School's Out for the Summer!

As Anika and I are going to bed on the eve of the last day of school here in Hawaii it makes me think of many different things.  Anika has thoroughly enjoyed going to school, liked her teacher a lot, and has grown with her abilities to read.  I think she will miss not seeing her friends she has met here at Pahoa Elementary.   
I wanted to make a list of similarities and differences between the school here and in WI.  However, my similarities are few and basic:  Kids are kids wherever you go.  You have some really good teachers (co-workers) and some not so good ones.  And the speech therapist gets housed (if we're lucky) in a room about the size of a storage closet or in an actual closet. 

Here is Anika heading to her classroom in the morning.  Notice all the steps up to the portables.



Anika's work on the wall outside a classroom.

Differences:
School started August 1st!  Portables are set up as classrooms and connected by covered walkways.  There are many ELL students from micronesian places I didn't know existed.  School hours were shorter.  You can start Kindergarten when you're 4 and it's not required.  There was no music, library, or art.  Physical education was once a month.  Vog lockdowns happened a couple times.  No Kindergarten field trips.  People who make enough money have to pay for bussing your child to and from school.  They had a Ho'ike (May Day) celebration.   There is only one recess a day (10-15 min) and the classes have designated play areas for the day. 
All in all it has been a great experience for me and I have met some wonderful people.