Kevin's Third Term

May 31, 2002

Kevin Starts His Day

It has been an interesting year teaching Kevin while traveling through Northern Europe in the fall and then onboard Dragonsinger. Many days Kevin started with a great attitude, but then struggled to get going with school. As Kevin's teacher it has been exhausting at times trying to cope with Kevin's changing moods, but we've all learned to direct his energies in a more positive way.

Reading
Reading After A Passage

During this year, Kevin has become a keen reader. He has started expanding his range of books and while he has reread all of the Harry Potter books at least twice this year, he has tried a lot of different books and is currently keen on the Hardy Boys series of books (one of which he is reading in the above picture).

Kevin Working On French

Kevin's performance in French is a direct result of his interest in the subject. If we do arrange for Kevin to spend a term in a Tunisian French school next year, it will be interesting to see how he his French language skills improve and how he copes.

Arriving Ajaccio, Corsica, France

Much of the learning this year has taken place outside of the classroom. We have encouraged all of the children to take part in running the boat, passage planning, charting, and in exploring the interesting world that we are discovering. We don't give tests on these subjects, but we believe that in the long-term this broader view of the world will provide Kevin with an experience which he will carry through his entire life.

Medieval Festival

A couple of weeks ago while in Bonifacio there was a Medieval Festival. Kevin got to try out chain mail and the person in the picture above even took his knife and put it right up to Kevin's neck, with no harm done. Kevin and Allen also got to watch a knife being made in an open kiln. These type of opportunities have been typical of this year, where the classroom never closes and Karalee and I exploit learning experiences whenever and wherever they happen.

Kevin's formal school reflects the effort that he puts into it. We believe that he has much more potential than what he demonstrates in the classroom. But right now, he's not willing to put the focus, energy, and attention needed to raise his school work to the next level. We do believe that he will get there, but he has to do so with a commitment from within himself. We are doing our best to foster this commitment and encourage Kevin to feel good about himself all the time, but especially when he knows that he has done really well.

We have enjoyed working with you this year. The distance education experience took us some time to settle in to, but we believe that we have made a good three-way team. We hope that you have enjoyed being part of our experience and being Kevin's teacher for the year. Until next year, we wish you all the best.

David Greer
Dragonsinger
Propriano, Corsica, France
May 31, 2002

Art

Kevin has not completed all of his art work for the year. His collage (assignment five) is with this mail-in. Enclosed below are pictures of the mobile (assignment two) and the puppet (assignment three). We will submit the rest of his artwork by email when it is completed. He has done a lot of work on his wall hanging, but it is quite a large project and it will be another week or two until it is completed.

Mobile (click on picture for larger view)

Puppet (click on picture for larger view)