So I'm calling this my Christmas News letter 2018 but in reality it's a catch-up from the last two years I haven't written. (sigh)….I'm actually going to try and remember all major events from the last two years, let's see how this goes. Not all in this post, but little by little hope to do it!
So, in April of 2017, I decided to close my boutique after 2 1/2 years of breaking even and deciding that it wasn't worth it for my employees to be making more than me. Oh well. The store actually closed it's doors at the end of June but I was basically done sometime in April. At that point, people started approaching me for English classes and little by little I started finding time to do the classes and the word seemed to be spreading! I teach the classes in my home and have had children as young as 1 year and 8 months and adults up into the mid-sixties. It's great because I can do it whenever it's good for me, I don't have to rent a space and I don't have to pay any employees, yippee!!! It's only grown since the beginning to the point that I have people waiting for timeslots that I don't have available. I am still busy with my children and after 4:30pm, I don't do classes except for one day a week. It's been an amazing job and I hope to continue and eventually schedule more classes. For right now, Matthew and Julian have different activities every day and I want to be with them and support them as much as possible. There will be time for more classes in the future!
Speaking of them.....Hmmmmmmm where to start?? Julian is still in Taekwondo and likes it a lot. He doesn't participate in tournaments or anything because he doesn't like it that much so we just don't do it. He plays soccer on the Guanacaste Province team as a goalie but prefers to play the field and will probably go back to a defense position. He says he wants to play the guitar, but it seems he only wants us to buy him a guitar and doesn't want lessons. So.....we're not buying a guitar just to play with, he has a toy one for that! He's getting closer to understanding that he HAS to have classes.
Last year, the Ministry of Education changed the starting age for first grade to 6 years old instead of the 6 years and 3 months requirement before. This made it possible for him to skip kindergarten and go straight to first grade from his Preschool 2 level he was in before. It was the decision of the parents and of course I thought he could do it but obviously nervous to see if it was the right decision and if he was mature enough to handle projects, exams and special activities that they didn't do in preschool. In preschool, he always finished his work early and understood what he needed to do when his classmates were unclear what the teacher wanted from them. Almost all of his classwork had pictures drawn on the back because he finished early and didn't have anything to do. The teacher had told me this and said that many times she put him with someone who needed help and he liked doing that. Luckily his school prepares them very young on reading and writing and he already knew how, just needed to fine tune it a little. He started first grade this year in 2018 and man, has he passed with flying colors!!!!! I look at his old classmates and it's very obvious he needed to move up. He was always more mature than them and more disciplined, etc.....and it was just the perfect opportunity for him to spread his wings and fly! And he did!!! Almost all 100's on exams and projects, completed all his homework all year, and even exempted ALL his final exams! Wow! Impressive!! At the first parent-teacher meeting, the teacher said she was impressed with him skipping kindergarten, that he carried himself so well and was able to keep up with everyone. The only complaint she had and still has, hahahahaha, is his handwriting...Yes, it's MESSY, but not ILLEGIBLE! We will work on that during the vacation time we are about to begin in one week! I couldn't be prouder of my little first grader who's heading to second grade next year in February!!
Matthew is in 4th grade now and what an amazing young man!!! There really aren't enough words to express it. He got best GPA of all the elementary school (1st-6th grade) every trimester and basically that means 100's on EVERY SINGLE THING. Now, I think good grades are great and it's a great feat just to get A's on everything, but 100's???? on EVERY SINGLE THING? Not just anyone can do that because 100 means PERFECT and we all make mistakes and careless errors. So, I am one VERY impressed mommy and so, so proud, I can't even take it! He has worked so hard and this with all the other activities he participates in, I just don't know how he does it. He has soccer practice 5 days a week, cello lessons and he's an altar boy which he started this year. That means he has a mass every weekend that he's responsible for and you have to be very dedicated and consistent to be an altar boy. All these great achievements are amazing but even more than that, he's such a sweet, caring and loving boy!! He just turned 10 last month!! This boy gives hugs to old ladies he doesn't even know (but we know them) when we see people out and start talking and they say hi to him and tell him how grown up and handsome he his, he's so friendly and respectful.
So, to sum up this update, I'm in awe of both my children and am the proudest mother ever! This post will serve as a quick little update letter and I'll go back in time and tell about a few different events I can remember in separate posts. Hope to write again soon!
