Tuesday - Mail Day

Tuesdays are our mail day. It used to be Tuesday and Friday but something happened along the way this year (it did start off being to do with a missing road) and now we are reduced to mail once a week. The thing about mail coming in so unoften is that every mail day is like Christmas. You wait with bated breath for parcels you know are coming to arrive or for a letter that might come (who cares if it is a bill, at least somebody sent something). Even in this age of computers, email and facebook I still love snail mail. I think I love it more because receiving an actual personal letter from someone is so rare.

Now I know that I have already posted about this here but well there is nothing like doing it again just in a different location. On Tuesday we received some long awaited mail from the school. Finally Unit 6 arrived. The unit was to have officially started on Monday and I am certain there were many parents and Home Tutors (Govies) who were champing at the bit for it to arrive so they could have started it already. Not us, we are catching up after time off school.

Until unit papers arrive we have to go onto the Education Queensland Blackboard site and print the papers for the kids to use. The papers are designed to use on the computer as they are all pdf documents but it is easier for the kids to write on them plus they get the added benefit of writing and being able to show working the right way oh and the fact that you don't use all the paper and ink. I went through half a 700 reem of paper in under a week at one stage. Four kids use a lot of paper and make it impossible to do it on the computer without four or more reliable computers (we have that) that are all connected to the internet (hmm we fall down here). But all that is beside the point.



What arrived in our school mail was Unit 6 Maths, English, Spelling and CLC (like social science and science combined) or Science for yr1, 4 and 7. We also received the yr 4 QCAT test without the stimulus text for English (got it later by email after requesting it). We received book club magazines that the order date had passed on, again. Then most excitedly for Miss S we received books sent by her teacher from the school library. Exciting stuff ... well it is for us.

On that note I am going to send the hundreds of post packs collected in our cupboard back to school I am sure one box will be enough rather that the three or more stashed in there, especially as we scan and email most work to school.

How we get our school work

I thought it was time I explained how we get our school work.

The photos shown are in our old, very messy schoolroom and were taken for who knows what reason ... I am sure I had one but I don't know what it was.

The school does lovely parcels up for us with a terms worth or units in it, well that is the plan (units go for 2 weeks). They are then delivered to us either on the mail or at clusters. If you happen to be in at school when the curriculum boxes are ready you are advised politely to take the boot load home.

 Then comes the joyful task of unpacking the boxes and finding somewhere to keep all the units until needed.

Lucky for us we will no longer have the problem of trying to find the space like we did in the old schoolroom.

The year levels are colour coded. We have orange for prep, blue for year 3 and green for year 6. It depends on the year level and the unit what you get but as a general rule you get booklets of the school work and a packet of books to with it.

In year 3 for each unit you get a learning guide, an activity book and a send in book for Maths, CLC and English as well as a handwriting book. Then the books, CDs and DVDs needed are packaged with two units together.

In year 6 however we are still working with curriculum that was put together in 1996. In these packs we get a home tutor guide, an instruction paper (for the student) and an assignment book for both Maths and LAC. We also get a handwriting and grammar book that comes with and answer book.

 Prep has a learning guide, activity sheets, supportive learning cards and feedback sheets. They do pretty much all their work in a scrapbook.

Then after all that we work through the units. I mark the maths, check spelling and try to get the kids to work as independently as possible. Then after making sure I have filled in all the feedback sheets in their various forms we send our units back on the mail or I take them into town with me and drop them in the bin at school.

It is very satisfying putting the unit in the mail bag and sending it on its way, never to be seen again. Well that is until it returns in the mail after about a month with corrections and feedback from the teachers.

The school has a 10 day turn around policy on school work and despite the fact that it only takes a week (or less) for our mail to get to school it for some unknown reason takes it about 2 weeks to get back to us.