First Day of School

Yesterday was a very busy first day of school.  The girls are going to Derby High School and Avery is going to Derby Grammar School (an all boy school).  Don't they look so smart in their uniforms?  Just adorable. 

We were a little worried that Avery wasn't going to make it  to school.  He's been battling some kind of illness with a cough and extreme tiredness for the last few days, and on top of that - a lot of nerves.  But he woke up after a long night of sleep feeling alright, though his nerves were evident.  We were very positive with him to get him excited to go to school and he did go.  I knew that first day would be the hardest but we had to get it behind us. 

All the kids made it through the day wonderfully.  It's a long day for them.  I drop them off around 8am and pick them up between 3:30 and 4.  So there's more time in school, but no time on a bus.  It looks like Alexa will be in Year 1 (which is the Kindergarten equivalent), Mia will be in Year 3 (which is the 2nd grade equivalent) and Avery will be in Year 5 (which is the 4th grade equivalent).  Avery really should be in Year 4 based on his age, but unfortunately his school doesn't have room for him in that grade.  There are only 8 boys right now in Year 5 and there are some openings for him to take Math with the Year 4 boys, so we're hoping that it will work out for him.  The biggest challenge will be his reading and writing level, but we're praying that with some extra work at home, he will be able to catch up. 

In general, all of the children will need some extra work at home.  In England, most of the students start school a year earlier, so even though the girls are placed with the right age group, they will also be behind on the reading and writing.  They should all fit in just fine with their Math skills though.  I'm just hoping that the children respond well to this and it improves them academically for when they return to the states.  I'm already encouraged that Avery brought home 3 books from the school library today and actually was excited to start reading them, I haven't seen him that excited about reading in a while. 

I got home yesterday and got a phone call from the school...they were excited to tell me that one of his classmates wanted to invite him to a birthday party, which is today after school.  I think this will be a big deal for Avery, for him to really get to know the boys in his class...I know it's going to make the adjustment a lot easier for him.  In addition, Avery's school has a sort of field day Saturday morning.  I guess this is a great opportunity for the boys and parents to get to know each other. 

Remember how I said how nice it was that I didn't have to worry about school supplies, just uniforms? WRONG!  We just got the list of school supplies for Avery yesterday, and I failed to find Mia's school supply list in the handbook.  I'm still not sure if Alexa needs any supplies.  I guess it wasn't a big deal that they didn't have their supplies...most kids didn't have everything they were supposed to, so I shouldn't feel too bad.  Oh well, so after a long day at school, we made the day even longer by going to the store last night to get all their supplies. 

Oh, and Avery keeps reminding me that he needs a mouth guard by next week..."Mom, don't forget the mouth guard, Mom, don't forget the mouth guard"......they start playing Rugby on Wednesday :-)