Saturday, September 10, 2011

Back to School!



Hey, this is Clare. For once, I'm not blogging about crazy vampire stuff! Or even my own weird past. I'm blogging about something normal: our first week of school. :-)

On Wednesday, our school started up again for the autumn term. (Typically schools here begin on the first Wednesday after Labour Day unless that would cause it to be extremely early or extremely late.) Our first school "week" was only three days long - I guess the point is so we can settle in and get used to things before we get back into full swing.

I think of all of us, Charissa was the most nervous, because she was starting a school she had never been to before. She used to attend a special school for hearing impaired students, but the government decided that wasn't needed anymore and closed it, so all the kids from her old school were sent to different places. Charissa now attends the same school as Fiona, Kiwi, and Evelyn. It's the local Anglican parish elementary school. So far, Charissa says she likes it. I think it helps a lot that she's in the same class as Fiona and Kiwi, so she automatically has them as friends, and their friends are spending time with her too. It's hard to tell how the schoolwork will be for her because of her learning disabilities, but the teacher is willing to help her. I think Charissa was more worried about whether she'd have friends, anyway.

Summer and Kiwi were also a little nervous because they started school last May, so they only had two months before summer break. They were afraid it would be hard to settle in again. They said it was easier than they expected, though. It was easier than moving at almost the end of the year, at least. Kiwi is getting over how scared she was when she was kidnapped - I think the school routine is helping.

The one person having a little bit of trouble is Bree. Last school year she got caught up on the studies she'd missed because of family problems, but the one class that's still an issue for her is French. French is required here because Canada is officially bilingual. When she lived in the United States - she only moved to Canada last school year - Bree took Spanish, and they didn't even start that till high school. And honestly, according to her the school she attended didn't exactly have the most academic excellence in languages, so I'm not sure how much Spanish she actually speaks anyway.

The teachers here, though, expect that at Bree's age, she'd have been learning French for ten years or so. Last year it wasn't a big deal because Bree was so behind in all her subjects, but this year she feels pretty bad about the French. She's studying really hard already, and Felicity and Josefina have been helping her. Bree likes school, so it'll be nice if she can get to a point where she doesn't have to stress anymore.

The other girls are just starting a normal year at the same schools they went to last year, and it's going well for them.

I had a big change this year, though. I'm homeschooled now, and I never was before. I actually like it more than I expected to, because I can work at my own pace, but I admit I miss the social parts, at least from when I used to live in Nova Scotia. I didn't have many friends at my school in Colorado, anyway. Going to the public high school isn't really an option, though. Sunlight and all. Vampire. Newfoundland isn't super sunny, and a lot of days are cloudy, but it's not consistent enough that I could really be enrolled in regular school.

Kaya does online classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I like that best because we can study together. We're in different grades so we can't really work together on our assignments, but at least there's some company. Tuesday and Thursdays are going to be harder because Kaya does her co-op classes with other local students that day.

Thursday actually was good this week, though, because Inna let me come to work with her. (She works as an art historian at the provincial museum.) I did my lessons in one of the empty meeting rooms, but at lunchtime I sat with Inna and during my breaks I got to look at the art, photography, and natural history exhibits. Inna says I can come any time that it's non-sunny enough for me to go out in the daytime. That'll be really good. School for vampires doesn't have to be that bad after all!

I hope the rest of our blog friends are enjoying the new school year, too! :-)

Love,
Clare

12 comments:

  1. Everyone sounds like they had a pretty good first week back. That's always a plus! So far I have been enjoying school. My new friend Riley is in my class so I always have someone to hang out with. I think it would be fun to be homeschooled. My sis Nellie would have been if Mother wasn't always so busy with the rest of us. Glad to hear you are doing well, Clare!

    Emily

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  2. Clare says:

    Thanks, Emily! I'm glad you get to have class with your friend. It's way more fun to have someone you know there with you.

    Homeschool wouldn't have been my first choice, but I can't just quit school at fifteen, either. I wonder what career a vampire could have...

    Love,
    Clare

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  3. Happy first week of school! I'm homeschooled, so I don't have a real start date. But I like to get into the back to school spirit by buying school supplies.

    Will Bree have to catch up with her entire class in order to graduate? Or will she be able to just get her French to an acceptable level?

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  4. Clare says:

    Hi Inky! School supplies are fun. I love new school supplies - shopping for them and having them. I especially like the way they smell. The smell really makes it feel like a new year.

    To graduate, Bree will need to get passing marks in French this year and next year. She doesn't necessarily need to become as fluent as her classmates, but she has to learn enough that she won't fail a class at their level. Luckily she has people at home who can help her.

    Love,
    Clare

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  5. Hi Clare! Sounds like everyone is doing mostly okay with school so far. Are you handling the transition to homeschooling okay? Too bad they closed Charissa's old school... it doesn't seem fair to close a hearing impaired school. At least her teacher is going to help her out and give her more attention. I feel bad for Bree... learning a new language is hard, especially when everyone else in the class has more experience. At least she has someone around to help her.

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  6. Glad school is going well. Naia and I have been in school for almost a month now! Naia is used to school starting after Labor Day and I've had school start as early as August 1st.

    Good luck to Bree on her French!

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  7. Clare says:

    Hi Lucy! Yeah, the transition is going alright. I wasn't in school for awhile because of the whole... you know... getting turned into a vampire thing. So I think that makes it easier to get used to home school. I actually kind of missed my studies.

    Bree has been feeling better about French after having the weekend to relax. Hopefully she'll still feel that way tomorrow.

    Love,
    Clare

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  8. Clare says:

    Hi Naia and Rory! Wow, a month already! Although I think our school goes further into the summer than most American schools. We're still going to be in school midway into June, and most of our friends in the US will probably be out by then.

    Hope you have a good school year!

    Love,
    Clare

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  9. Settling in at a new school is really tough! We've been in school for 6 weeks now, and I am only just beginning to figure it out. Russian schools are very different from American schools! Hope everyone is doing well!

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  10. Bree says:

    I'm glad you're settling in. It must be tough to make that kind of transition - at least when I moved from the US to Canada, the main language is the same.

    I can only imagine if all my classes were in French! It's really impressive that you're adapting so fast.

    Love,
    Bree

    P.S. French is going better this week, at least so far. :-)

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  11. Sounds like everyone is getting there, adjusting to the new school year. In Star Valley, we started the day after Labor Day but this week Missy took me and Izzy with her to her grandma's. That means we probably have a pile of homework to do over the weekend.

    I think Bree should watch Jess' web show episode when Traveling Sophie tried to teach her french, lol. The girls who go to the private school, Primrose Academy For Young Ladies, learn French. Those of us in the public school don't really learn much in the way of another language. Josefina teaches us some Spanish though.

    Also, Tessa says hi to Charissa. She lost her hearing in her right ear, last year, before she moved here. She said it was a bit hard adjusting at a new school as was adjusting to only being able to hear out of one ear.

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  12. Clare says:

    Hi Kirsten. Thanks for commenting. We have a girl named Kirsten here, too. :-)

    School has been going well so far for us. It's hard settling into a routine after a break, but we're getting used to it.

    Charissa says hi back to Tessa. She's sorry to hear Tessa lost some of her hearing. Charissa was born this way, so I guess she's used to it. She hopes the adjustment keeps getting easier and easier for Tessa.

    Love,
    Clare

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