Day 2244. This was week 7 of school. They did their reading exercises every day and are getting better and better at it. This week they learned the letter "t" which is the 6th letter they have learned. Every Friday they turn in their reading sheet and get a new one with the new letter of the week on it. Today the teacher made a mistake and gave them next week's reading paper which has the 7th letter "e" included on it.
On Friday they also have a dictation every week that I have to sign. It was their third one today. Yesterday we had practiced for it but I had only done letters, not knowing that they'll have to write syllables today. Emmy was able to do it but not that Tammy. On the other hand, Tammy has been writing the date on it correctly (maybe copying it off the board?!?) while Emmy is not able to do so. However, Emmy did really well on the dictation today, getting all the letters right, and the teacher not making any markings to improve any.
The week started on Monday with me not making to the gym. I didn't make it to the gym at all this week. I've taken the opportunity for more sleep every morning and was not able to go to the gym before picking up Sammy at 1:30 pm, for various reasons.
On Monday I had two out of three students cancel on me, so no 3 pm student nor a 4:45 pm student. That allowed me to get piano practice done with the kids early and to work on some other things I usually have little or no time for. At 3:50 pm I left with Tammy and Emmy to take them to their programming class. We always do the reading exercises on the subway or train. I dropped them off before their class started at 4:30 pm, then I walked to McDonald's where I was working on my computer instead of teaching. I got back to their class a few minutes before it was over so that I could see what they had done. They had put two classes together because of a teacher being sick so that there were twice as many kids in the room, and the kids had worked together in teams. They had built machines with Lego and programmed them. It looked like they'd had lots of fun. At 6 pm we left and rode two subways home.
As for Sammy, he had done a field trip with his school class in the morning. They had walked to a nearby park and collected some chestnuts. They'd had lots of fun. I was thankful for the pictures.
On Tuesday morning our cleaning lady was back - for the first time since June because she had broken her foot. We were more than glad to finally have her back. She normally comes every three weeks to clean our house. By 12:30 pm she was done, and at 1:30 pm I picked up Sammy. At 2:30 pm I started teaching, and Randy returned with the other kids from picking them up. At 3 pm Randy left with Emmy to take him to soccer. After I was done teaching, I made their sandwiches, and at 4 pm I left with Tammy and Sammy. We took the bus, then walked to the school where Emmy has his soccer class and picked him up. Then Randy took the bus with Tammy going the opposite direction from me and the boys. He took her to her ballet class, while I returned home with the boys. By 7 pm Randy and Tammy were back home, and by 8 pm they were in bed while I started teaching.
Wednesday morning was a little different. We knew that the photographer was coming to Tammy's and Emmy's school so I was making sure they were dressed nicely which turned out harder than expected. After Randy had left with Tammy and Emmy just after 7 am, I lay back down for half an hour, then I got up to get Sammy ready for school. Randy always comes back in time to get him but by then he's in his chair with his coat on and ready to go. Sammy wanted me to unlock the door so I did. He then opened it - and hurt his fingers when the door fell shut with his fingers in the way. He was crying hard and saying he didn't want to go to school. I comforted him, then Randy arrived and took him, while I went back to bed.
I was asleep when my phone rang. It was Sammy's school. They were saying that Sammy was crying and wanting to go home, that he had a cold and that we should come and pick him up. So Randy went to get him. Back home, Sammy was absolutely fine and enjoying himself and playing hard.
I was teaching from 11 to 12 pm, then cooked lunch for the three of us. At 1 pm Randy left to pick up Tammy and Emmy and returned home with them at 2:30 pm. I didn't have to teach until 4:30 pm so I did piano practice with the kids and ended up pretty busy with them doing school work. Emmy wanted to go outside, so they all ended up going outside our building downstairs. Emmy practiced riding his bike and did pretty well which I could see when I went out on the balcony between my two students. I taught for two hours, from 4:30 to 6:30 and again from 8 to 9 pm.
On Thursday my 9 am lesson was canceled but I had another one at 10:30 am. Sammy was supposed to go back to school but he didn't want to so he stayed home for another day. The new desk for the kids to put under their bunk bed instead of their baby bed had finally arrived, and I was thankful when Randy started putting it together. He worked on it all afternoon, after having picked up Tammy and Emmy from school. As I didn't have my usual Thursday students, I did piano practice with the kids and reading practice, and they also wanted to do some other school work. Sammy was looking forward to going to his wheelchair class, but Randy said he wasn't going as he needed to finish the desk. Sammy started crying. When Randy was done with the desk by 4:30, he gave in and said he'd take Sammy who was elated. They just arrived 15 minutes late. By 7 pm they were back home, by 8 pm they were in bed, and I started teaching. I had a student every night at 8 pm this past week.
On Friday Sammy went back to school, and I lay back down until my alarm went off at 10:45. At 11:15 am I started teaching. Once I was done, Randy had left, and a few minutes later I also left to go pick up Sammy at 12:30 pm. We then had two hours together at home.
Randy picked up Tammy and Emmy at 12:50 pm and took them to their tennis class at 2 pm. As they still had time, they went to the nearby playground for a little bit. Once the class was over, they walked to the train station and took the S-Train downtown. Sammy and I took the 3:20 pm train from home and then the subway and met up with them at the stop where they got off the train. Then we took the subway together for a few stops. They showed me their dictation right away. Then I got off with Tammy and Emmy, while Randy and Sammy continued on to the train station to go home. I walked with Tammy and Emmy through the mall to the dance studio where their breakdance class had started at 4 pm. They were a few minutes late. After they had joined the class, I walked to the lounge to sit down and read. A few minutes before their class was to end, I walked back there to watch them the last few minutes. This time the teacher let the parents come inside to watch them doing their solos. I could really see progress when Emmy danced.
At 5 pm the class was over. We walked through the mall back to the subway, rode the subway to the train and took the 5:18 pm train home. Once home, I cut up fruit for their dinner; they had already eaten their sandwiches. Then Randy and Sammy came home from picking up bread. Randy immediately called the kids and told them there was a helicopter sitting on the lawn outside. Tammy's foot was hurting so she stayed, but Emmy went with Daddy and Sammy to go look at the helicopter. There had been an accident so that they had come to pick up a severely injured person. They were watching the helicopter take off and leave and were really impressed by it.
I got done cutting up fruit just in time before sitting down at the computer for my 6 pm lesson. At 7 pm I was done, and we quickly went downstairs for piano practice. Then it was bathtub time. By 8 pm they were in bed, while I sat down at the computer to teach.
