the work discipline: the main teacher reiterates and rams home this message by explaining a number of things:
How the naughty board works. (J’s name is on the first level of the board - funnily enough, he’s not mentioned this….!)
Expectations of presentation of work (ie scruffy work will not be tolerated, and will be sent home to be re-done)
Strict behaviour rules in the classroom
Strict punctuality expectations
There is even a picture on the board dictating how the undershelf of their desks should be organised – ie which books where, in which order. Scary stuff.
Evidently the new rules and homework volume haven’t yet been implemented – they have had the first fortnight to get used to each other and the new environment. The new level starts properly next Monday.
There are probably other things but after 1.5 hours I’ve lost it completely with the level of the German and am gibbering silently to myself in horror. What the hell have we done ? Our poor children, they must feel like this every day. I feel flattened.
The evening ends with some snacks and drinks and chatting to other parents, and the teachers, who are lovely and speak to us in English. Several parents make the effort to come and say hello to us and chat in English if they can, which is really very nice and accommodating, and I am again embarrassed by the poor level of my German.
We get home at 10.00pm, exhausted.
Wednesday 27th August - and now the letters start......
Now the letters in German from school start. The school has a good system of an envelope for each child, with a tick box on the front. So what happens is that letters from school come home in the envelope marked up (ie number and type of letters included), and the parent signs the envelope to say it’s been received, and then the envelope goes back to school, ready for next time.
How sensible is that ? Perhaps, more to the point, how obvious is that ? But we’ve experienced 4 schools now (2 in the UK and one private one in CH) and this is the first one with such a system.
J is thrilled to get his fountain pen from his teacher. I had asked at the Besuchermorgen back in June if he would need one, and if so, where I could lay my hands on a left handed one. She had confirmed that they start to use a fountain pen (a Fulli) in Grade 4 and kindly offered to order one for him. It's arrived - there's no stopping him now - and ink all over the place.....
How sensible is that ? Perhaps, more to the point, how obvious is that ? But we’ve experienced 4 schools now (2 in the UK and one private one in CH) and this is the first one with such a system.
J is thrilled to get his fountain pen from his teacher. I had asked at the Besuchermorgen back in June if he would need one, and if so, where I could lay my hands on a left handed one. She had confirmed that they start to use a fountain pen (a Fulli) in Grade 4 and kindly offered to order one for him. It's arrived - there's no stopping him now - and ink all over the place.....
Tuesday 26th August
Tuesday sees an improvement in C’s German already. I’m quite amazed by this. He is in Grade 2 and his maths homework is a full A4 page of numbers written out in full in German (achtundfunfzig etc) to match with the numerals. This might not sound very exciting, but I can see how it teaches them on different levels – language and numeracy at the same time.
Perhaps this something you don’t realise until you can see how it works when your child is being taught in a foreign language. Or perhaps I’ve had my eyes shut for the last 6 years (which is quite possible).
Perhaps this something you don’t realise until you can see how it works when your child is being taught in a foreign language. Or perhaps I’ve had my eyes shut for the last 6 years (which is quite possible).
Monday 25th August
C had had his assessment during the first week for how much extra German he’ll get – he had come home at one point very pleased, because his teacher had marked him A* for this. Positive reinforcement !
His teacher rings me at lunchtime to let me know that he will get 6 hours extra tuition per week, and she’ll tell him where to go and when. I’m amazed, and delighted. I repeat this back to her several times (!) and there doesn’t seem to be any misunderstanding. Wow.
J is still waiting for his assessment, but this isn’t a problem for us as we have an elternabend scheduled this week so we should be able to talk about it then.
I’ve decided that we need to rethink the homework routine, as it’s a lot of hard physical work scooting back and forth twice a day with the backpacks. So at lunchtimes we do music practise and English reading, writing and spellings from their extra English course at the WAC in Uster.
What this also means is that they can leave the backpacks at school over lunchtime as everything they need for that time slot is in the house.
