The School's Open House

It's an early rain, again, the kind of rain I've only seen here: very, very fine, almost a mist sometimes, a spray. Changing with time but never with large drops, like the ones I know from Mexico or Houston. It's starting to get chilly (well, me definition of chilly has changed since living in Houston- it's around 62 F, 17 C) and I take the bus with the kids, to school.

It's nice to see the ocean and the mountains on the way to school, but you know kids, I don't even think they admire the scenery!

Middle school parents have the Open House at 8 and we start with coffee and cookies, followed by a brief introduction from the principal. We then had another conference, this time by grade, where they explained the project the 8th graders will have in Curitiba, one of the first planned cities in Brazil. They will visit a recycling facility, talk to the City Major and help a community, all wrapped up in one week!

The kids gave us a packet with papers, brochures, etc. and a copy of their schedule. We then went from class to class to meet their teachers and have a taste of the subjects they take, meet their classmates with their parent(s). We went through an algebra test, a book review, a social studies problem, Spanish (I was surprised at the high level here, I actually learned something there), a Portuguese lesson and a game of basketball!!!

All the while, we went up and down the stairs, got lost, got to advisory late (no pink slip, though) and met lots of parents. :-)

We had lunch in the cafeteria- not lunch, actually a full dinner: soup, rice, choice of meat or chicken dish, cooked vegetables, salad bar and dessert!!!! (no wonder they are not hungry when they get home!!)

Alan's open house (5th) started at 1:00 in the auditorium where the elementary school principal introduced ALL the teachers and staff (this school is sooo much smaller than Hamilton! There's basically one or two groups per grade, plus the music, PE and Portugese teachers) .

We met his teacher and some parents, and went through the program in a more relaxed way than middle school. I was glad to hear English and Spanish spoken all over the place- you never realize what an effort it is to try to understand the foreign language! It actually tires your brain!

She gave some class rules(the only one totally different was about parties: she'll hand out invitations as long as the whole class is invited, mothers may bring cake and drinks to the class but we must talk to her a week in advance, etc.), she introduced her helper, showed us the books they used, and let us see their work so far.

I met Dylan's mom, Alan's new friend who just arrived here 4 days ago.

We took the bus back home and I was exhausted at the end of the day!!!!! Thank God I didn't get homework!

My legs hurt from going up and down the stairs all day long!