Recess
We thought we would submit this mid-term report via these Web pages to provide a little extra look at Kevin's school life aboard Dragonsinger. The picture above was taken on a typical day in Mallorca where it can be bright enough that the children want to wear sunglasses down below (closing the curtains is an option, but sometimes glasses just seem too cool).
Doing the weather observations for Science has been a challenge. We tried the raindrop experiment. At first, there was no rain. Then there was rain, but we didn't get organized for the experiment. Then we found rain and organization, but we used whole wheat flour which did not seem to produce the desired results. Kevin did his best to try and figure out what is going on. At least we have a lot of equipment onboard for measuring wind direction and speed, so Kevin had no excuse to do his observations of these (except that getting him to do it on time and twice a day was a challenge).
Temperature observations and local soil samples are another problem. In the cities we have been in Europe there is just not the same amount of green space as we are used to in Vancouver. We are surrounded by concrete or tile and very little else. We do have a local park, but the one day that Kevin put down thermometers to measure temperature differences we ran into more problems. Kevin wanted to measure the difference between a grassy area and a sandy area. He laid down his thermometers, but an hour later they had disappeared as it was the one day the gardeners raked the grass. Kevin ran back to the boat, we ran back to the park, and together we were able to pantomime enough to the gardeners that they produced the two thermometers having gathered that they were not the kind of thing that shows up in the park on a usual basis. I'm not certain Kevin learned much science that day, but I do know that he learned a lot about communication.
Recess
We continue to try and have regular recess. This usually involves playing with balls or riding around on the kid's scooters. Because there is so little park space, we find it challenging to exercise the kids (and ourselves).
Being so far from Vancouver provides challenges in social. There is little for Kevin to relate to and it shows in his work. We have obviously been away from Vancouver for too long, as Karalee and I couldn't remember who our local MP was, despite the fact that we make sure that we vote in all elections. Our only excuse is that the recent provincial election (which you are feeling the effects of) has made us forget the last federal election which was largely a non-event. For the record, our local MLA is Steven Owen who was elected as a liberal.
An Alternative Classroom
Having school together in the close quarters of Dragonsinger can present its own problems. One day this month, Karalee ordered Kevin and I off the boat. We went to the local cantina at the end of the dock and took over a table. We actually had a productive morning, broken up by stops for coffee, hot chocolate, and lunch. In the picture above, he is working out what to do with his quarter-section in social.
Kevin is struggling a bit with the last block of math as he doesn't fully grasp the idea of creative problem solving and thinking outside the box. This isn't reflected in the send-in sections, since in the current papers we are working on it is common that there is only one send-in for every two assignments. I am working with Kevin on the problem-solving to try and get him to have a bigger set of tools for thinking about problems.
Kevin Contemplating
Kevin's productivity is still up-and-down, but Karalee and I are working much harder on insuring that he has respect for his teachers and siblings during school. This doesn't form part of the formal GVDES program, but just as our travels enrich Kevin's learning environment, we feel our focus on his social behaviour is as important a goal for this year as the academic achievements. Your last report card on Kevin was an accurate representation of what Kevin is doing, but is not in line with what Kevin is capable of. Since I had similar grades at the same age, I am not totally surprised at how difficult it is for Kevin to focus. In my case, I was very keen on science in Grade Five and I think that for Kevin it his interest in French that is similar to my interest in science at the same age. It will be interesting to see what happens if we can get Kevin into a French school in Tunisia next year. In the meantime, regards from Dragonsinger, Kevin, and I.
David Greer
Dragonsinger
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
April 30, 2002