His teacher rings me at lunchtime to let me know that he will get 6 hours extra tuition per week, and she’ll tell him where to go and when. I’m amazed, and delighted. I repeat this back to her several times (!) and there doesn’t seem to be any misunderstanding. Wow.
J is still waiting for his assessment, but this isn’t a problem for us as we have an elternabend scheduled this week so we should be able to talk about it then.
I’ve decided that we need to rethink the homework routine, as it’s a lot of hard physical work scooting back and forth twice a day with the backpacks. So at lunchtimes we do music practise and English reading, writing and spellings from their extra English course at the WAC in Uster.
What this also means is that they can leave the backpacks at school over lunchtime as everything they need for that time slot is in the house.
Friday 22nd August - vomit.......
Friday begins with C vomiting his entire breakfast immediately after consuming it, and at exactly the time when they should be leaving the house. So I panic (gah, what do I do, don’t know what to do, can’t ring up school as can’t speak Deutsch, smell of vomit so can’t leave house and run down to school to explain etc etc). So I clean up C (lovely) and pack him off back to bed, pack J off to school, giving him instructions to go straight to C’s classroom and explain to his teacher that C is sick before going to his own class. J has no idea where C’s classroom is – ideal - but he is a relatively sensible lad so I trust him and off he goes.
C spends about 30 minutes in bed then gets up and mopes about. He seems fine and I realise that I had unwittingly made him drink milk that had gone off, so no surprises that he had chucked up the whole lot.
J is home for lunch, and tells me that he couldn’t get to C’s classroom to pass on the message, but he had telephoned from his classroom to C’s. What sophistication !! Telephones in the classrooms !! Whatever next !
C manages a decent lunch so, obviously, gets sent back to school in the afternoon, though he does look very wobbly on his bike with his backpack, and I wonder if the whole bike / backpack thing is wise.
At 3.30pm the front door is flung open with a dramatic flourish and J yelling “quick Mum, C’s had an accident on his bike”. Heart in my mouth, I race down to school to find C outside, with his bike. He has collided with a secondary school pupil coming up the road in the opposite direction to him as he was trying to get his balance, and they both ended up in a heap on the ground, with C’s bike now refusing to budge, despite looking perfectly operational. There is a crowd of about 6 people, from both schools, waiting for me to get there. I’m not sure whether they are waiting for C to apologise or to collect insurance details from me, but they seem genuinely concerned that C is OK before disappearing. He’s fine. We get the bike home after some considerable palaver, and J goes off for a sleepover at his old friend’s house – some necessary light relief for the poor boy after the first week.
Alas, this turns out to be not such a great idea when J’s too knackered to do his homework on Saturday and then struggles to do it on Sunday. I really want him to keep up with his international school friends (for numerous reasons benefiting him but also benefiting me: their mums are my drinking pals and I love ‘em to bits) but he seems to be getting a lot more homework than them and he’s more tired - because he’s being taught in German. So I’ll have to think about how we can manage to help him see his chums without the inevitable exhausted tears on the Sunday night when the homework still isn’t finished and he’s all but cross eyed.
The upside of the first week is that C has already been invited to a party. The downside is that I have to ring up the invitee’s mother, in German, to reply. However, the other family have taken the time and trouble to translate the entire invitation into English (good grief, how warm a welcome is that ?) so I chicken out and ask “sprechen Sie Englisch ?” on the phone, to the inevitable response “ yes, a little”. A conversation in fluent English then follows - much to my very English embarrassment at my lack of language confidence.
Oh, and the second upside to the first week is that OH manages to fix C’s bike. Hurrah. But I’ve decided that it’s too risky and they will scoot for the time being.
The second downside is that C still hasn’t worked out where the toilets are in school……… as all his classmates already know. I keep telling him to ask, but he won’t. Grrrrr.
C spends about 30 minutes in bed then gets up and mopes about. He seems fine and I realise that I had unwittingly made him drink milk that had gone off, so no surprises that he had chucked up the whole lot.
J is home for lunch, and tells me that he couldn’t get to C’s classroom to pass on the message, but he had telephoned from his classroom to C’s. What sophistication !! Telephones in the classrooms !! Whatever next !
