Happy Christmas everyone

Milosh just gave a present to us, which he built in his school. They sewed a little pocket on the pillow.

At home, he was so excited, he decided to write us a note. His spellings remind me of what he said just this morning - you know, there is a kid in my class and I saw that he spelled book as 'buc' - lol.

He has written happy sleep because he expects to get presents when he wakes up :)

We will be in Mexico for Christmas this year, we will need to figure out a plan for the long awaited gifts.

Do I have to go school today?

Every morning Milosh asks the same question. Do I have to go to school? He keeps saying he loves after care which is free play and tries to convince me that it's really a Sunday, every weekday. Now it has been six weeks since school started. So I asked him if we should look for another school for him. He said yeah, look for something where we can play the whole time.
I said now you are a first grader, you will have to do some work no matter where you go. He thought about it and said, then why don't you send me to the toddlers' school. I said, hmm.. What will you do when you graduate to elementary again. He said I will go back again :)

I like this model, it's hard to convince him otherwise, hard to explain why education is important. The real reason is you do it because everyone does it.

But looking at everything that they do in his school, I want to go back to elementary myself.
They go to field trips so often, and then they do things related to that the whole week. They are reading about space and universe and visited the planetarium. The homework was also related to that. They went to a farm, got  vegetables and fruits, learnt to weigh them, and write about their dream farm. They went to watch salmons and draw pictures of it in school, learn about their life cycle. Next week they will learn about different cultures, they will learn about Diwali also! They will also start swimming each week starting next week. I am definitely more excited about his school than he is. I am glad their school sends a lot of pictures, so we parents feel connected to what they do.  I don't know if Milosh will start to look forward to school anytime soon, he has to work quite hard.  But hopefully when he grows up and looks at the pictures of his school, he will say those days were fun!

Milosh's first official homework

The first official homework is here and will keep coming every week from now on. This will require parents' involvement.

The first assignment is to write down where you would go if you could go anywhere in the solar system. Fun part was showing him videos about solar system. Reading books to him was also okay. But getting him to write- that took a lot of running and chasing. He did it over 2 sittings. I got him to say things and wrote them down on a piece of paper for him to copy. Turns out kids start to draw stars and trucks if they have to do anything for more than 5 min! The stars had to be erased for space although they paired well with the moon ;)

While doing the homework, he also declared...

I wish I could be at home all day, and play and take a bath and watch TV... 
I wish there was no homework...
I wish there was no school... 
I wish I didn't have to do elementary so I don't have to write. 
I don't want to be a teenager so I don't have to speak and present.. 
I don't want to grow up and work on computers. 
I wish I could be a kid and play all day....

The Montessori system has definitely made him expressive :) but unlike the way our schools worked, he absolutely does not want to be told what to do. I have heard good talks about how school systems need to evolve.

For now I am glad we didn't wait for the last day to finish the homework. ;)

Milosh's first homework

The first official homework is here and will keep coming every week from now on. This will require parents' involvement.

The first assignment is to write down where you would go if you could go anywhere in the solar system. Fun part was showing him videos about solar system. Reading books to him was also okay. But getting him to write- that took a lot of running and chasing. He did it over 2 sittings. I got him to say things and wrote them down on a piece of paper for him to copy. Turns out kids start to draw stars and trucks if they have to do anything for more than 5 min! The stars had to be erased for space although they paired well with the moon ;)

While doing the homework, he also declared...

I wish I could be at home all day, and play and take a bath and watch TV...
I wish there was no homework...
I wish there was no school...
I wish I didn't have to do elementary so I don't have to write.
I don't want to be a teenager so I don't have to speak and present..
I don't want to grow up and work on computers.
I wish I could be a kid and play all day....

The Montessori system has definitely made him expressive :) but unlike the way our schools worked, he absolutely does not want to be told what to do. I have heard good talks about how school systems need to evolve.

For now I am glad we didn't wait for the last day to finish the homework. ;)

Monday lunch at home

Yesterday Milosh's body felt a little warm to touch right before he went to bed. But he was perfectly fine in the morning. Don't know if it was the Monday blues, or the embracing the beginning of fall season, I relented to his "I don't want to go to school". I did give him an appropriate speech about how the school will not be as bad as he thinks etc but I don't think I was ready for my daily grind either :p
Lo and behold we are having a warm and comfortable day at home. I asked Milosh where he wanted to go for lunch (since I am working); and he insisted on home food and said "pooris". Unlike my reputation, I am not at all against making pooris at home but my mental framework is such that I always forget about pooris. I could not remember the last time I made pooris. So it was a good reminder and I made a super quick lunch that Milosh really liked. Pooris made our comforting Monday even more comforting :)

Sometimes it's nice to break the  rules ;) Now you are a true foodie, I can guess what your next meal is going to be.

Milosh's fabulous summer camp

https://photos.app.goo.gl/v9gLKZkgKihuFw8E3

Summer is over now and everyone is "back to school". The hardest thing for Milosh is to get over his summer camp :) This year's summer camp was a blast!

This year Milosh was old enough to join the elementary kids for summer camp and the fun had no bounds. They had amazing teachers and amazing schedule. They went for tons of field trips - they went to remlinger farms, many parks, they had a field trip of riding scooters, they went and watched Seattle storms game, they went to a water park. They had water play every week in their own school. They had culinary week. He also did a Lego camp at his school. They also got to play some video games.

Their teachers were great about taking pictures and making videos. I am so glad some memories of his summer camp are captured :)
The videos of his camp are a must watch!