What the ...?

The British have a different way of saying things, different expressions, terminology, accent and so on. I'm cool with that and enjoy learning new ways to use English. The following came home with Emily from Preschool a few days back.


I read it once, and laughed. I read it again and laughed so hard, I almost had to go upstairs and change into my spare pair of underwear.

1. Spare underwear? I have spare cans of tomato soup that I wouldn't mind sharing with someone. I'm not bothered if my neighbor comes over to ask for a cup of sugar...but underwear? First, why does anyone have a stockpile of unused underwear lying around? Second, if it is not new- why would the school want or accept it? I've gone to a lot of charity shops, but never seen an underwear rack.

"Let's see, I've only worn these a few times, I'm sure the kids will love 'em!"

"So what did you do at school today Emily?" 'We played dress up.'
"Really?" 'Yep, We all stripped down and tried on underwear from the dress up box...'

2. Maybe it's not for the kids? It didn't specify the size required. I can only hope it is not a horrible perk provided to the workers. "Well, no raise again this year, but did get a 6-pack of underwear. Hey, this pair looks almost new!"

3. Perhaps this underwear is to have on hand for inevitable accidents that little kids have. But don't people wash and return the 'loaner undies'.? (Although our children have required them at times, just writing the words 'loaner undies' makes me shiver). So why is the school running short?

"Look what I got at school today! They gave us each an apple and a pair of fairy underwear. This pair is even still stretchy!"

This notice from school brought much joy and laughter to our home, hopefully it does to yours as well. And next time you are ready to throw out some old undies, think of all the uses they may have... for your local preschool anyway.

My family ate my homework.

Amy's homework assignment this weekend was to make something using a kitchen scale.  A suggested recipe for "flapjacks" came home from school, but there was also the option for her to choose her own recipe. I got out our copy of "30 Things to Make and Eat" from the Usborne book series and Amy chose "Sticky Chocolate Cake" for her project: 

Two things really amazed me about this project:

1. My 6-year-old is incredibly bright and capable - she can read a recipe, follow instructions, measure ingredients, wash dishes, and make a cake with nothing but a little supervision.

2. Looking at all these photos, she is so beautiful, isn't she?

PS - the cake tasted yummy too.  Really yummy.

Dinosaur Dig

Yesterday I enjoyed another school assembly in which Amy's Year 2 class presented the various topics they have been studying this term. Amy's group told us about their topic on Dinosaurs and their Archaeology Day when they came to school dressed as archaeologists and went hunting for dino eggs in the garden. They pretended the "Mummy" (mother) dinosaurs were watching so they had to be very sneaky when collecting the eggs. Once they had each found an egg, they took it back to their "laboratory" (classroom) and carefully cracked open the hard shells. Then, each child used reference books from the library to research the particular dinosaur they had found and write up a fact sheet about it.Also, as part of Archaeology Day, the children got to dig in sand tables and collect pieces of broken pottery, then try to assemble them like a 3-D puzzle. The children reported that it was very challenging but fun.

You may notice many silly hats in the audience. This is because it was also "Hats for Haiti" day. The children each donated some pocket money in order to wear a hat to school. The goal was to raise at least 200 GBP in order to purchase a Play Kit to send to children that are coping with the post-earthquake crisis in Haiti. As an added reward, the head teacher offered an extended playtime - 30 minutes instead of 15 - if the children met their goal.In actuality, the school raised double their goal amount! So the children were very excited to be able to send two play kits to Haiti (though they were disappointed Mr. Green didn't give them a double-double amount of playtime...)

The final part of the assembly involved a quiz about dinosaurs that the children had created on their own. I must admit, some of the questions were quite tricky!

And finally, what fun would primary school be without a good tune to wrap things up?

Of course Amy loved the dinosaur/archaeology topic. She has been fascinated with dinosaurs since she was about 2 years old. As for other topics they are currently focusing on:

"Literacy": they are working on improving their writing of paragraphs and stories, including lots of adjectives and connectors. Stories need a beginning, middle and end and are most interesting when they present a problem or conflict that has an eventual resolution.

