Part 1: Nolan’s First Week of Slovenian School
When I was in Monterey, we had a WONDERFUL group of Foreign Area Officers’ spouses. One of the HOT TOPICS was where to send your children to school. Do you send them to QSI (International School), or do you send them to a school in that country? (Full Immersion) It seemed to me like many moms in class were a little leery of sending their children to an entire immersion school. I’ll admit, I was scared of the unknown as well. However, when we got to Slovenia, I realized that the international school was a tad out of our budget; since Nolan was only going to Pre-K, the government won’t pay for it. So I thought I would try my luck at the Slovenian school (Which I had heard was almost impossible to get into). I had nothing to lose. I walked to the school all alone and through the school’s kitchen because they don’t have a door marked enter here at all ha ha. The teacher found me and took me to the office, where they had to search the school for an English speaker. They found one! It turns out they had a child leave and had an opening for Nolan (YAY). Poor Heath doesn’t get to go because there’s a long waiting list.
Nolan’s first day (Monday) was unique; Slovenians don’t like upset children; it’s a VERY child-friendly country. EVERYONE loves children here. So they wanted to make sure that Nolan was 100% comfortable, so they wanted me to stay 1 hour with him and then leave him for an hour. The teachers told me he was GREAT!
On the second day (Tuesday) of school with Nolan, I stayed 30 minutes, then left him for 2 hours. The teacher told me that she had never seen a child adjust so well. No crying for mommy; she said he was VERY well-behaved and played very well with the other children in his class.
On the Third Day (Wednesday) of school, I walk Nolan to his classroom; they are all hammering nails into wood (Yep, welcome to Europe!) Nolan thought it was AWESOME, kissed me bye, and I left him in about 2 minutes. He stayed a total of 3 hours.
The Fourth Day (Thursday) of school was a little rocky. He had to have a time out for playing too rough. (Which isn’t out of the normal for Nolan) He ate lunch with his class and got to help everyone set up their beds for a nap; I picked him up right after lunch.
On the Fifth Day (Friday) of school, Nolan was PERFECT! I dropped him off, and the children sang songs in English than Slovenian. Nolan was VERY EXCITED that his friends were singing songs in “his words” ha The teachers told me that he was SUPER, so we celebrated with a sucker after school.
I plan to continue writing about Nolan and his school so that I can refer them here when people ask me about it. I hope to document everything we’ve experienced while in Slovenia, so I won’t forget anything (I have a bad memory; ask TY) Fingers crossed, I stick with the blog, and I make an effort to write every month about Nolan and school. If you have any questions, please let me know 🙂
Heather Goettke
Good for you for documenting every detail. I’m lucky I can get done (well, kinda) the blogs just from our trips! I definitely have to schedule time to sit and work on it or else I get distracted and forget about it. You’ll do amazing – you’re very organized! Which I am NOT:/
admin
Heather Goettkefingers crossed I’ll keep up! I love reading your blog too!
Anita Battershell
Awesome -thanks so much for sharing – being able to experience other cultures and at such a young age is such a gift !!! Excited to follow Nolan’s journey !!!
Sherry Kidd
Thank you for sharing Nolan’s school experiences with us. I love your writing.
admin
Sherry KiddThanks, Mrs. Kidd! 🙂
Brenda Downing
I am so proud of Nolan and his Mom. This is such an exciting time in all of your lives.