Humpday

It is official we have made it past the mid week hump and I amazingly still have my sanity (well that's if I actually possessed any to start with). That is an amazing feat considering that we had storms big enough to keep us awake half the night on Monday night and then the neighbours ringing at 2am and 4am to tell us they were flooding. In the end they got almost 10inches of rain as opposed to our 3 and a half inches. They are all fine and so are their horses after they wadded through water to move them in the middle of the night. Their dams are still running over and they lost fences but otherwise all is well. A cyclone is predicted in about two days and big rain with it. Lets see how we fair.

And so we get back to school stuff ...

Today was day one with ALL kids in the schoolroom.

 Even Mr T dropped in for a bit and was caught being very cute reading his new books in the middle of the schoolroom floor.

After all home tutor sessions this week it has become very clear that the home tutors (governesses and parents) are not the only ones slogging through a curriculum that is as clear as mud, with no one to throw us a rope and pull us out or at least give us a rest or guidance. As negative as that might sound I actually find that I am enjoying the challenge and the kids seem to be to. They are loving the more technological lessons that rely on videos and learning episodes. 

It will be a juggle with only two computers especially next week but this is an age of technology and so it seems only right that it be involved in the students learning (just as long as they remember that the three Rs are just as important).

This new work was written with the best classroom in mind, the idealistic one that has a computer for every child, smart boards and just generally the best technology the school can bring. That means it will come fraught with problems for those (the majority) who don't have this at their disposal however with a bit of compromise and creative thinking and we will all get by.

So after all that today was a good day and I am feeling better about what we are to do even if I only just found out some of it. Each day I feel more and more like I am finding my feet and it is good to be reminded that we are all in this together, finding our way through the dark to that light at the end of the tunnel.

Chilling in some spare time

To finish off today after their Maths, English, Spelling and CLC the kids pulled out the wooden railway track that they had missed playing with over the holidays and then they toddled off to cool down in the "Bog Hole" near Grandma's place.

Speaking of cooling down our schoolroom now has wall fans to help us keep a little more comfortable and while I am updating on the building status the new quarters are now painted for the most part, have a living area and bedroom floor layed and have a kitchen. Woo Hoo! After 2 years of waiting on my part (it was my bribery to get me back after my first term) and 6 years of waiting on my bosses we are certainly getting closer now (how is that for patience?).

Kitchen from living area, door to the right is bedroom, door at the back goes to the bathroom and veranda,
door on the right goes to the veranda

Flooring down