Myself, The Other Half, and The Boy have come to the conclusion that The Boy’s participation in German School was not a good thing this year.
The Boy really wants to learn german, and he does like to throw in the odd german word when conversing. He asked to return to German School again this year at the start of the school year, But this year has not gone well and he says that German School is too stressful and too tiring.
German School in our little country town is held at the local middle years school on a weekday afternoon from 4:15-6:00pm. Both The Boy and The Girl attend German School.
This year the German School has moved to a new location, with a new teacher and a new principal. The Boy has not coped well with the changes. I’ve been called to come and get him midway through the class. After that I made the decision to stay at the school and sit in the lobby and read a book so that I was on hand to help The Boy out if needed. But after several weeks of not being needed I decided to chance things and run to the shops. After getting the stuff I needed for dinner I arrived back at the school early and found that the class had moved to a different classroom, while The Boy stayed in the original classroom with an aide playing games. They paid The Boy $1.00 to be calm. They said they were not paying him to be good, but rather paid him to teach the aide how to play a certain game.
So after that The Other Half, The Boy and I decided that we would pull him out of German School for the rest of the year.
The Boy was greatly relieved as it was stressing him and tiring him out.
The Girl was relieved because now she no longer has to help her brother nor be embarrassed by his behaviour in class.
The German Teacher was relieved because now he doesn’t need to worry about The Boy misbehaving in class nor adapting his teaching methods to best suit The Boy.
The Principal was relieved because she doesn’t need to worry about the others in the class not getting their proper german education, nor does she no longer have to go out of her way to accommodate and ensure the adequate education of a kid with autism.
I’m relieved because I no longer have to go worry about what I am going to hear from The Girl, The Teacher and/or The Principal about The Boy’s behaviour in class that day when I go to pick up The Girl from German School. I am also relieved because I now have a happier boy again.
