What Matthew has learnt in School so far #Blogtober17

It has been well over a month since Matthew first started school. In Ireland the class is called junior infants. It’s still very strange to see my boy all dressed up in his uniform going to big school. He is only five. I first went to school when I was six. Thought I entered first class then. The system works a bit different over in Germany. Really I figured Junior Infants and Senior Infants equals kindergarten.

So far he has been loving school. In the morning it can be still a bit wobbly especially when he has to wear his uniform and not the tracksuit for P.E day. But after talking him around a few times he is fine with putting on his shirt, jumper and trousers. You see before school he has never worn a shirt before.  As school is all new to them, they don’t get actual homework until after Halloween. During the Halloween they are off school for a week. Then it’s time to refuel for the next chapter.

He still does have to practice certain things at home. We got a sheet from the teacher about a week or two ago stating what they have learnt in the month of September and what us parents need to practice with them. One thing was to hold the pencil the correct way. Now I have to say Matthew really improved with that. He holds it the way pupils should hold them.  I don’t even hold it right. After years of writing thousands of letters, I am kind of holding it my own comfortable way.

It’s actually really funny how they learn the alphabet these days. It’s not about the spelling of the letters anymore. Now they have to say the sound of the letter. It’s also called phonics. The teacher recommended an app that can be downloaded onto a tablet for example to practice this. It’s amazing how far we’ve come technology wise. I still loved the good old chalkboard and chalk in my class room. My kids will never understand what they mean.

Letters that have been introduced to Matthew so far are S, T, N, P, I and A. Before he started school, I bought a few copy books as I wasn’t sure if the school provided these or not. I took one out the other day and sat down with Matthew to practice writing these letters. I would start off and he would have to finish the line. He has the T nailed. He still needs a bit of practice with letter P and A. I suppose there are a lot of curves and circles to it.

We have also received these letters as flash cards. The idea is to practice these every evening before he goes to bed.

Matthew is actually super excited to receive homework soon. I hope this will last.

Maybe it’s just me but to everyone whose kid started school, do they not tell you either what they did in school because they “can’t remember” or they “don’t know”?