Our Flat

For memories sake, I wanted to post some pictures of our London flat. As you can see, we have left the decorating to a minimum since we aren't here for very long and aren't taking much back with us. The bunting is leftover from our Easter decor and I thought it livened the place up a little so it has remained

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Love this balcony and view

This little room is intended to be a dining room but when Andrew and I saw that it had doors and could be closed off we immediately knew it would be Esme's room. The flat has only 2 bedrooms officially but I don't know what we would have done without this other room option for Esme. She had such a hard time sleeping through the night when we first moved here. 

The kitchen table changes location based on whether or not we have visitors, but this is the place that works best. You can imagine that it gets a little cramped when we pull the table away from the wall and everyone is eating (also we move in the high chair). But setting and clearing the table is a breeze and we can usually reach everything we need in the kitchen without even standing up. Little perks. Also notice the little washer/dryer on the left side of the counter. People here know how to use every inch of space.

Now for the 2nd set of photos. We had to tidy up because the flat is being "shown" to prospective new tenants. So here are the photos after a some cleaning (and rearranging):

Just imagine this room completely covered in legos and you will have a more realistic idea of what it looks like in real life.

Out of the last 4 places we have lived, three had retro bright-coloured porcelain in the bathrooms. It might be a "must-have" in the next place :)

That is a tea maker in the corner btw. It came with the flat (supposedly it is an essential appliance in England). It gives me boiling water in 30 seconds flat and I use it all the time.

That, my friends, is the dumbest broom in the whole world and it is the only kind of broom I can find in this country. Someone needs to introduce them to skinnier brooms.

On the left wall you will notice a chore chart that started with SUCH HIGH HOPES...but alas, we failed. One day I will find the will to try again.

Haha, in real life we would never put a rug underneath a table like this. So many spills...

Hiking in Lake District

This was from last October...

My Thoughts on UK Education

We have a few months of school under our belts now, so I feel somewhat prepared to offer up my opinions on the educational system here. There have been moments when, in a fit of fury, I have been ready to tear into all the frustrating differences that we have experienced. But, gratefully, I now feel calm enough to highlight the good and not so good, compared to what I've experienced and expected in the U.S. Obviously this is all very subjective. I'm focused mostly on Luke's school which is a public school for Years 3-6.

The Good:

- The curriculum is challenging and sophisticated. Luke had to skip a grade because of his age (more on that later) so I've only ever experienced U.S. kindergarten curriculum before now. I'm not sure what the average 2nd grader is studying in the United States. But I have been impressed by the curriculum studied and the thoughtful activities at Luke's school. Each half-term he has a "term project" which is related to some topic that they are focusing on during that term. For Sept/Oct it was world religions. For Nov/Dec they are studying Ancient Egypt. At first I thought this was going to be a little above his head and to some degree it is. But after being introduced to these topics, I have been surprised how often Luke has brought them up outside of class. We have been able to have some good teaching moments at home and I feel like delving into some of these topics has really expanded his mind. I often felt in U.S kindergarten that while I loved Luke's teacher, she was bound to a curriculum that was a bit boring and highly regimented. When I volunteered in the classroom I always felt like what I was doing was aimed at the slowest kid in the class and the kids who could do more were completely uninterested. Keep in mind that in the UK, I technically have one of the "slower" kids in the class since Luke was not well prepared to enter this grade. But they have still managed to involve him and he is able to keep up to some degree. I just wish I could volunteer in the classroom to figure out what their secret is.

Along this same line, here is a small example of some of the things that the kids in his grade have been able to participate in so far this year:

-Swimming (they have a small indoor pool and go swimming once a week for PE)
-Italian (once a week he has an Italian lesson. I hear at the end of the year they cook an Italian meal in the kitchen)
-Create animations using the program Scratch
-Run in a cross country race at Regents Park
-Attend a tour of the Houses of Parliament and learn how the government is organized

I'm sure there is a lot more but I only get a glimpse here and there (spoiler alert: this is one of the bad things)

-Fieldtrips! It is much more affordable and convenient to get the kids learning outside the classroom in London. All kids ride free on public transport so there is no need to rent a bus for the day. Personally, I would have a brain hemorrhage if I had to supervise 30 kids getting on and off a train, but saintly teachers and staff manage to keep track of everyone and take advantage of some excellent free (or almost free) museums and landmarks around the city. Parents also are invited to volunteer on fieldtrips and I was impressed with how well organized everything was when I tagged along.  Luke has already been to the Sikh temple this year and every once in a while his class will walk down the street to the local library.

-Assemblies! There are regular assemblies at school (almost every day) and the kids are divided into 4 teams called "houses". It feels straight from Harry Potter sometimes although I think this tradition predates Harry Potter. They win "house-points" and compete against each other for the house trophy. I think because of this there is a lot of unity between grades. I was a bit nervous to have Luke be the youngest kid at school but the older kids have been really kind to him. The older girls at school think he's so cute (in that little brother kind of way) and I have no doubt that they would protect him if he was ever being teased. Luke always is giving me the update on how many house-points his team has and what funny thing happened at the most recent assembly.

The Downsides

-Parent Involvement. One of the biggest downsides for me is that I feel the partnership between parents and staff a bit awkward. In the U.S. I was always encouraged to volunteer in the classroom and I felt a high level of transparency with Luke's teacher. I really had a good grasp on what was going on at school. I also had the teacher's email address and could communicate with her very easily if I had a question or was concerned about something. Projects done at school eventually found there way home so I could see them. In London, I feel very disconnected to Luke's teacher and have very little knowledge as to what goes on every day. None of the projects completed at school ever come home in his backpack. The school does try to keep a blog updated where they will occasionally post about something going on in the classroom. But generally these feel a bit random like seeing one of two minutes of a movie and trying to figure out the plot.

Communication. The school has a policy that they do not give out email addresses for their teachers. So if I want to communicate with Luke's teacher, I have to email the school secretary (there is only one woman who runs the whole office) and she acts as a middleman between the teacher and I. I also have the option to try and pull the teacher aside before and after school. But you can imagine that a teacher who is impossible to contact otherwise, has quite a long line of parents waiting for her each day.

When I attended the school's PTA meeting (we would call it "PTA" in the U.S but it is not called that here), I felt a very subtle tension between the parents and the school. I'm still trying to put my finger on exactly what I was sensing. It is just so odd to have a school ask for parent involvement in fundraising and not really want them involved in anything else. It is really hard to feel a part of the school community when there are so few opportunities for parents to be involved or have a say in their child's education. I lack the feeling that parents and teachers are in a partnership together.

Those are my thoughts so far. I'm sure I will have a more well-rounded perspective as time goes on.