I suppose some families have conversations about school that go something like this:
Parent: How was school?
Kid: Fine.
Parent: That’s nice.
That’s not the way it goes at our house.
A month or two ago, the conversation went something like this:
Me: How was school?
Junior High Kid: Mrs. So-and-So says we’re more likely to get AIDS because we live in a community that has more homosexuals. (BTW, that statement was WRONG on so many levels…) And when another student in the class questioned that statement, Mrs. So-and-So cut her off and said, “I know you like to debate, T., but it’s time to move on.”
My husband, my older son and I all freaked out for a little bit and then we had a nice conversation about statistics, the difference between cause/effect and correlation, homosexuality, homophobia, AIDS, how AIDS is transmitted etc.
We had another interesting dinner conversation last night. It began like this:
Me: How was school?
Junior High Kid: Mr. So-and-So says that if a law is never enforced, it’s not really a law.
Hmm.
FWIW, Mr. So-and-So is a wonderful teacher…he knows his material AND he challenges his students to think and to question.
If a law is never enforced IS it a law??? I’ve got a copy of a book called Really Dumb Laws. We’ve got a board game by the same title. So I know there are a lot of “laws” on the books that AREN’T enforced. There are a lot of laws that really should be removed but won’t be because no politician will ever touch them. ARE they still laws???
Junior High Kid went on to say that Mr. Wonderful Teacher also claimed that if you’re speeding and no one pulls you over, you didn’t break the law. I don’t know about that…(I wonder if something got lost in translation somewhere? I can’t believe Mr. Wonderful Teacher would’ve actually said THAT…) Just because you didn’t get caught doesn’t mean you didn’t break the law!
But see what I mean? More interesting dinner conversation.
We missed all this when College Student was Junior High Kid’s age because he was homeschooled at that age. What did we ever find to talk about at dinner???
I know what law he was talking about, too–it was the one that says sidewalks have to be cleared within 24 hours of an ice/snowfall. It’s sure as heck not enforced around here.
The M’s science teacher must be very good–she was crawling around like an amoeba the other night.
Ha! No kidding on that sidewalk clearing thing! The so-called leash “law” is another one of those…every single day I’m out on the trail I run into at least two people who let their dogs run free. And I actually am a dog lover! I just don’t appreciate other people’s dogs bothering MY dog, who IS on a leash…and I really don’t appreciate practically wiping out on my bike because some loose dog is chasing me.
BTW, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the science teachers at that school. They’re ALL wonderful!
I didn’t know that either. Can you imagine the chaos if everyone thought and acted using this philosophy!
We’ve heard some funny things too. (International Schools are good, but some teachers have different views–such as the communist who taught oldest DD IB history. They read a lot of original material–exposed but never preached to.)
Oh, but what an experience that must be for your kids…going to an International school! How many students are in your kids’ classes? From how many different countries? What is the “primary” language that is spoken there?
Each school is different. The official language is always English.
In Sao Paulo Brazil there were 1200 kids, K-12.
Halls on the outside of buildings. Wonderful year round climate–rarely hot, rarely bitterly cold.
Tall walls and guards at the entrances, because of safety concerns. (i.e. kidnapping of wealthy kids.)
Class sizes in elementary were around 18-20 kids.
Middle school classes about 25 kids. They rotate to different teachers.
High school depends on the class. They ranged from 6 kids to 25 or so. IB (International Baccalaureate) school.
Many graduates went to Ivy League–even in the 2nd quartile. This was a super school.
Portuguese and English was spoken at recess and lunch. Excellent Portuguese classes for the kids. They could speak within 6 months.
How many different countries? A lot. 60, 70, 80. Many local, wealthy kids. Kids from all over the world. A very good mix of countries, but not that many countries from Africa.
(There was also a British, French and German school in the city, so these students went to their schools.)
Finland was also an IB school.
300 kids K-12
English spoken, and although it is IB for all the grades, it used British curriculum (US grade system, but a different grading scale) and British spelling.
Elementary around 18-20 kids.
Middle School about 25 kids
High school varied per class, but there were about 25 in DS graduating class.
Foreign languages were rarely spoken in the school, but Finnish was taught. It is a HARD language and is not in the European family of languages.
How many different countries? About 25. Mostly Europe. A few from Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Iceland.
Small international school that has 40 kids this year (30 last year). The school leases classroom space from a local school. The kids attend some classes with Icelanders, like PE, Art, music, etc. About 10 kids per class–K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8.
Icelandic is spoken during recess, but not as much with the international kids. They are taught Icelandic.
Countries.(Many of these kids have a mom from the country I mention and their dad is Icelandic. (This happens a lot overseas. I can name the countries here. 🙂 US, Iceland, Britain, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Thailand, Philippines, Russia. I’m missing a European country.
Oh, usually the teachers are American or Canadian, with a few from other places. They’ve had teachers from the local countries, America, Canada, Australia, Scotland, England, Ireland, Chile. I think I remembered all of them.
And the teachers sometimes had unusual first careers, including modeling (yes she looked like a model), music star (Dave Matthews Band would play to open this teachers concerts!–his voice was amazing), engineer, tv producer, nurse. Most have always been teachers.
My youngest DD teacher is German, so she uses some German teaching methods, with a mix of British curriculum and the Singapore system.
My DS goes to a local school. IB program, which is one small part of the college. The best translation is college–because it is after mandatory education, but it equivalent to a very good junior/senior education or a community college. His classes are SUPPOSED to be in English. Do you sense my emotions. 🙂 Spanish is tough to learn when it is taught in Icelandic!
There are a few foreign students who have immigrated here in his class. Everything (except for class) is spoken in Icelandic. Including announcements and the school calendar–thank goodness for a good, fat dictionary.
Socially it is more like a college–lots of partying. (Drinking age is lower here. Lots of smoking. And other parts of life are very open here. ) My son is a homebody and doesn’t participate. Things can get pretty wild here. If there is a school party–school will start 2 hours late the next day. The parties usually end at 4 am or so.
This is probably more than you wanted. But our life is always interesting–when it isn’t mundane. 🙂
Wow! Thanks for typing all that in. It was interesting.
What brings you to live in so many countries? What do you or your husband do?
DH is a US diplomat.
He is the management officer here. This is a small embassy. So he is responsible for management, finances, human resources, his responsibilities go on and on.
And he makes sure your tax dollars are used wisely. That is important. He is good.