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One the first day of the new month, we took oma for a short drive and walk to the North Head for the odd scenic picture with the Pacific Ocean in the background. As it was rather windy, the kids put on their hoodies.
Piet's Pirate Party
Then the preparation began (in earnest) for Piet's first proper party. He had been asked who he wanted to invite and two days in a row he came up with the same list of six friends, which was a relief to his parents. He later commented that he didn't invite too many as he doesn't like noisy parties. These six, all from his pre-school, got the
invite to Piet's Pirate Party. We baked a
birthday cake, which were decorated with a
pirate ship, shark and treasure chest. Piet rejected the ship and the shark in favour of his plastic pirate ship. All those effeorts... We also baked some
cup cakes.
The party started at ten with a cup cake and fruit. The fruit could be pricked on tiny swords (instead of cocktail prickers). Then we played numerous pirate themed games. The birthday boy got rather upset, unfortunately, but after the games we each had a homemade pizza, with a popular little cross made of ham that 'marked the spot' and a palm tree that nobody cared about. Under the bottom of one of the plates was the first clue for the treasure hunt:
After three more clues, the swarm of kids returned to the living room to find the treasure! The chest contained neatly labelled bags with gold (chocolate) coins - if only real pirates had ever been this organised. Everybody got picked up (only two parents had stayed) and the present opening began.
Two days later, we celebrated Piet's actual birthday with the opening of presents in the morning. Piet has been keen on reading the 'Kleine kapitein' boek and playing with his big Lego boat and harbour. It took us until the next weekend to assemble most of the packs of Lego. On Thursday, we waved oma Bep goodbye, who returned to the Netherlands.
The next week was mum's birthday. Piet and Emma were on to the unwrapping of the presents in no time. Mamma's main present were ear rings, which happened to be exactly the ones she had wanted. In the afternoon, the kids helped mum decorate her own cake.
The dust has now settled on the first (pre-)school days and birthdays and the kids seem to cope ok; they are just a lot more tired in the evening - we have brought forward their bedtime - and they seem to squabble a lot more too.
Pen, Andrew and little Benjamin came over from Melbourne (and ultimately London) for a long weekend. It was good to catch up again (since five months). On Monday, with Emma in nursery and Piet at school, we did a tour of the rocks, one of the oldest part of Sydney. For lunch, we caught up with dad. On Tuesday, with Piet still at school, we went to nearby North Head. That last night we ate out at a restaurant near local shelly beach.
Four weeks of school
Four weeks in, Piet is still keen to go to school. He is in class KC. 'K' stands for 'Kinder', his age group/year for which there are six classes. The other years are labelled '1' through '6' and align with the numbering in the former lagere school in the Netherlands. There are six classes for his age group; the 'C' indicates miss Camphin's class, his teacher. In Piet's class of 19 kids, three have one Dutch parent. Mum has discovered this, as Piet has yet to speak a word of Dutch in class. "Speak English! he will admonish his father when they enter the school yard, just before 9h15. The Kinder classes assemble in a covered area next to the school yard, where the kids line up sitting on the ground in six lines. Miss Camphin will lead Piet's line to her class room. This avoids congestion inside the school. Piet has two breaks - this year the school has introduced staggered breaks as not all 600 pupils could fit on the school yard anymore - and finishes at 15h15. During the first weeks, most mums were glad that coloured name tags - each class its own colour - helped them recognize their offspring at pick-up time.
Piet has started to learn to read and write. English is considered a phonetic language and hence he is taught to sound out words, letter by letter. But additionally, pupils are taught to recognise 12 sight words on sight, i.e. without sounding out (these words are explained on a blog from another school). This was Piet's first homework. Emma finds it mightily interesting and participates actively. We rehearse the words and play for example memory games with the 12 cards. Overall, Piet seems to be enjoying his school. It is harder on Emma, who misses her play mate. She still goes one day a week to her old nursery - we only plan this for the first trimester - and she spends two days a week at Piet's old pre-school, in his old class room, where she fits in nicely. They are still much more tired in the evening, we try to eat at 17h30 and have the kids in bed by 19h, which gives their parents a longer evening.
One morning, Piet fancied having breakfast outside.
