Last Days of School

What a great last week of school!  The kids had soo many fun activities.  Here a few pics from the end of the term.

Last Day of Nursery: Desmond's best friend is a little boy named Wyatt.  You may notice that they are both wearing Ninja Turtles t-shirts which is just one of the many reasons why these two get on brilliantly together.  They were sooo happy on their last day together.  They had a big lunch with cake and juice. Desmond is so proud of the fact that he is starting at the big school next year that on his first day of summer vacation he begged to go to Dothill with Sierra.  Eh, who needs a summer vacation anyway right?

Last Day of Primary School:   Sierra's academic work was all finished so the kids had lots of fun activities for the week.  They went on a field trip to a children's museum in Birmingham, had a parents' afternoon to show off their work, and danced the afternoon away at their summer disco. I posted some pics below of our last walk to school. Her class also did a few last minute art projects.  They made their rules for life scrolls during the last week.  Here is Sierra with hers.  In case you can't read it.....

1. Help one another.
2. Have good respect.
3. Help your friends and family.
3. No being men (mean:) )
4. No killing anyone.
5. Please don't bite.  (think this was written specifically for Sully)

Primary School Hair

Plaits (braids) are pretty popular here for the little school girls.  People can do some gorgeous dutch plaits and french plaits.  Sierra and I have been experimenting a bit with her ponytails.  We have a long way to go to reach expert level (and truthfully her hair needs to be longer), but here are a few examples from the last week of school. 

Her Normal Everyday Plait

The Rope Plait

Queen of Hearts Plait

Evening Homework

We have not taken many road trips lately, so I thought I would post a little bit about our day-to-day life.  Tonight it occurred to me that I have not shared what homework is like at our house.

The Bookbag:  It's really more like a portfolio/briefcase.  I thought it was strange that everyone buys these for school and not a larger bookbag like in the states.  The UK kids constantly have to take forest school clothes, PE kits, rain gear.  A bookbag initially seemed more practical.  I have since figured out that the kids have just 1 peg to their name.  By the time they hang up their coats, scarves, hats, etc. during the winter.  There is little to no room for any bookbags.  This is a space saver and efficient for the classroom structure in British schools (at least at ours).  Plus this costs you 2.50 GBP which is less than $5.  School supplies are provided by the school, so their is no need for binders, pencil cases, etc.

Phonics Practice: This is our first activity of the night. Most of the primary schools strongly emphasize phonics.  They break them into 3 sets.  The kids learn the first set when they are in Reception and move onto sets 2 & 3 in Year 1.  Sierra has had to learn all three sets in 6 months, but thanks to the hard work of her teacher she is now caught up with the class.  They are given sounds to practice each night and review. Each sound has a saying to help the kids remember.  Then they say the sounds for each word below.  The handouts look like this: 

Spelling Words:  Sierra's spelling words are assigned at the beginning of the week based on the sounds she is learning or sight words that their group is working on. We are to find "fun" ways to practice the words, and she must write her own sentences by the end of week using her words. By the way, you may notice the handwriting is a bit curlier than the US.  The handwriting structure for the young ones is designed to be pre-cursive.  Eventually, students will progress to cursive writing around Year 4 and will begin joining letters. 

Leveled Reader:  She is assigned to a guided reading group based on her reading level.  At the end of the school day, kids select books based on the color they are assigned which corresponds to the level of reading they can handle.  If you look closely at Sierra's book, you will see a turquoise tab in the left corner.   She also has a blue reading diary that goes back and forth between school.  The teacher writes notes about what they read and the parent records nightly reading.  My favorite feature is the guided reading record at the back.  The teacher notes progress and which standards they are working on in their guided reading groups at the back of the book.

This can take us up to an hour each night depending on the length of her book.  However, Sierra looks forward to it and feels really confident.  I am so impressed with what her teacher is able to get the students to do at such a young age.  I only wish I could steal all the good ideas and take them back to my former school district.  :)

Flashback: Sullivan's Emergency Room Scare

About two weeks ago, Sullivan had us racing to the local emergency room because he had a small, but deep cut on his head.  He has a terrible temper and tends to throw himself backwards in anger.  Most of the time his sweet little angry head lands on carpet, and we do like most parents and ignore the tantrum until it's over.  In this case, he somehow managed to get close enough to the corner of our bed frame (which comes to a sharp point) and hit his head.  There was blood.... enough blood that we piled all the kids in the car believing that he needed stitches.

We are still learning about the health care industry here.  Like the ERs in the US, they are overcrowded with people and short staffed.  A lady sat and took my information for about 30 minutes (ALL while my 1 year old son is still bleeding from the head!) then we waited and waited.  We saw another nurse briefly who moved us into another room and we waited and waited.  I was starting to lose it a bit, but there happened to be another little girl who appeared to have cut her head and had blood down the side of her face.  She was also waiting.

