Start of school goes well

 It was pretty stormy, so I decided I would take the kids to school by car on this first day. We met the principal and the teachers and they showed us around the kids class rooms and the school facilities. There are several old wood buildings that are used for classrooms. Kai has a male teacher and Petra a woman, plus they have a few other teachers for specific subjects. Backpacks are left in the hall cubby where jackets go as well, and shoes are left outside the class room. It's ok to bring woolly socks to wear during class. 

As the start of school was drawing near, a group of girls came over to Petra and said "are you Petra? You're in our class" and they floated off together. Petra was really looking forward to meeting new people and it seems she found a lot of friends right away. I walked Kai over to his door to wait for school to start, and a cheery girl came over with two quiet kids trailing: "Is he coming to our class? I am in 3A. We've been waiting for Kai". Petra is the oldest in her class, and Kai probably the youngest or among the youngest. Some of the kids are towering over him, one girl more than a head taller than him. 

Thursday's lunch was pea soup with pancake and jam. Kai announced that he did in fact like the lingonberry jam that came with the pancake. Petra said the soup had not been her favorite. When I picked them up on their first day Kai admitted his teacher was ok, school was boring, and that he had some homework to do. It involved reading and writing about lapwings (a kind of bird), doing a bit of times tables for math and not much more. His bag was full of books. Petra's bag was empty, as she said she had accidentally finished the homework at school, but her phone was full of new Whatsapp contacts, and she had already two invitation to go play after school. 

Today, Friday, the wind was still and the weather was chilly, about +4C (that's about 40F, or thereabouts?). Petra biked to school ahead of us, arriving with plenty of time to play outside before the bell would ring. Kai and I made our way over, rehearsing safe road crossing behaviors as we went. I gave Kai the task of finding out some names of his class mates, which he did not promise to do. 

I went home and took a solid nap before going back to the school. Kai came out happily, and we walked Petra to go play at a new friend's house just next door. Then Kai and I went to the library to pick up a library card and some fresh reading. Petra came home promptly as agreed, and did her homework with the friend. 

The kids have all kinds of subjects: of course they have Finnish, and Math, and Science and English. They also have PE, and Music, and Art, and Crafts. Petra's PE will involve ice skating and swimming - the town has now a year round rink, so that makes sense. Better than waiting for real winter, these days. Mummi found her old skates, and they fit her pretty well. So we are all set. Kai's PE class went outside to a nearby park that he really liked and wants to show me one of these days. 

All in all, it could not have started better. 

Plus, I'm getting some decent biking exercise in, as well - about ten miles a day while I help Kai get to school and back. 









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