Seriously, the summer vacation just flew by and I have a blog post brewing about all the fun things we did.
But in the meantime, Faith and Aaron have gone back to school.
Faith is now in Kita Gimmel (3rd grade) and Aaron is now in Kita Hay (5th grade).
Can they slow down just a bit please?
Two months of school vacation is almost over! At one point I really really didn’t think we would make it through in one piece.
But here we are, a day away from the new school year.
Last night we had the kids orientation meetings.
Faith has moved from her small kindergarten (Gan – גן) to the equivalent of Grade R or Grade 0. And she is now going to the same school as Aaron. Quite a few of the kids from her Gan have also moved to the new school and there are a few kids from other kindergartens that are joining them. There are about 25 children in her class. Her teacher seems really sweet and friendly.
When we got there the children had to colour in an apple (or a pomegranate, I’m not sure, its the first project for Rosh Hashanah) with their name on it and the parents had to write a note for the kids on a little cut out of a dove that will be given to them when school starts. Then all the kids went into the main classroom with the teacher and she read them a story about starting school. When that was finished the children had to go and find their lockers and look inside. Inside each locker was a note from the teacher wishing them luck and a sucker. Really really sweet. By the time the 45 minutes were up, Faith was quite comfortable and had picked out the friends she knew from before and made a few new ones.
A bit later we went to Aaron’s meeting in his new classroom. We were supposed to bring his stationery with but something got lost in translation. Oops. One of his friends shared his though so that was good. It seems that all the kids from his 1st Grade class move up to 2nd grade in the same class, which for our anxious boy is a good thing as he doesn’t have to make all new friends again. Speaking of anxious, he is already starting to worry about the new class and the new teacher (who is very sweet) and the work he will have to do. We have tried to explain that he will be fine, that he knows all the kids and that he knows the alphabet and the math that he needs to know. I’m sure he will settle quickly. The teacher was very sweet, when she had them all sitting she asked them who had a sore tummy (which is one of Aarons anxiety symptoms) and quite a few kids put their hands up. I think its a great way for the kids to see that they are not alone.
He was quite excited when he got home. They both were. I think they like the idea that they are going to the same school too.
So school starts tomorrow. I’m not sure who is more excited/anxious/nervous/happy, me or the kids!
Aaron and Faith started school about 2 weeks after we arrived in Israel.
Neither spoke Hebrew, although Aaron had been learning the alphabet and some basic words when he was in Grade R.
Earlier this week Israel celebrated {Family Day} and Aaron’s class held a concert and dinner after school.
We each had to contribute a food or drink item (we got sliced veggies) which we sent to school in the morning.
The concert was held in the classroom and the teachers and children had transformed the room into a stage and dining area. We were directed to our tables, with seating charts, and sat down to wait for the show to start. The children all stood up in groups of 4 or 5 and each child recited lines they had been given. In between the kids talking they sang songs and danced.
Aaron was part of the last group to stand up and speak. He was awesome. He spoke clearly and with confidence. In Hebrew. My heart almost burst right out of my chest! I am so very very proud of how far this child has come in the last 6 weeks. He is making friends, doing school work and standing up in front of a room full of people and speaking in Hebrew.
After the concert the children served us the food that we brought and then sat down to eat with us. They also made cards and small gifts for us which they presented when it was time to go home.
I cannot express enough how amazed and proud of my kids I am!
Since everyone is posting back to school photos and posts I thought it was time to tell you a bit about school in Israel.
*Please note that I may get some facts wrong. I will try to make sure that everything posted here is as correct as possible. Also note that a lot of what I am going to write is my own experience and that everyone will experience the school system differently.
The majority of schools in Israel are State Schools. This means they are funded by the Department of Education and are therefore free.
For Aaron, who is in Kita Aleph/1st Grade, we still have to pay for his books and stationary. We probably have to pay for a PTA type levy or a class fund but no one has asked us for anything like that yet, maybe because we started school in the middle of the year.
Faiths Gan (Pre-Kindergarten) also happens to be free (at least I hope so as they have only asked us for the PTA levy/class fund money and not anything else).
Children in Modi’in are assigned to schools according to their residential address, Aaron’s school is two blocks up the road from us. Faith’s is the same block as us, just on the road behind us (we can see the playground out our bedroom windows) and there is a nifty little path next to our apartment that cuts to the road behind us.
We drop the kids at school anytime between 7:30 and 8:00 and Aaron’s school day ends at 12:45 while Faith’s school day ends at 13:45.
Since we are working we have enrolled both children at aftercare. This is a paid service and you have to register through the Education Department. You can fetch the children no later than 16:45. It is quite expensive but the children are given a hot lunch (yesterday they had chicken soup, hamburgers and salad), the older kids get homework supervision and they also have some kind of entertainment, either art class or drama or something sporty.
In Gan there is no uniform at all, kids wear what is comfortable for them. In grade school the children wear a modified uniform. They can wear any pants/skirts and shoes that they like. T-shirts and sweaters/hoodies have to be plain (though can be any colour) and need to have the schools logo/badge printed on them. The stores that sell the shirts also iron on the badges.
That’s the basics.
Faith is loving Gan. She is making friends and learning Hebrew. She adores her teachers.