"Maths": multiplication tables, and how to write number sentences to fit natural "arrays" we discover in real life

Science and History, of course, has been focusing on the dinosaurs/archaeology.

RE (Religious Education): Christianity (they just finished a lengthy study of Judaism).

We are really pleased with the progress that these little ones are making and very happy that Amy enjoys her school and has fabulous teachers/staff that provide plenty of great opportunities for learning and growth. It's always fun to see what the kids have been up to at school...

Mr. Scrooge and the Swingin' 60's

The Primary School youngsters presented their annual Christmas Nativity and seasonal-themed play - "Mr. Scrooge - Yeah, Yeah!" - a 1960s rock 'n' roll musical variation of the old classic "A Christmas Carol."  It yielded all the must-have characteristics of good elementary musical theatre including home-made costumes, witty narrators (Amy & Euan), dancing, as well as dramatic (and sometimes unscripted) dialogue.  The combination made for a good time for all and was another delightful way to celebrate the marvelous Christmas season.  Well done, kiddos!

                                                                  

Career Day

The last day of school before half-term break was "Career Day." The children were invited to dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. Amy wants to be a librarian someday. She chose her outfit all on her own and Mom made her a Peterborough Public Library name tag. Dad contributed the frames from his old glasses.This event served as a fundraiser for the school as well. The children were asked to pay 50p in order to come in non-uniform clothes.

Sneak Peek at Year 2

School assemblies have a different meaning in the UK than they do in America. Here, it is a presentation that each class (grade) puts on to demonstrate the topics and skills they have been mastering during the recent term. It is a fabulous opportunity for both parents and students. The children get to participate in public speaking and showcase their accomplishments; the parents get regular insights into the progress their children are making at school. It is a brilliant idea and hopefully something that could eventually catch on in the USA.

Today was the Year 2 fall term assembly and Amy presented a short write-up about her experience opening the new school library with the Headmaster, Mr. Green:

Amy is currently interested in becoming a librarian when she grows up and was chosen to be the class librarian at school. She is responsible for re-shelving books in the correct place and making sure everything is neat and tidy. In the video posted above, she briefly described the colour-coding system they use. Some mornings, Amy also gets to work at the circulation computer, scanning the barcodes on books that children have borrowed the previous day.

Next, we have the class dance - one that they created themselves (with some help from the P.E. teacher). They even chose the music themselves.

Near the end, we were treated to a little demonstration of a "maths" game that they like to do. As you will see in the video clip below, there is a number drawn inside an 'egg.' Team leaders choose children to come up and create mathematical equations that equal to that number. In this case, the number was 20.

If a child creates an equation using addition, it = 1 point; subraction = 2 points and muliplication = 3 points. If the opposing team uses the same equation, they cancel out (like in the game Boggle) and no points are awarded. The teacher plays music for 1 minute whilst the children come up with equations, then they cancel out the duplicate equations and tally up the total points.

Amy's team won in this demonstration and although her equation was quite simple mathematically (20 x 1 = 20), it was quite clever and wasn't duplicated, so she earned 3 points for her team.

The previous video clip is interesting for another reason - I wonder if a similar population of American school children could all sing the lyrics to "Mamma Mia" with as much accuracy and enthusiasm as these kids do! (ABBA is still very popular in the UK!)

And finally, a little clip of Amy and her classmates singing the 'closing song' for the assembly with the rest of the school. Not only do I love the abundance of singing that these kids do at school, I also love that accent! They sound just like the children that sing at the end of "Thomas the Train" videos.

Happy Harvest

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian kin and for everyone else - here is a little song from last week's Harvest Festival at the primary school (to get you in a Festive Fall mood):

(Amy is in the middle of the second row - you can see her little blonde pigtails bobbing around now and then).

By the way...

...the kids are back in school. Here is the photo from their first day.

Amy is now in "Year 2" (2nd grade). Her teacher is Miss Wade, a lovely, soft-spoken young lady. Reportedly, there is significantly less "golden time" (playing time) in Year 2; there is also a bit more reading homework to do each night. Amy started tap dance and piano lessons this year; she plans to continue with the after-school sports club as well.

