For a boy who was positive he never wanted to go to school, not even for university, C has certainly come a long way in the past six weeks. After Ross and I concluded that at least one year at an Aussie school might be an excellent opportunity for him, we had our work set out for us to bring him on board. Apparently we had done quite an effective job selling him on the advantages of homeschooling, as he spent several weeks reminding us of each and every one we have discussed over the years. In the end, however, he agreed to give it a try, and in spite of a few rough bumps at the beginning, he has come to mostly appreciate his school.
C had only been to school for three days when his entire class (comprised of approximately forty Year 5 and Year 6 students) boarded a bus and headed for three days and two nights at Camp Rumbug. Talk about throwing him into the fire---we were at least glad he had been to an overnight camp before. It did give him the opportunity to try lots of new things, including a drawbrigde course, a ropes course, and to learn lots of new words and expressions, some of which, after we explained the meaning to him, we instructed him not to repeat!
Here he is ready to board the bus. I didn't send a camera with him, so I have no pictures of camp.
C's teacher has been wonderful, and I am sure that has been one of the main reasons he has coped so well with the transition to school. Another big reason, however, is the emphasis on sport. C had been back from camp only one day when the school held an all-day, all-school swimming carnival. All students, even non-swimmers, were expected to compete and were encouraged to do their best. It took some convincing for us to get our son out the door that morning as swimming has never been his strong point. Much to his delight, however, he came home with three first-place ribbons and a spot on the interschool swim team. All those hours of training at the Harold Holt Swim Center paid off.
C made it as far as the District level for the 50m backstroke. Here is a picture of him just before the race. He finished about 9th out of 15.
J has been watching his big brother, and he is ready to follow in his foot steps. He convinced me to purchase him an Aussie pair of bathers like the other boys in his swim class wear (I couldn't bring myself to buy the speedos, so we compromised):
Athletics, the all-round term for track and field, has followed swimming. Last Friday C participated in an all-school athletics carnival held at a nearby field. Again, every student participated, including the preps, who jumped over their own set of mini-hurdles. C was impressed at how young the children here are taught to throw the discus and the shot put. This put him at a bit of a disadvantage, but he learned many new skills on this day, and came home with a third place ribbon for shot put.
The children compete to earn points for their color, and I discovered that even parents come dressed in the appropriate color to cheer on their offspring. C was assigned to red at the beginning of the year, and thankfully I chose a red jumper for James to wear that day.
Faithful Fan:
Waiting to run the hurdles:
It has been a joy for us to watch the transformation in our son from a reluctant scholar to an enthused boy who races out of the front gate every morning on his scooter. For this, and for so much more, we are grateful.
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