School here in New Zealand is quite a bit different than school in the U.S. And while I could tell you what I think about it, it's probably better to hear from the boots on the ground. So here's the Adorable Girl's take on school in New Zealand (typed by me while she practically sits on top of me...And now here comes her brother to tackle me from behind...oh dear...).
"In New Zealand school, we go outside a lot more than we do in America. We go outside during lunch and recess and morning tea time and we go outside for fitness (which is like gym class) and we walk outside to get to other classrooms. In America, we would be inside most of the day and walk down the hall to another classroom. Here most of the classrooms are in different buildings. I like that more.
I am in Classroom 16. In Class 16, both boys and girls love to do art. And the girls are really nice. We like to play Cat and Mouse outside and we make some friends in different classes too. And all the people in the school are really nice. And I think Mommy likes the parents too.
My teacher is Miss Watts. She's the best teacher in Third Year.
In the U.S., I would be in Second Grade but here it is called Third Year or Year Three. I am also in a house like in Harry Potter. Our house competes for points against other houses. My house is called Whero (pronounced fair-o). That means red in Maori language.
Here we wear a uniform to school. Our uniform is a yellow t-shirt with a black skirt. The boys wear black shorts or pants. I also have a black and yellow jacket. I like wearing a uniform better than having to choose what to wear every day. I even have to wear black shoes. I don't like that part so much.
Tomorrow I start swimming class at school. I have to wear my tog (my bathing suit) under my uniform. If you're in Year Three, you can do swimming for free. But if you're in Year Two, you have to pay. The swimming pool is at my school.
We also have gymnastics class. We jump on the trampoline 20 times and then we walk on a seesaw sort of balance beam and other things. It is fun.
We walk to school every day. I don't think (the Adorable Boy) likes that so much. He has to walk me to school, back to home and he has to do that again in the afternoon. He complains a lot.
Some kids at my school go barefoot all day and some kids wear shoes for half the day. I keep my shoes on except for gymnastics and sometimes for a little while while I dig stuff out of my shoes.
We are learning about New Zealand money and how a plant works. And we do a lot more reading than we did in America. Math is shorter than in America. Sometimes we have it after morning tea time and sometimes after lunch. My teacher calls math "maths."
I LIKE NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL (all in capital letters, by request)!!"
All in all, school has been an incredibly positive experience for the Adorable Girl and our family. And the Adorable Boy will be starting at the same school in just a few weeks. I see a lot of good in the New Zealand school experience, and I plan to write more about that from a parent's point of view soon. But in the meanwhile, thanks Adorable Girl for sharing your thoughts!
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