Success!

The first day of school was a resounding success!

Both boys loved their classes. They even have last period spanish together. The both purchased empandas for lunch. Alex said nobody showed him what to do, but a teacher was there and she showed him how to buy an empanda. So he got one. Andrew's student liaison showed them how to do the lunch line. (Andrew's liaison was a Junior, Alex's is just a Freshman) Andrew bought a Coke and ham/cheese empanda. Alex opted for the all queso version.

They both came home after school, pulled out their sack lunches and ate every bit of it. So perhaps one empanda isn't quite enough to last them all day. They then pulled out their pesos and we tried to figure out how much money they spent. We had to wait for dad to get home to verify... It was about $2USD for the empanda and $1 for the Coke. The boys eat lunch together, so today Andrew will show Alex how to work the lunch line.

They both essentially have the same schedule, with different versions of each class. They both will take: PE, Math, Social Studies, Science, Language, Spanish, Choir and at their new school the Computer class is required. They have an "A" day and "B" day schedule, so only 4 classes per day. Today they will meet the other half of their teachers. Their schedule will rotate within that A-B schedule:

Day A: Classes- A, B, C, D

Day B: Classes- E, F, G, H

Day A: Classes- B, C, D, A

Day B: Classes- F, G, H, E

Day A: Classes- C, D, A, B

...and so on. We were told that this is to allow students to hit their "optimal learning time" in each class during each set of rotations. Sounds just plain confusing to me.

Yesterday Andrew had PE first thing. He said the gym was FREEZING! There are only about 3 girls in his PE class, he was bummed, but he really likes the teacher. They will rotate through sessions of swimming, archery, volleyball, touch ruby, and many others that I can't remember. His Choir class was next and they will be doing more than just singing at his level. There will be other areas of choral covered like composition. He is super excited about that. They are finishing construction on the new Liberal Arts building and they should be in their new classroom in a month or two. He loved his math teacher - she was hot... (eye roll) He wasn't thrilled with his spanish class, but he's not a fan of learning a new language. He liked being in class with his brother for the last period. He says he's just going to sleep and let Alex do his work for him. Silly boys!

Alex had a great day as well. He was excited to be one of 3 boys in both of the Choir and PE classes. He has the "lady" PE teacher so he's not sure about that. He hasn't had a lady since grade school. He talked about his math teacher who is "only like 26" and won Jr. Miss America! Apparently, she's hot too... BOYS! He liked the spanish teacher and came home with just a little bit of homework.

Both boys had to print out an article for spanish class about a White Tiger that was just shot in Santiago. Their task was to find out why. Apparently, he was mauling a zoo worker. Alex had the added assignment from his math teacher to write her a letter about himself. Easy peasy stuff for the first day.

We've talked about how important it will be to do homework the day it is assigned and not wait because you have "until Wednesday" to turn it in. This A-B schedule can leave you with a sense of 'we've got plenty of time' if you're not careful.

I am also officially the Wicked Witch of the South because I have instilled a NO GAMING policy during school days (including Friday). The overall rule will be no gaming allowed. However, if they come home, work on their work, study as I see fit, and get things completed, I may decide that they have put in enough effort to sufficiently earn time to play games. Between soccer, swimming, spanish lessons, church and school. I think their time will be more limited than they think. Besides, they've played non-stop for the past 6 weeks. That should hold them over for a little while.

I can't wait to see how day 2 goes :)