Day 2231. The kids have completed week 5 at school. They have now learned their fifth letter which is "a" after having learned i, o, m and l. For the second Friday in a row, they have received a sheet with letters, syllables and words made up of those five letters that they have to read every day of the week. I always take a picture of it so that I have it on my phone and can do the reading with them on the subway. That's the only way I can fit it into my busy schedule. Reading is easier for Emmy than Tammy, but Tammy is making great progress. This past Friday, they had their first dictation. The teacher would say upper-case or lower-case and the letter, and the kids had to write them into their notebooks. They didn't all write them on the right line or nicely enough but did well.
Let's look back at this past week:
Monday was the only day I made it to the gym - before picking up Sammy at 1:30 pm which works much better for me as I'd rather sleep after Sammy is off to school. Randy now takes Sammy to school as he gets back early enough. What I do is to dress Sammy, put him into his wheelchair and roll him to the entrance of our building where we wait for Daddy to come and take over. That's usually around 8:15 am. Sammy is happy that Daddy takes him.
After picking him up, we usually get back just before 2 pm. He then wants to watch Peppa Pig video on the projector, drink some ice tea and have a kitkat. After I've set him up, I sit down at the computer to get ready for my student. Randy and the other kids usually return around 2:30 pm, which is when I started teaching on Monday.
After I was done, I got everything and everyone ready, and at 3:50 pm I left the house with Tammy and Emmy to take them to their programming class that started at 4:30 pm. I dropped them off and walked to the nearby McDonald's to teach at 4:45 pm. After I was done teaching, I returned to their classroom where parents can be present for the last 10 minutes to see what the kids have done. This time they had programmed a little construction they had made themselves. When they hit the button, the arm would move and hit the ball. Then they changed it to when something green is held in front of the light sensor, the arm would move and hit the ball.
When the class was over, we left and walked to the subway while they were eating their dinner. We rode two subways hom where we arrived just after 6:30 pm. I cut up their fruit for them to eat, and at some point we went downstairs for piano practice which we do every day. They went to bed at 8 pm, which is when I had a student.
On Tuesday my 4 and 5 pm student canceled on me. Randy left with Tammy at 4:45 pm to take her to ballet. At 6 pm I started teaching, and the boys were on their own, and it worked out fine. I told Emmy to look out for his brother. Just before 7 pm I was done teaching and went to the kitchen to cut up their fruit. Randy and Tammy returned a few minutes later. After our evening routine, the kids went to bed at 8 pm while I sat down to teach from 8 to 9 pm.
On Wednesday afternoon there were no classes as the swim class start has been postponed a few times as the renovation of the pool haven't finished. That allows me to have a full afternoon free to teach. I taught from 3:30 to 6:30 pm and then from 8 to 9 pm. Randy and the kids were downstairs to play.
On Thursday I taught from 9 to 10 am, then I made lunch. I had wanted to go to the gym but I was simply too tired. I returned home with Sammy at 2 pm and started teaching at 2:20 pm, before Randy got home with the other kids at 2:30 pm. My 3:15 pm student canceled on short notice. That made it less stressful for me to get ready for us to leave the house just after 4 pm.
Tammy, Emmy and I took the 4:20 pm train and then the tram for 5 stops and walked to the school where they have their weekly exercise class. Their first five weeks they play basketball, and this was the 3rd of 5 sessions. I stayed in the locker room while they were playing. They both told me later that they were able to throw some hoops. At 5:45 the class was over, and we took the tram back to the train. However, we got off two stops early to pick up some cheap left-over bread, then we continued on to the tram station where we had missed the earlier train and took the next train at 6:18 pm, so that we were home just after 6:30 pm. I was surprised that Sammy had already just gotten home; they had left early. I cut up their fruit and gave it to them to eat. After our evening routine, they went to bed at 8 pm, and my student had canceled so that I did not have to teach.