C manages a decent lunch so, obviously, gets sent back to school in the afternoon, though he does look very wobbly on his bike with his backpack, and I wonder if the whole bike / backpack thing is wise.
At 3.30pm the front door is flung open with a dramatic flourish and J yelling “quick Mum, C’s had an accident on his bike”. Heart in my mouth, I race down to school to find C outside, with his bike. He has collided with a secondary school pupil coming up the road in the opposite direction to him as he was trying to get his balance, and they both ended up in a heap on the ground, with C’s bike now refusing to budge, despite looking perfectly operational. There is a crowd of about 6 people, from both schools, waiting for me to get there. I’m not sure whether they are waiting for C to apologise or to collect insurance details from me, but they seem genuinely concerned that C is OK before disappearing. He’s fine. We get the bike home after some considerable palaver, and J goes off for a sleepover at his old friend’s house – some necessary light relief for the poor boy after the first week.
Alas, this turns out to be not such a great idea when J’s too knackered to do his homework on Saturday and then struggles to do it on Sunday. I really want him to keep up with his international school friends (for numerous reasons benefiting him but also benefiting me: their mums are my drinking pals and I love ‘em to bits) but he seems to be getting a lot more homework than them and he’s more tired - because he’s being taught in German. So I’ll have to think about how we can manage to help him see his chums without the inevitable exhausted tears on the Sunday night when the homework still isn’t finished and he’s all but cross eyed.
The upside of the first week is that C has already been invited to a party. The downside is that I have to ring up the invitee’s mother, in German, to reply. However, the other family have taken the time and trouble to translate the entire invitation into English (good grief, how warm a welcome is that ?) so I chicken out and ask “sprechen Sie Englisch ?” on the phone, to the inevitable response “ yes, a little”. A conversation in fluent English then follows - much to my very English embarrassment at my lack of language confidence.
Oh, and the second upside to the first week is that OH manages to fix C’s bike. Hurrah. But I’ve decided that it’s too risky and they will scoot for the time being.
The second downside is that C still hasn’t worked out where the toilets are in school……… as all his classmates already know. I keep telling him to ask, but he won’t. Grrrrr.
Thursday 21st August - Swiss Rules
J comes home telling me what he has been doing : agreeing the class rules of behaviour.
They all agreed these together, as a class. This is clearly a bit of positive psychology on the part of the teacher, and I perceive it as indoctrination of Swiss behaviour / rules / mutual agreement at the earliest stage, but it’s rather good, n’est-ce pas ? What can be more satisfying than being 9 years old and being able to determine your own rules of behaviour (I’m sure there must have been numerous prompts by the teacher but at least the class feel that they decided their rules rather than having someone else tell them. Ya boo sucks, rest of the world. Sound familiar ? Swiss, perhaps ?).
They all agreed these together, as a class. This is clearly a bit of positive psychology on the part of the teacher, and I perceive it as indoctrination of Swiss behaviour / rules / mutual agreement at the earliest stage, but it’s rather good, n’est-ce pas ? What can be more satisfying than being 9 years old and being able to determine your own rules of behaviour (I’m sure there must have been numerous prompts by the teacher but at least the class feel that they decided their rules rather than having someone else tell them. Ya boo sucks, rest of the world. Sound familiar ? Swiss, perhaps ?).
Wednesday 20th August. Handarbeit - a prologue....
Oh. My. Gosh.
J comes home raving about how excited he is to be using a sewing machine. A sewing machine !!! Heaven help us, this is the child who doesn’t know his own strength, nor the meaning of "STOP ! YOU ARE ABOUT TO SHRED YOUR FINGER!"
I am hyperventilating at the thought of A & E already.
J comes home raving about how excited he is to be using a sewing machine. A sewing machine !!! Heaven help us, this is the child who doesn’t know his own strength, nor the meaning of "STOP ! YOU ARE ABOUT TO SHRED YOUR FINGER!"
I am hyperventilating at the thought of A & E already.
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