Today was Christoph’s 3rd day of school – he knows this, because we are keeping track using straws, which we put in a jar and he counts each day. I learned this from my first practicum teacher and it’s a great way to get students counting by 10s. Once there are 10 straws in the ones jar, you bundle them up and put them in the 10s jar. From then on, that packet of straws is counted as 10, rather than one.Anyway, to get back to the topic, Christoph’s schooling is going slowly, but well. He is incredibly bright and has an immense amount of factual knowledge (for example, about particular kinds of dinosaurs, the Titanic, and space), but is incredibly far behind in his literacy and numeracy. He knows less than half the letters of the alphabet, cannot spell his name, and can only count up to 12. According to his mother, he used to know a lot of these things, but he seems to have forgotten them.
So, we are starting with the very basics and I am trying to gently push him as quickly as possible. 
Christoph is used to have a lot of freedom, and to being able to do what he wants when he wants, so for example, on the first day of school, within five minutes he mentioned that he wanted to draw me a picture of a dinosaur, and I had to tell him that, no, we were doing X right now and that he could draw me a dinosaur after school. He’s had several of these reminders, but he takes them pretty well, usually covering his mouth shyly and muttering “oh”.
Christoph is used to have a lot of freedom, and to being able to do what he wants when he wants, so for example, on the first day of school, within five minutes he mentioned that he wanted to draw me a picture of a dinosaur, and I had to tell him that, no, we were doing X right now and that he could draw me a dinosaur after school. He’s had several of these reminders, but he takes them pretty well, usually covering his mouth shyly and muttering “oh”.
Christoph seems to enjoy math, especially because he gets to use his ipad, and I’ve also introduced a counting monster puppet that oversees his math class. I think he finds the literacy block a bit frustratingly long, but I think that once we get into it a bit more, he will enjoy it quite a lot, since it’s my teaching strength.
So far, I am enjoying teaching. The hours are GREAT. I leave my house just after 8, drive over (20-25 minutes because I am slow), teach from 9-10:30, have a one-hour break where I drink tea and prep lessons, and then I teach again from 11:30-1pm. After that, I have a leisurely and delicious outdoor lunch with the family, and then I prep a bit more and go home! I mean, of course I do work at home too – I was on the computer for 5 hours last night doing long term planning, I’ll be doing daily internet searches for resources, and lots of work will be put into themes and units. But the hours are great because the rest of the day is mine. (Jealous, Canadian teachers???)
The strange part of the job, however, is the space I’ve been given as a classroom. It’s the small, unlit gallery to the squash court. The space is probably 2 meters X 6 meters! Enough for a table, a small rug, and a small bookshelf. It’s ok so far, but what I will quickly run out of is wall space (which is hugely important)! I find it hard to believe that I am working for such a wealthy family, and yet they are stuffing their son and myself into such an uninspiring space. Oh well, I can deal with it until we move into the classroom that is being specially built in their new home! (See next blog for photos.)
Suzanne & Terry - Christoph looks adorable, and I’m sure you and he will get along just fine.
hugs
Suzanne
Anne-Marie - I Brittany,
Very interesting life you have….I am enjoying reading your blog…Today is a gorgeous day and I am just about to leave to walk the beach…..It is 25 degrees and I am pretty sure we won’t be getting many of these. Nathan was here for supper on Tuesday and had fun playing music with Rick…at least Rick had fun….take care don’t get lost love ya lots
Anne-Marie