Aaron’s school is fantastic. They are arranging for him to have additional Hebrew lessons so his vocab will increase and they also help him along during the day too. He has made friends and is generally a very happy boy.
So far we are really really happy.
**It looks like a did get a fact or two wrong. Here is a comment that Dan left on Facebook for me:
You’ll have to pay for books every year. The school can charge an additional 1 time amount – depending on grade but with a cap set by the MoE – for extra activities (i.e. the annual trip.) The parent’s association may or may not ask for money at the start of the year but may ask for specific things – depends on the parents. The after-school is run by the municipality with no oversight from the MoE whatsoever. Education is from 3 and up in municipal schools although there are some schools in the city that are subsidized by the MoE and charge an extra fee and those any resident of the city can sign up for.
Go follow <Dan> on Twitter, he is funny and a font of information on Modi’in and living in Israel. He also likes Star Wars so he gets extra points!
… in this post…
Last week, I fetched Faith from school, put her in the car, drove to Aaron’s school, took Faith out the car, went into the school to fetch Aaron and realised that he had Playball and I was only supposed to fetch him in an hours time.
Thank heavens I managed to get us out of there without Aaron seeing us. HE would have wanted to stop Playball and come home!
Cannot wait for my two weeks leave!
So it turns out I am not totally with it when it comes to my kids and their schools.
You see, Aaron’s school closes today for about 3 weeks.
That I remembered.
But… I assumed that since Aaron was on holiday, Faith would also finish school today.
Wrong!
Faith apparently still has another week of school. Now if my amazing husband hadnt checked yesterday I would have just stopped taking Faith to school…
The other thing I kind of failed at today is that, yes, Aaron’s school does close today, at 11:30am NOT 12:30 and there is NO aftercare today!
I was happily working away when his teacher called me to see who was fetching him!
Thank heavens for one of the other mommies who offered to drop him at home for me.
So, ja, maybe I should start paying more attention to these things!
After a little bit of confusion regarding when Aaron was supposed to start school, we finally started today!
Yesterday we met Nana (my mom) at Woolies so we could buy a new school bag, we couldnt find a Ben Ten bag but we found another superhero one that came with a squeezy juice bottle and Aaron was very happy with it. I also got him his very own thermal lunch box.
He went to sleep last night chattering about ‘big’ school and his teacher and all the friends he will make.
This morning he got dressed, ate breakfast and was super excited to go to school.
I have to admit that I was preparing myself for drama. A small #AaronTantrum perhaps or at least tears and feet dragging when it came time to go to school. I was very pleasantly surprised at how cool, calm and collected my big boy was.
When we got to school he couldnt wait to show his new bag to everyone, the security guard, the moms and dads and the other kids.
He didnt even want to hold my hand which made me want to cry a little but I was strong and held back the tears with a big goofy grin instead.
We found his classroom and the teacher showed us his locker and his towel in the bathroom and then we sat down to play with a little boy called Sam. There was also a little girl whose name is Erin and the two of them found it very amusing that they have the same name. The one little girl that was at play school with him arrived and came to sit with us.
After a few minutes I told Aaron that I needed to go to work and he hugged me and off he went to do a puzzle. Not a care in the world.
Im so happy. He is such a confident little boy and I just know he is going to have such a great time at ‘big’ school.
As most of you know, Aaron started school this week.
I spent just over an hour with him on Monday, getting to know the teacher and the teaching aids, meeting all the kids, the 3 dogs, 1 cat, 1 bird and 2 tortoises that make up the play school staff.
Aaron was mostly ok and by the time they went outside to play he was absolutely fine to let me go. I came back an hour later to fetch him. Poor kid was so tired he could barely talk.
This morning was great, we arrived, went to say hello to Elvis and Presley, the tortoises and then when we came inside Teacher J took his hand and said goodbye mommy. Aaron said bye bye, gave me a big kiss and after buzzing me out the door spent a good three hours playing and learning with only a few minor wobblies.
I am so proud of my baby!
Aaron was supposed to start school on Monday. Needless to say Mother Nature has been an utter bitch this week so we decided to keep Aaron home.
I have to admit, Im a little relieved. I know he needs to go and that he will enjoy it and that it will be beneficial for him, but the thought of sending my tiny little baby big boy to school is a little nerve wracking.
Anyhoo, we will see what the weather is like next week, so long as it isnt raining we will probably send him.
Aaron is starting play-school on Monday.
We went to take a look this morning and we both feel comfortable with the lady who runs the school and with the school itself.
The hours are from 8:30 – 12pm, they get snacks and drinks, there are swings, two jungle gyms, two sandpits, tons of bikes and trikes and push prams and wheel barrows, a wendy house, four staff members and 15 children. There is a library of books and tons of toys. The other little children are friendly and range in age from 15 month to 2.5 years old. They have story time and craft time and if they dont want to listen or do the crafts then they can play or do something that they want to do.
Paul is a little hesitant to send him, he spends most of the day at home and hears him playing and gets to have cuddles and kisses whenever he wants. Rhona, the lady who runs the school, told Paul that he can pop in whenever he wants or even bring his laptop and work there if he wants to. So sweet.
So, off to school on Monday.
Big boy!!
