A visit to the school

The children's school had a "Celebration of Learning" this afternoon. Fortunately, I am on vacation so I got to attend too. Apparently, all the classes have been studying diversity, and all of the presentations had to do with that theme. Chase and his classmates sang a song. Zoe's didn't do anything at the assembly, but her class had made individual displays about their home countries. They each made posters with information and memorabilia about their countries. They prepared questions for visitors to ask them.

It was also an opportunity to chat with the teachers about how the kids are doing. It is amazing how teachers always put a positive spin on things. I am sure that you guessed I am referring to Chase! His best mate is a lovely boy from Australia who apparently is just like him. The two of them reportedly have a hard time focusing on their schoolwork. Fortunately they have a marvelous teacher who really enjoys them and has incredible patience with them. I believe his words were something like "if I wasn't responsible for teaching them, I would enjoy observing them all day because they are very interesting." The teacher manages to use their chattiness to the benefit of the class. I wonder if we can convince him to teach Chase every year! Zoe's teachers give us the same glowing reports that she gets every year. Reports come out mid-February and then we will have a real parent-teacher interview.

As I wandered around the school, I looked out the window and had a fabulous view of the beach. That would certainly distract me if I were studying there. It was so nice to see all the students in their uniforms. We arrived at recess time and the students have to wear their hats or they are not allowed to play out in the sunshine (they have to play under the shade cloth).

A most exciting part of the day was the drive home. We have discovered a hole in the fence between Sharjah and Dubai and the shortcut took about 15 minutes off of our drive - more if there was traffic. Thank heavens for 4 wheel drive!!! All the teachers were very interested in hearing about it.