Our Brainy Kids

It’s been a relatively quiet week, with very little to report.

Our kids love their cousins! Chanel, Abbie & Ella are in the back of my sister’s (Karina) car. They’re with their cousins Jaxson, Paris, Phoenix and Logan in Sydney when Kylie took everyone to the Entertainment Centre last week. When they get together there’s enough energy to blow up a house! In fact, if you’ve ever seen a house after they’ve been together, you’d suggest that I was understating the fact.

Each night around the dinner table our family sits together and we discuss the things we’re most grateful for from the day. The children are usually bursting with exciting stories from their adventures at school. We really enjoy the time, and the girls argue with one another about who will lead the discussion. On Monday Chanel had attended her first BIG school excursion. She went on the bus with all the other kids, and they went to Bluescope steel. They toured the steelworks and had a huge adventure.

As Chanel began to share her story we were expecting another happy account, but instead she told us that she had been crying on the bus. She missed her family and felt like she was leaving, because she was on the bus without us. She then went on to say that her experience helped her to realise how grateful she is for her family. We had a wonderful discussion about how negative/sad emotions can also be good for us. We talked about how special our family was. It was one of those moments that we will remember for years to come.

On Thursday morning Kylie and I had an interview scheduled with Chanel’s school teacher, Mrs Burton. We wanted to know how Chanel was settling in, adjusting to the curriculum in a new state, and whether we could do anything to help. Her response was unexpected. Chanel is excelling at school. She is in the top maths group and doing exceptionally well. Her spelling scores are equivalent to grade 5 or 6 rather than grade 3, where she presently learns. Fortunately her teachers are aware of Chanel’s ability and are providing her with opportunities to continue to learn. Chanel is excited about learning too, which is working very much in her favour.

The teacher positively glowed about Chanel. She also spoke extensively about how clear it was that Chanel had come from an excellent school in QLD, and how much better the QLD curriculum is compared with NSW. We have felt that, but to have it so powerfully confirmed was nice. I’d love to launch into a politically motivated diatribe, but don’t think it will make us feel better. We take great comfort that both of our school-girls are doing exceptionally well.

After the interview I was ushered into Chanel’s classroom. They have been doing a unit on music, and radio announcing was part of the study. I volunteered to spend some time talking to the class about being one. They were amazed that I had been a radio guy, and were thrilled when I told them about some of the celebrities that I’d met or interviewed. They loved knowing that I got free CD’s, concerts and movies. It was fun to talk about it with them.

Abbie has been moved up to Level 9 in her school “readers” too. Most kids take the entire kindergarten year to get to that level. But Abbie, after one term, is already there. She is excelling. For the holidays her teacher, Miss Johnston, sent home a 13 page booklet of spelling and math activities for the children to participate in if they wanted. Abbie sat down yesterday and couldn’t stop. She takes every opportunity she can to do schoolwork.

Yesterday we took the kids to the beach. The seasons are changing, but it was such a perfect day that we had to go there. It was well worth it. The water was beautiful, the surf was small, and the girls had great fun. Chanel is trying to work out whether she likes catching waves or not. She has been “dumped” several times and doesn’t like that, but she really enjoys catching waves when she doesn’t get dumped. There’s a fabulous rock outcrop at Port Kembla that we can jump off when the surf is small. That’s another favourite of hers.

Abbie and Ella prefer to splash in the shallow water, build sand castles, and cover up with a towel when they get cold.

In other news, I’m enjoying studying. It is very challenging, but I feel like I’m making progress. Things are going well.