Finally, we met with the doctor for a brief session.  He confirmed that he did not have a concussion and did not need stitches because they had some glue that would be able to work on the cut.  We were sent back to the waiting room.  Again, my son's is still bleeding from the head.  Then another nurse came and patched Sullivan up. Five hours later...we headed home.

We love the weather, the school systems, the countryside here, but the healthcare.....we are not fans.  On the flipside, the entire visit was free of charge.

The very next day Sullivan was back to his old ways.  Sadly, I don't think this will be our last ER adventure with this monkey.

Sullivan's First Words

Sullivan is communicating a lot more.  Here are some of the words he knows.

• Dada - Said it first....broke my heart :) 
• Mamama
• Quack
• Ball
• Uh-Oh
• Hell-yo (Hello)
• Hiya!  (British Greeting)
• Bye-Bye

Mother-Daughter Wrekin Hike

Sierra and I love hiking!  We rarely get a minute just to move at our own pace because the little boys are a bit sluggish....heck their only 3 and 1.  However, sometimes it is nice just to get a minute to ourselves.  The morning was lovely and cool, so we headed for our favorite hilltop climb.

The Start & Our Favorite Resting Point:  Here's us all energized for a straight uphill climb. Bring it! We always love to stop at this grove of trees because it is the one flat spot on the whole trek.

The top of the mountain:  I don't know if we captured it on our last trip, but the thing about the Wrekin that is so special is the nearly 360 degree views.  If you look closely in the pics below, you can see the hills of Wales in the distance.  Absolutely amazing views!



Sierra on camera duty:  Sierra has gotten to where she likes to take over the camera and get pics of me.  I am still working on enjoying having people take pics of me.  What you might be able to see from the pics is how windy the top is.  It is always 10 degrees cooler up there compared to the base of the hillside.

Sierra the All-Star Hiker:  I love that Sierra is so at ease in the woods.  She loves being outside and even when the hiking gets hard she never gives up.  Probably why she is the only one in the family that can say she has been to the top of the hillside 3 times.  Get it Girl!

Flashback: Monkey Forest in May

Zach had a colleague who worked at the plant site, but ended up leaving for a different job.  He and Zach have remained in touch.  We got our families together for an afternoon out.  They live in Stoke-On-Trent and encouraged us to try something known as the Monkey Forest.  You pay to enter a park where loads of monkeys live and roam freely. 

For more info on the Monkey Forest: http://www.trentham-monkey-forest.com/information.php?id_cat=1

We arrived just in time to see a feeding.  The keepers came out and talked about the monkeys and their habits.

What is amazing is that you walk along a 2 mile trail and the monkeys are just out in their natural habitat walking around and in the trees.  Above the couple was giving each other a bath.  We saw the other two just hanging out.  The last picture below on the right is a couple with their newborn twin babies.  

 Despite all the monkeys, Sullivan was obsessed with the ducks.  He was most excited to see a mother duck with her ducklings.  He knows how to say "Quack!" and just kept repeating it while pointing. In his eyes, it was a Duck Forest not a Monkey Forest.

It is hard to tell from these pics, but other feature we loved was the picturesque surroundings.  It was lovely and green with a babbling brook inside a ravine. Gorgeous!

There were two playgrounds which the kids loved!  However, their favorite feature was a giant stump.  They spent a half an hour climbing up and down on the tree stump.  It's the simple things folks, the simple things.

Back Garden Camping

Zach promised Sierra that they would go camping in the backyard this weekend.  Sierra had not forgotten about it and had been reminding him every night.  Denny and Lauren gave the kids an amazing tent for Christmas last year.  The kids were extremely helpful in assisting Zach putting together their backyard camp.

Ok.....real talk.....they were into helping for about 5 minutes.  Then Desmond decided the poles made great "ninja-chucks", Sierra did her own little dance moves, Sully thought the tent cover was an excellent blanket for tramping on. 

Somehow Team Steele still managed to get our tent put together.  Desmond was especially excited. We knew this because he kept running out of the tent saying, "I'm sooooo excited to go camping!!!"

We built a campfire, told scary stories, and bedded down for the night.  I headed in around 10 p.m.  to be close to Sullivan.  About midnight, we had a little scare with one clap of thunder and heat lightning.  However, both kids slept through the night and actually made it all the way to  5 a.m. before crawling back into their own beds.  Pretty impressive for our first backyard camping if you ask me, but then again I biased. :)

Key Stage 1 Sports Day

Today was Sierra's first Sports Day.  The primary school system is broken into Key Stages 1 & 2.  Key Stage 1 includes reception, year 1 & 2 students.  Key Stage 2 includes Years 3-5.  Today, Key Stage 1 gathered on the football field behind the school for the equivalent of the American field day.  Each class rotated through 6 stations with a new challenge at each one.  The class was broken into teams.  Sierra's class had 4 teams.  The teams competed against each other at each station.  I say competed, but they really were more cooperative games.  The kids ran relays against the the other groups.  Even one cheered on their teammates and at the end no winner was announced.  Everyone just applauded the entire class effort and moved on.  It was actually really sweet to watch the kids interact with one another and root for each other.

