Grade 1

Kieran is in Grade 1 and loving it. At first he was a bit suspicious because unlike Kindergarten, they didn't have play-centres twice a day in which they got to play with the Playmobil castle or make Lego creations. When I asked what they do instead of centres, he told me, "nothing, we just LEARN!!"

Kieran's teacher, Miss Moss, is fabulous - she's creative and fun and just sparkles. How she gets 15 squirrelly 6-year-olds to sit nicely in desks is beyond me. She has decorated the classroom with IKEA stuff and, having inherited a classroom with a wierd little office in it, converted that space into a Book Nook with couches and comfy chairs and stuffies, that is Kieran's favorite spot. In fact, students from all the grades in the school come to read here, much to the delight of the Grade 1s.

His best friend is Nathaniel and they play together for hours after school, always some intense combination of Star Wars and Knight's Kingdom. Every sentence they utter during their playdates start with "And how about... "

And how about you're Obi-wan, and I'm King Jayko
OK, and how about I hit you with my light saber
Yeah but how about you hit my magic shield in its heart of power
OK, and how about then Darth Maul comes along
And how about we both go after him in our X-wings
Yeah and how about we defeat Darth Maul, but then we get back to the castle and the dragon has come and wrecked it
OK and how about we have to go back and get some more Jedi to fight the dragon
And how about we get more magic shields along the way
And how about .....

Yesterday was a Pro-D day, and Nathaniel's Dad and I took the boys up to the school and helped some other parents lay sod for the new field. The boys had a blast rolling out the sod and jumping up and down on it, and mining the ground for rocks, and watering with the really big hose, until they got bored and went to play with their Hot Wheels in the mud puddle.

Today after we all went to the swimming pool, Nathaniel came over for more Star Wars action. They had a serious game in which Luke and Obi-Wan had to defeat some pirates, and then collapsed into peals of giggles in a game in which they each had to sneakily place a sticker on the other, yelling "Tu as oublié!" when they had succeeded. The French didn't even make sense, but the accents were sublime, and it made me just think how wonderful it is that they are so sophisticated but still goofy little 6-year-olds. I'm loving it!