Week 4 - Monday to Thursday

Not a huge amount to report this week…….

Got the first tick jabs done. For more information about this, please see http://www.englishforum.ch/family-matters-health/27647-ticks-forest-vaccination.html

It’s quite scary really, and I’m a bit alarmed that it took nearly a year of us being here and taking full advantage of the outdoors lifestyle before I found out about it – it would help if new residents were made aware of the dangers when they register, particularly as Kanton Zurich is rife with the little sods.

The problem seems to be that if you are asked if you’ve had all your jabs, then the answer is yes – because you probably have, but if you’ve lived in a non-tick problem country (like England) then you won’t have had this particular jab, therefore exposing yourself to risk, unwittingly. When I explained to both doctors receptionists here that we needed the tick inoculation course because we don’t have this problem in the UK, they both looked completely baffled – but then I’m not sure if that was the whole concept or just my German…..

Anyway, we’re on the case now. It’s the first jab now, another one in a month’s time and the final one about 9-12 months after that.

J gets a letter saying he’ll have 2 extra Deutsch lessons per week – his teacher has already told us that she doesn’t want him removed from the class for a large amount of time as if they did that would be difficult for him to keep up. He seems happy enough with his allocation, anyway.

J also starts to stay after school for a couple of reasons – the first being when he’s not finished a task in the time allotted during class and needs to finish it ….. and the second being when his teacher says they are allowed to stay on to do their homework until 4pm. They did mention wanting to start a homework club at the school during the brain-ache parents meeting in the second week, but I don’t think this is it, and I ain’t volunteering to help with that one.

The work that J brings home (Grade 4) is about the same level as the stuff he was doing last year in the international school, and is very structured. But they are seriously hot on presenting the work beautifully – which he needs to work on ;) and there is a great deal of it.

The work that C is bringing home (Grade 2) is also about the same level [or slightly easier – if your mother tongue is German ;)] and, again is very structured. I have no problem with this: from what I can see, they all catch up in the end, and at least my children have an opportunity for a little breathing space to get to grips with the language before they are accelerated again. After all, the language learning itself accelerates them.