First Round:  I was impressed with how the event was organized.  In 20 minutes, all the children changed into their gym kits and marched onto the field.  The kids knew exactly what to do and where to sit at every station.  There is a shot below of Sierra seated with her team.  They started with an egg race (balancing a tennis ball on a tennis racquet) and then did a hula hoop race as a class. 

Rounds 3-5:  These were Sierra's favorites because she got to run as fast as she can.  The first pic shows her at the hurdle race.  They did the hurdles on the way down and hurdles on the way back. They had a ring relay and then a soccer dribbling relay.  

Rounds 2 and 6:  These were Sierra's least favorite relays.  She had to pick up bean bags out hulu hoops and run them back to a basket.  She was frustrated because she just wanted to run and could not be bothered with the bean bags.  All the kids dreaded the dressing up relay. They were complaining before they got there.  Seemed simple enough, they had to stop and put on each article of clothing then put it back in the hulu hoop on the way back.  At lot of them got tripped up with putting stuff on or off.

The End:  At the completion of Sports Day, every kid was awarded a medal that they designed themselves.  You would have thought Sierra won a trophy she was so excited.  The little girl in the middle is one of Sierra's best friends, Raquelsha. Sullivan was Sierra's biggest fan.  When he wasn't eating, he clapped for her at event.  There is a class picture below and another of Sierra's best friend, Ava.  It was a very fun end of the school year rite of passage.  Sierra is already looking forward to next year.

How British are You?

When we first found out we were moving to England, people told us things like.....

"Well at least they speak English."

"At least you won't have a language barrier."

Little did we know all the slight differences that would throw us for a loop.  Just when I think I may know enough to blend in, I get little reminders that I am completely clueless.  To give you some prime examples, I have 2 notes I have received at from school.  Can you guess what it is telling you to do?  If you can, you are a true Brit and should trade places with me.  If not, I completely understand why :)

1.  Mufti Day and Tombola.....define without using Google.

Correct Answer:  Your kid can were plain clothes (no uniform) if they bring an item for our raffle.

Mufti Day: Mufti, or civies/civvies (slang for "civilian attire"),^[1] refers to plain or ordinary clothes, especially when worn by one who normally wears, or has long worn, a military or other uniform. A mufti day (also known as casual clothes day, casual Friday, colour day, own clothes day, home clothes day, plain clothes day, non-uniform day, mufting day, free dress day, civvies day, dress down day, uniform-free day) is a day where students and staff go to school in casual clothing instead of school uniform (or instead of smart clothes in the case of staff). In return, students are usually required to make a small donation which goes to a chosen charity or school fund-raising effort. This is found in many countries where students are required to wear uniform, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is particularly used in this way in state schools.

Tombola: a game in which people pick tickets out of a revolving drum and certain tickets win immediate prizes, typically played at a fete or fair.

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2.  Leaver's Luncheon and Drink of Squash.....guess away!

Correct Answer:  Your preschool school graduate is being honored at a special luncheon because he is "leaving" nursery and going to primary school.  He will be toasting with a cup of Kool-Aid (closest guess as definition says it is a cordial made of fruit juice, sugar, and water).

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3. Hotty vs. Hottie   or  To Go vs. Take Away.... do you know the difference?  

Ok, this isn't from school, but it is the funniest Pizza Hut advertisement I have ever seen. Apparently you can get a hotty for only 8 pounds ;)  Which is a hot pizza.  A hot pizza folks.  Take away is the equivalent of to go.  Substitute any statement in which you would say I would like something to go and just replace it with take away.  There you have it...you are well on you way to being a Brit.

Heat Wave

Extra!  Extra! Read all about it.  Shropshire is about to fry!  This was the headline I saw as I walked into the grocery store last night.  Today it was 85 degrees. 

Yes! Before all our Southern family shake their heads in disbelief.  This is in fact a heat wave for England.  Anything above 80 degrees is considered hot/deathly hot here.  My facebook feed started to fill up with reminders about leaving pets and children in hot cars, seatbelt burns from putting infants into their car seats that were too hot.  Even advertisements on the radio included reminders of numbers to call if you see a hot dog or kid left in a car. For Southerners, we would call that April.  We may even say cool.    However, here where central air is non-existent we are starting to understand what all the fuss was about. Our house is stuffy...stUUUFFy.  Sully and I have done nothing, but sit and sweat all day.  Today we drove to a grocery store just to walk up and down the freezer aisle.  

Thankfully, Zach had the foresight to invest in not one, two....but FOUR of these ginormous fans.  I made fun of him for buying the largest fans England had to offer, but I have now seen the error of my ways and have had to grovel and admit he was right. I told him he better not get used to it....it could just be the heatwave talking :)