A few pics . . .

     Ford's class recited poetry yesterday at the mayor's office.  They composed the poems that they recited.  Here is Ford reciting his poem:

     This is the principal of the school:

Mme. Webber

    And this is one of Ford's teachers:

Mme. Manent

     And here is his other teacher:

(We Don't Know His Name and Only Met Him Friday . . . He Started Midway Through the Year)

     In general, there's not a lot of communication between the teachers and the parents.  We've only been inside the school one time.  We know Madame Manent because she has a child at the school so we see her outside and that's when she talks with us.  Everything else happens in writing in little notes sent home in the workbooks.  And all the children refer to their teachers simply as "Teacher" (i.e., "Maitre" or "Maitresse") and not by their names.

     Here is Ford's certificate for having swam 500 meters without stopping:

    Ford's swimming instructor every Wednesday is a woman named Martine.  On Fridays Martine also teaches PE to the kids at the school.  During the summer she is also the head lifeguard at the municipal pool here in town.  She marches around the pool and twirls her whistle around her finger.   She also smokes cigarettes.  She does it right in front of the kids!  Doesn't that seem weird?  But it's not weird here.  Lots of people smoke.  The school principal smokes.  The crossing guard smokes.  Asha's teacher, Mme. Vivant, smokes.  At pickup time, lots of the parents stand around smoking and/or rolling cigarettes outside the school door.  They all do it right in front of the kids.  It's all perfectly normal.  At lunch one day at school they gave the kids a special dessert . . . little rolled up cookies which they called "chocolate cigarettes."  The kids raved about them (normally they get fruit or yogurt for dessert).  At the gym we saw an empty pack of Marlboros in the wastebasket.  At a birthday party Asha went to some of the mothers were sitting around smoking. Mind you, the smoking doesn't bother us.  But it is perplexing since you don't see so much smoking anymore in Seattle (and many people who do smoke have to kind of hide it).  Here it seems like we've gone back in a time machine to the days when it was perfectly acceptable to smoke.  But at least smoking is not allowed in French restaurants anymore.  And there are warning signs on the cigarette packages that say "SMOKING KILLS!" with pictures of shriveled up black organs.

     Here is an example of Asha's science homework (on mammals):

     Reviewing these worksheets can be a fun way for the adults to practice their French too!  (But Ed complains:  birds are also warm blooded but there's not enough space to explain).

     

     Here is an example of two real-life mammals:

"We are Mammals . . .  We Don't Have a Care in the World . . . . "