On Friday I was also teaching from 9 to 10 pm and then from 11 to 12 pm. Randy left at noon to pick up Tammy and Emmy and take them to their tennis class at 2 pm. I picked up Sammy at 12:30 pm and took him home. I'm always extremely tired on Friday so I lay down, only to get up to help Sammy with whatever he needed. At 3 pm we left the house, took the train and then the subway, then we waited on the subway platform for Daddy to arrive with the siblings. Once they joined us, we got back on the subway. I got off with Tammy and Emmy, while Sammy continued back to the train station and went home with Daddy.
Tammy, Emmy and I always barely make it to their breakdance class at 4 pm. They joined the others, while I went to the nice lounge room with the nice couch and lay down and took a nap. A few minutes before the class ended, I got back up and watched Tammy and Emmy do their improv solos and filmed them. Then the class was over, and we took the subway and train home.
Just after 5:30 pm we were back home. I quickly cut up their fruit, then sat down at the computer to teach at 6 pm. I was done at 7 pm, with little time left to do piano practice and finish their reading exercise. At 8 pm I started teaching again, while they went to bed.
Today I got up when my alarm went off at 9:30 am. Of course the kids were up early, though not as early as during the week, when the alarm gets them up. Just before 10 am I left the house with Tammy and Emmy. We rode the subway downtown, with Emmy doing his reading exercise and just finishing it in time before we had to get off. We walked to their music school where their piano class started at 10:30 am. One student was missing, so it was Tammy, Emmy, one kid and the new kid. She did all the songs again that they had practiced this past week, then did the song with actions with them. I then mentioned to her that they had been practicing this one song since end of June and would like to show what they can do. They now play the song really well at home. Tammy went up to the teacher's piano first, and I went there too to help her at the two spots in the beginning where she tends to play the wrong note. Unfortunately she was so very nervous that she got it all wrong - at least the first part. The other two parts were better but also had lots of mistakes. She was a little deflated but I encouraged her.
Emmy went next and he only made one little mistake in the beginning and played everything else perfectly. I was proud of him. Then it was already story time, followed by them getting their stickers and stamps. We went to the restroom before leaving where their teacher also happened to be, and I took advantage of talking to her about next semester as they could go to a private setting from the group setting. I'm glad I got that opportunity.
We left the music school and took the subway to the McDonald's that is half-way on the way home. Randy and Sammy met us there, and we had lunch together. We still had time after so we went to the playground that is right there for about half an hour. Emmy wanted to show me how he can hang on rings and go from ring to ring to the end. I was impressed. Tammy wanted me to watch her climb. Sammy was on the long, wide band that moves up and down and had fun there. He was making a friend there, a 7-year-old special needs girl. We got talking to her Mom and found out that she was one of two Moms the girl had. As we were about to leave for a music class for special needs children, I invited her to come with her girl but it was too much for her today. Sammy then still wanted to show me how he can walk over the hanging bridge by himself, holding on to the chains on either side, and he did great.
At 1 pm we left and took the subway back downtown and walked to their music school where we arrived ten minutes before the 1:30 pm class. There were few people there. We thought their teacher was doing the class, but it was actually one of the employed teachers who we know from the special events and from seeing her around. She is really good with little children.
We waited a few extra minutes and were surprised when there were no other kids joining us. And so it was a class just for our three children, with the focus on Sammy. His siblings have been going to the school for about 3 years, and in the early days he'd always come along and sit in the back so he knows a lot of the song and has been a part from the backseat. However, now he was the one up front and his silbings were the supporting act. Sammy really enjoyed it, being in the spotlight, the music, everything. He had lots of fun and did lots of laughing. He even sang a little.
After an hour the class was over. We then saw the kids' teacher and school founder and director who said they were doing another try-out next Saturday and other people had registered for that. She said we could come again. We then left and rode the subway home.
It was after 3 pm, when we got home, and I had a student at 3:30 pm. As always on Saturday, I was extremely tired. And then my teenage student was having a bad day giving me a hard time. And I had two hours with him, teaching until 5:30. I was glad that my 5:30 pm student had canceled. I went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches and cut up their fruit. After they had eaten, we finished reading practice, then it was time to get the homework for the Sunday maths club out that I helped them do. It all took time. When we were finally done, it was bathtub time, later than usual. After a story and prayer, they went to bed closer to 8:30 pm rather than 8 pm. I was glad to have an evening without students.
