That half hour after i collect my babe from school is my favourite time of the day because all i have to do is listen to her commentary of the days events and try to keep up with her! My role throughout is to nod and make sounds of approval.
On the odd occasion though she will talk about something unrelated to who fell out with who or who picked their nose or who threw up during the day! These conversations are the most interesting. For example, the school does "Wild for Learning" which we have to send wellies in for but that was the extent of my knowledge. It turns out that they wander around the school learning about wildlife etc and doing outdoor activities like building campfires, using basic tools and learning some survival skills. They even drink hot chocolate and toast marshmallows!!
How much fun does that sound?!
Then there are the school "visits". Day trips to places like the zoo, the House of Marbles and to the beach which makes for some unique educational opportunities whilst taking advantage of our local assets. The kids love it obviously.
The most recent beach expedition was to do with their topic and 'miraculously' they discovered a message in a bottle from a little boy. They had to write a book about the boy's journey and how he got lost then us parents went up to the school to listen to the kids read them. Of course it had to be my child that had the boy going to the carnival in Rio de Janeiro and the mardi gras in New Orleans. Where does she learn these things?!
Her first residential trip was back in the spring and they spent 2 nights at Warren Barn in Cockington. The place is only about 20 minutes away but i didn't stay away from my parents when i was 8 so it was a big deal to us.
Naturally she had a fabulous time even going so far as to be pleased that she got to wash up and help serve dinner and that they all had to clean up before they left! They did woodland walks, built shelters, went canoeing and lots of other things. There was an incident with the marshmallows that resulted in a burnt finger but oddly she didn't seem bothered.
We missed her like crazy but i was admittedly relieved when she crashed out at home and went to sleep. Sheesh that girl can talk!
Anyway, what got me thinking about all this was the appearance of the school clubs list yesterday. There are just so many things they can do such as photography, radio broadcasting, canoe club to name a few. When i was at primary school you could do football or drama and that was the only choice!
We already trek to Paignton on Monday nights for gymnastics which isn't a part of the school but, of course, she wants to do more. So straight after school on Monday she'll be doing cheerleading; Wednesday morning I'll be dropping her off at 8am for gymnastics club; I've paid £15 for her to do tennis Wednesday lunchtimes; another £18 allows her to do FENCING (!!) on Thursdays at 8am and then Fridays after school she will be at Stagestruck drama club.
Honestly i did try to draw the line but i am astounded by the variety of activities that they have access to these days. How can i refuse to let her have a go if she really wants to because Lord knows she won't get those chances when she's older?!
Literally all i could say when she reamed off her list was "Fencing?! Really?!"
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