School-Part III

I thought I ought to post something about every day school life, mostly because I thought it might be interesting to the kids' friends. All three are attending full day school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Jane goes every Wednesday morning. Lucas never goes Wednesdays and Anna goes now and then when she has field trips to different religious sites as part of her religious education (for example, a Hindu temple, a Jewish synagogue, a Protestant church, and a Muslim mosque). These religions are all equally foreign to French Catholics. We decided not to put the kids through catechism this time around!

There is no doubt that school is a challenge. There is a huge amount of work and a lot of memorization required. Tonight Jane was memorizing the history of the Carolingian Empire and the respiratory system of fish. The girls generally have a few hours of homework per night after getting home at 5:00pm-a big change from the home school days! Jane is really missing her cello and Anna the piano but frankly, I don't know when they'd have time to practice them here. Their enjoyment of the various subjects really seems to hinge on what kind of teachers they have. Believe me, the teachers run the gamut from Snape to McGonagall to Hagrid. Through all of this, Jane and Anna have been such great sports. I'm really proud of them and think they are tough as nails.

JaneJane is taking the following classes:

• Math
• Technology
• Physics/Chemistry
• Latin
• Greek
• Life and Physical Science
• International English
• History/Geography
• Music
• Physical Education
• Civics
• Art
• Religious Education
• French grammar, poetry, reading, writing

AnnaAnna is taking the following classes:

• Math
• Technology
• Life and Physical Science
• International English
• History/Geography
• Music
• Civics
• Physical Education
• Art
• Religious Education
• French grammar, poetry, reading, writing

Lucas
School for Lucas, thankfully, is a lot of playing with a little bit of work thrown in here and there. He struggled to make friends in the beginning. He was so bewildered and couldn't communicate with the other kids. Now when I bring him to school, the other kids call his name "Looo-caaas" and act excited to see him. He still wishes he could go home to "English" as he calls the U.S. now. I think school is still moderately confusing to him but he's starting to put things together. I accompanied his class on a field trip last week to the botanical gardens. It was so fun to walk along with all his excited, happy classmates. He's excited to be learning to play tennis at school on Mondays.