Wow! I can’t believe it has already been a full month since the girls started Year 1 (the equivalent of Kindergarten in the US) at Ecolint - the International School of Geneva. I am happy to report that they are both loving it! Kenzie even said one Saturday, “Mom, how many days is this weekend?” When I told her it was just a 2 day weekend she responded, “Awww, I wish it was a 1 day weekend so that we could go to school tomorrow!” I would say that is success!
The girls are in separate classes, and handled it very well right from the start. One of my favorite parts of each day, is listening to them tell each other about their days after school. On the very first day of school Kenzie wished that she was in Lexi’s class as they got to have cupcakes for someone’s birthday, and Lexi wished she was in Kenzie’s class as they got to go outside 5 times (while Lexi only went outside twice). Can’t win! Now, I would say they are both happy in their respective classes, but they still like to compare notes after each school day. They do get to see each other out on the playground which is nice, as it also gives them a chance to meet each others friends.
We are really happy with the school. It is the oldest international school in the world and has a fascinating history being very closely associated throughout its existence with the United Nations (and its predecessor the League of Nations) … it also has an equality fascinating list of alumni from Indira Gandhi, Al Gore, & Norman Schwarzkopf, to the children of both Elizabeth Taylor and Gene Kelly. The primary mission of the school is to provide a distinctive high quality international eduction in an environment that stresses the equal value of all human beings without any distinction of nationality, race, sex, language or religion. The school has students from over 145 countries and I can say there is only one other American student in each of the girls’ classes and they have probably 30 nationalities represented across their 2 classes. So it truly is a diverse school! They celebrated World Peace Day on September 21st by wearing white to school and gathering in the amphitheater to talk about kindness & peace (and make a giant peace sign).
Both Kenzie & Lexi have male teachers (and female assistant teachers) and the learning approach is very hands on/practical. They often go out into the forest to do math or to read stories and seem to be constantly moving! I often wonder how different this approach is from what they would be getting in Cincinnati. For now they both seem to enjoying this approach & love their teachers Alan & Katie (for Lexi) and Mr. EW and Sarah (for Kenzie)!
They are also both involved in after school activities. I let them choose and they opted for completely independent activities - cooking & gymnastics for Lexi and All-Around Sport & football (soccer) for Kenzie. These activities are on Tuesdays and Thursdays right after school and so far they are loving them! (Kenzie was especially excited about the School Soccer sweatshirt :)) On days that they do not have after school activities we usually linger on the playground for a bit after school - which is a quite common practice. It gives the girls the chance to play with friends without having to schedule a playdate and I also get to know some of the moms better.
My days right now are feeling quite simple. Somehow the days are filled quickly between drop off, going to the gym, French lessons, responsibilities of being class mom, grocery shopping, cooking, travel planning, pick up, playdates, etc. but they are a very different kind of “busy” than what I was used to for the past 5 years. Some days I feel guilty about it. I was so used to being constantly “productive” and stressed, that I almost don't know how to handle this more quiet period of life. But I recently ran across this quote again, and this time it really spoke to me:
“Once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed how much more life she had time for.” – Anonymous.
It made me realize that instead of feeling guilty I should be grateful for the opportunity to really embrace life with my family. I am grateful that I am able to spend this time with my girls and feel like I am making up a bit for the past five years where I was not able to be quite as involved. I love that I know their teachers, their friends, their friends’ mothers; that I am there to hear first hand what made them happy or sad or mad at school today; that I have the time to dedicate to really helping them with their reading homework; that I have the time to prepare healthy meals; that I am able to present with our girls especially since Randall has to travel so much for work.
So I can honestly say that during this first month of school we have all learned a lot.
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