Category Archives: Going To English School

As introduced previously, we have taken Eli out of school to go on educational daytrips; in exchange for these excused absences, we have asked him to write a short theme. We later realized that his themes would do very well as blog posts. In order to facilitate this, I am posting both an image and a transcription of each theme (as mentioned before, the transcriptions will be literally that– we will maintain Eli’s spelling choices, etc.). Without further preamble, allow me to present the Stonehenge / Salisbury Cathedral theme, second in the series (though, let us not forget, it was written first).

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Eli's First Self-Directed Theme

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I Went To Stonehenge.

I Loved it! It was fun! I liked

the part where I went to the gift

shop because I Liked getting

my Build it yourself Stone Henge and

my Horrible Histories Book. when

I got home I made a Lego stone

henge.

I went to salisbury cathedral

I liked it! It was fun!

I liked it because it was so

BIG! My dad took a picture

of me by the medieval clock.

Going to them: I rode on a

coach.

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We include the picture of Eli “by the medieval clock” for your viewing pleasure.

Eli and the Salisbury Cathedral (Medieval) Clock

We have taken Eli out of school on two different Fridays in order to go on daytrips with the students in the London programme– first to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral, and then to Canterbury Cathedral and Leeds Castle. Since we were taking him out for the day, we decided to torture him continue his education by forcing him asking him to write a short theme concerning the content of the trip on each occasion. He has done well on both attempts. Denver (my brother) was asking when Eli was going to write a post on the blog, and we realized that his themes could serve double duty. To that end, we have decided to post both an image and a transcription of each theme (the transcriptions will be literally that– we will maintain Eli’s spelling choices, etc.). Having come to this conclusion recently, there will be a certain delay in presenting the Stonehenge / Salisbury theme, as I forgot to take a picture of it before it got sent off to school. Pending it’s return, we would like to present the Canterbury / Leeds Castle theme.

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Eli's Second Self-Directed Theme

[Editor’s Note: The two red stamps on the theme are from a toy Eli received inside a Kinder Surprise— a handstamp that says “hello” in Polish. He thought they really added something aesthetically to the presentation of his work.]

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Going To…

[Cześć]!  Hello! I wen to:

Canterbury cathedral

I liked going there! It was super

fun! I liked the staind glass

windows because they had

stories in them.

[Cześć]!  Hello! next I went to:

Leeds Castle

I liked it! it was super

super fun! I liked it

Because it was so BIG!

I liked it when I went

through the mase because

it was fun! I liked when

I wen to the gift shop

because I got a toy

Action figure. I liked

when I went to

the dog collar

museum because

I thought the

spiky collars where

cool.

Adaptation has come quickly, here in Highbury Terrace. Last Friday, I asked Eli if he was looking forward to school “tomorrow.” (Note: this is a tactic often used, and it ALWAYS seems to catch him out. Another favorite is asking him “what he did in school today” on Saturday night.) He replied, “Oh, yeah, it should be good.” I then pointed out, as I always do, that he would NOT in fact, be heading to school (unless he wanted to sit there alone, outside the closed school) and he replied, “Oh, MAN! I was looking forward to it.” This surprised us, a little, given that we think of Eli as being a little TOO easy going, and unlikely to have strong feelings on events and activities not of his own designation. I asked him what he was looking forward to– knowing that a few hours ago, I had asked him about “whether he had made friends with anyone in his class” and he had answered “Yeah, I was talking to some kids– one was named Daniel. I think. And another… might have started… with ‘C’…”– and therefore thinking it unlikely that companionship and fellow-feeling were going to be the big “draws” for him. But, no– he said he was looking forward to seeing his class. How odd. While he had days he had really looked forward to going to Acacia, he had attended there for so much longer… it seems he is finding things he likes here (and there at school, specifically).

Perhaps it is the occasional “floor show.” Eli calmly told us, after his first day, that there had been not ONE, but TWO fights. The descriptions were, in typical Eli fashion, quite vague (“Yeah… it was two girls… fighting about, I dunno, cards or something? You know, football cards? Maybe it was a boy and a girl… or a boy and a girl and a girl. Yeah. Maybe…”), but we were somewhat taken aback. It sounded like it was more shouting and squabbling than pushing and, I don’t know, STABBING. So that was good. I asked Eli if they were fighting over him (remember, central details like “what were they fighting about” are ALWAYS confused and/or difficult to remember), and he said “No. At least… I don’t THINK so…” So, perhaps, the thought that more of the “sweet science” might be on display had a hook for him. We will never know, as he could not elucidate the draw even then. It was good to know he was interested in going back, though, for WHATEVER reason.  (For more on his first day, see “Eli’s First Day of School“– and I should also say that the disturbances in his class at Laycock were NOT typical, and happened because his teacher was drawn unexpectedly from the room for a protracted period on the second day back from Christmas Holiday.)

Maybe he was just looking forward to riding that fascinating scooter. As we walk (or an adult walks and he “glides”… I’m not kidding. He calls it that.) to his school, we have the choice of walking for much of the way on the Highbury Fields border path (continuous asphalt, relatively recently paved, 6 foot or more wide), or on the other side of the street– British tiled pavements, also newish, 3 foot wide (in many areas much less); as seen in the background of almost every image here. Given the choice, he invariably chooses the pavements. Now, why, you may ask, would someone rolling along on 4 inch hard plastic wheels choose a surface with thousands of jarring seams & edges over asphalt with the occasional ripple due to tree growth? Wait for it… wait for it… he says the asphalt is (and I DIRECTLY quote him) “bumpier.”

Maybe it is this skewed interpretation of the world that has caused the immediate transposition of “football” for “soccer.” (Okay, we did coach him on that, a little, over the years– BUT STILL). The swap of “dinner” for “lunch.” The question “Are all shoes ‘trainers,’ or do some not train you to do anything? Like, do American shoes TRAIN you, or not?” The recurrent requests for biscuits. And today, the mention that they had “a tuna, a mashed poh-TAY-toe, and a salad of stick cucumber and toh-MAH-toes for ‘dinner’ at school.”

I like his idiosyncrasies, such as they have manifested so far.  (Like his use of exclamation points! At the end of every sentence! Or fragment thereof! In his book reports!) Hopefully, Finley will be allowed many opportunities to enjoy being here, even while at home with me– it would be great if she enjoyed it (and was as conscious of it) at least as much as he seems to be.

Sawyer is just going to be pissed, later, when she realizes she moved to a foreign country for a “broadening” experience when she wasn’t old enough to remember it. (And she IS already about as “broad” as she can be!)

Photo courtesy Finley Dalley