Emily is in her final year of pre-school/playgroup. She goes every morning from 9:15 - noon; her teacher is Miss Jane and she is in the Frog group. Next year she starts Reception, England's version of kindergarten. Emily continues with ballet and tap dance lessons.

We had a really fun summer with several outings to the Peterborough museum which hosted a special dinosaurs exhibit. We also spent many afternoons pond-dipping in the nearby dykes and playing at various play-parks both in our village and in surrounding communities. We loved the lack of schedule and being able to stay up later (8:00 bedtime, instead of 7:00) and being able to just go with the flow. Everyone is tiredly adjusting to the new routine now!

Week in Review

We've been busy. With only two weeks left of school for this year, there have been plenty of last-minute field trips, sports days, assemblies, open house meet-the-new-teacher stuff, etc.

We started the week with a preschool trip to Moor Farm near the village of Newborough. The kids got to collect eggs and feed the lambs and cows.

Of course, the highlight for Emily was getting to walk the dog back to the barn.

Sports day at the Primary School started with mixed-age teams doing a variety of activities. Emily and I followed Amy's team around the circuit and tried not to embarrass her with too much cheering. Then, we got to enjoy lunch together before the individual races began.

Go red!

The shuttle race: have to pick up the bean bags and deliver them back to the starting point, then sprint down the field. Amy is 4th from the left.

That's Amy on the far-left doing the last sprint as part of the shuttle race. She finished 4th place.

Amy's School House - St. Patrick's - got the most house-points overall for their efforts in Sports Day.
This is a photo of the House Captains collecting the award for St. Patrick's.

Amidst all of the school-related fun, we also managed a little day trip out to Leicester to see a Preparedness Fair sponsored by our church and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch at Kirby Muxloe Castle.

Wedding

It is tradition at Glinton Primary School each year for the Year 1 class to re-enact a marriage ceremony as part of their R.E. (Religious Education) curriculum. (This is a Church of England school, by the way)... The children have been studying "rites of passage" with marriage being the culminating landmark of this unit. I guess they will leave the funeral re-enactment for a later year???

In preparation for this event, the children were assigned various roles to play including bride, groom, parents, ushers, guests, etc. The village vicar, Reverend Hillary, even dressed to the occasion and performed the pretend ceremony at the village church - which happens to be conveniently located right across the street from the school.

Hope you enjoy this little slideshow of this special occasion:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

If nothing else, this eventful day provided a good excuse for the children to play dress-up and the mothers to practice their hands at sewing dresses, creating floral bouquets, baking fancy cakes, photography, etc.

Recent Goings-On

No, we didn't spend the weekend at the beach - although the weather was perfect for it. We, instead, spent another Saturday in the city: London. These photos are from the Peter Pan Playground (aka Princess Diana memorial playground) in Hyde Park. This is within close walking distance of the BYU Centre where I lived over 9 years ago (can't believe it's been that long already!!!) The playground turned out to be an excellent ending point for another one of our London day-trips.

We came into London the usual way - by train from Peterborough. The Express service takes only 50 minutes and includes an all-day tube (underground) pass.Above: Grandma and Amy at London's Kings Cross train station.

First tourist stop: Tower Hill for the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

Next, over to Westminster to see the Abbey, Houses of Parliament, London Eye (ferris wheel), and of course - Big Ben.

From Westminster, we hopped the tube (again) over to Notting Hill - my old stomping grounds - and had lunch as we walked Portobello Road.

After finding a few small treasures - and a few larger ones that we decided we couldn't afford - we "tubed" back to Kings Cross and rode the Express back to Peterborough. We spent the evening eating pizza and watching movies together (and resting our feet!)

The night before we went to London:

We took Grandma for a traditional English tea (dinner) at our local village pub - the Blue Bell. Coincidentally, the pub owner's wife is from Canada. No wonder it's such a fine establishment!

Also this week, Grandma tended Emily during the day so that I could accompany Amy's class on a school trip to Central Park here in Peterborough. We did research on playground equipment, visited with a police officer and enjoyed ice cream cones, courtesy of Mrs. Stevens, their teacher.

We also explored a "sensory garden" which was fabulous for little kids who love to touch everything (as these kids did).