End of first term

Well I was wrong about half term approaching, it is actually the end of the first term at DD1's school this week and of course if one thinks about it three months have passed since the beginning of the school year. So far, so...ok. We haven't been bowled over by the marvels being presented for our daughter's education despite her school being among the most prestigious in Santiago and within the top ten in the whole of Chile according to one proud parent, but maybe our standards are too European. The school itself is fine but exudes an air of not having been updated since the 1980s at the most recent, which includes staff, decor, teaching methods, materials, resources and general atmosphere. One gets the impression performance management has yet to be introduced in any sense of the expression. It is stuffy and formal from Year 1 onwards (incorporating little creative or ludic activity) while also being rather opaque and difficult to penetrate (like many aspects of life in Chile). I often think back nostalgically to my own experience of a standard state primary in the 1970s in the UK and feel perhaps it was further along in methodology and approach than this in many respects but my view may be blurred by time and rose-tinted spectacles. However I can't help thinking DD1 would have enjoyed making tea-cosies and embroidering pin-cushions as well as learning how to read and write at this age, but then I have to remind myself she is acquiring a third language in addition to her two mother-tongues plus is gaining something in world experience which may be of use at some point...

In the meantime DD2 has been busy at her nursery making all sorts of treats for me for mother's day which was a few weeks ago and is stimulated by lots of fun including dressing up and taking part in a recent celebration of an important naval battle in Chilean history. As part of the the latter her "class" has been doing a project on the sea and its creatures for which she and I together had to make a presentation to the class in Spanish all about the reproductive habits of the seal...Luckily a lift-the-flap book in English and a cuddly toy were enough to wow the class teacher and the children so we could bluff our way through the technical details...

Oh, and the central heating has finally been switched on thank goodness so we can now choose to heat up our apartment first thing in the morning or before bath-time at night. Quite a good week then...