Adalyn started a new pre-school in January called Tyger Valley College. I wrote a blog about my first impressions and how it was going in January, so I thought a mid-year review would be good. Adalyn is in grade 000, Triple Naught as South Africans call it, which is for kids turning 4 years old this year. Not knowing what exactly to expect from school, I have been extremely pleased so far.
Adalyn has gotten over the initial horror of having to wear a school uniform. For a girl who loves to pick out her clothes, this was quite the ordeal every morning for 2 weeks but now she knows what to expect and gladly puts on her green and navy attire. Though she keeps her uniform on all day at school, her shoes come off first thing in the class. Adalyn has really adapted to the South African lifestyle of not wearing shoes and she must have tough feet as this is her preferred method everywhere we go. Her feet seem to be permanently stained black and we have to wash them first thing when we get home from school each day. She even took off her shoes for her school photo, which I secretly love because it shows her personality.
Adalyn's teacher, Mrs. Nunan, said that this term Adalyn has become a social butterfly. Adalyn loves her friends and talks about them non stop at home by name. Currently she plays mostly with the other girls and always wants them to come over to play after school. At the beginning of the first semester she was quite shy and did not talk much or sing during music. Boy has that changed. Mrs. Nunan said she is a chatter box, loves to sing and even dances to the music. Along with music, Adalyn has enjoyed ballet, gymnastics and recently they started tennis. Watching a bunch of 3-4 year olds learn tennis is super cute. They have a hard enough time catching the ball once it bounces I am not sure how they would manage to play.
Tyger Valley is divided into 3 terms over the January to December school year with about a 4 week break in-between each term. During 2 weeks of those breaks Adalyn has enjoyed attending camp which is run by a high school teacher with some Juniors and Seniors as her helpers. Adalyn probably loves it because the older girls put make-up and nail polish on her. I love that it gives her a chance to interact with other kids during the day and just play as the other two weeks she is stuck with me. After this term is over Adalyn is starting in the math club called Miki Maths. She requested to go and I figured it can only help her math skills so I am eager to see what progress she makes during this final school term.
Adalyn's class focuses on themes that span about 2 weeks and so far she has learned a tremendous amount about subjects such as dinosaurs, professions (doctor, teacher, gardener), the ocean, and vehicles (construction, fire trucks, etc.) I love that Adalyn can recall so many details about what she learns at school and I think Tyger Valley does an outstanding job of integrating each theme. Adalyn has made a large amount of crafts and even gone on some small field trips around the school that help strengthen the lessons.
One aspect of her learning that is different is the ABCs. Adalyn will tell me the name of a letter by how it sounds instead of how we normally say "P" for example she says "Ph". I believe this is the phonics way of learning and as long as she learns them I am fine with that. Each term her teacher fills out about an 8 page assessment on how each child is learning. It is nice to have 3 parent/teacher conferences a year as I feel like I know where Adalyn stands on what she does well and what she needs to improve on.
Adalyn's school does a good job of hosting events that involve the parents as well. So far this year we have had a Mother's day appreciation event, soccer day with the dads, a walk for charity and even mini Olympics with field events for the kids and parents to do together. Seeing our friends and their kids at school each day during drop off/pick up makes it feel more like home to me. I am very pleased with our decision to send Adalyn to Tyger Valley and the fact that she loves it makes it even better.
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