The kids and their International School

The kids are attending an amazing school that has me wishing I was a kid again, just so I could go there too.  I am so extremely grateful that the kids get to attend this school while we are living here.  For our kids, it's like a dream come true.  The facilities are gorgeous, the teachers are outstanding, and I love that the focus of the school is on building global citizens with strong character values who are critical thinkers that excel at collaboration and creative problem solving.  The opportunities the school offers these kids continues to blow my mind.

First day of school

Their days are broken up by many specials classes.
They have Art and Music classes, each 2 times a week.

Art room

Art room, facing other way

Maya's self portrait

Music room

Collection of instruments in Music room

They have Drama class once a week.

Drama room

Drama room stage

They have P.E. 2 or 3 times a week, alternating weeks.  On the weeks they have the third P.E. class, the whole grade has P.E. at once, so they can play team sports and the classes can play against each other.
Maya loves P.E. because they have a 6-lane, 25m length swimming pool, and they teach swimming in P.E. class, as a 6-week unit.  So she gets to swim twice a week for 6 weeks.  They are now learning how to play water polo in her P.E. class. This video is when they were racing as teams with one kid on a raft and the rest of the team pulling the raft while swimming the length of the pool.

As a family, we can all swim in the pool every Sunday before church.

This is the small gym, with a rock climbing wall on the back.

They have Korean language class 3 times a week

Twice a week they have Exploratories.  These are student-selected and change every trimester.  Maya chose Makerspace and Harry Potter.  Willow chose Clay Crafts and Amazing Games & Puzzles.
Willow loves Art and Clay Crafts because they have pottery wheels and she can sculpt and make pots. Maya not only goes to the Makerspace as part of her Exploratory but her class also visits the Makerspace as part of their lessons, so she goes in there several times a week.  She's learning how to use a laser cutter, 3D printer, hot glue guns, and soldering irons, among other things.  The kids also have the option to go to the Makerspace during recess.  Willow likes sewing clothes for her L.O.L. dolls with her friends in there.
The school is very focused on experiential learning and critical thinking, as well as teamwork.  They are almost entirely paperless, except for their art paintings, so all their work is done on their iPads or MacBooks, or written on their white-board desks in a collaborate team environment, and then wiped off when they're done.

Whiteboard desks

Because they use iPads and MacBooks instead of textbooks, paper and pencils, they also get classes in digital citizenship.  The technology curriculum focuses on how to use the internet safely and wisely.  They learn about the digital footprints they leave behind.  Willow's class required 26 different apps be installed on her iPad.  They make movies, sound recordings, take pictures, do graphic design, write in digital journals, share their work virtually with classmates, and submit all their work through apps.  They will become very tech savvy, hopefully, but also will learn to make wise choices about what they choose to post.

Each week they have a school assembly in the theater, and each week a different class leads the assembly.  The students create the slides they present on the big screen and each student has a turn speaking into the microphone from the stage to discuss their slide.  Maya's class has already had their turn.  She chose to present the Quote of the Week.
One of the interesting things they do during assemblies is to acknowledge when a new student has come from a country that isn't represented yet.  Last year, students at the school came from 44 different countries.  This year, the number went up to 56.  Each assembly they will bring up a new student from one of the new countries. The student explains their country's flag and what the colors and symbols represent.  Then they play the national anthem for that country and learn 5 interesting facts about that country, presented in a video for everyone to watch.  Then the flag gets hung in the Hall of Nations in a little ceremony.
Another fun thing they do during assemblies is to call the name of everyone who had a birthday in the previous week, showing their picture on the big screen one at a time.  All the birthday kids come on stage and then the whole school sings Happy Birthday to them, first in English and then Korean.

Charlie peeking at me during an assembly in the school theater.

All 3 kids have been on a field trip already.  Since we live in an urban area, some field trips are within walking distance.  Maya's class walked to a stationary story to buy journals.  Here's a video the teacher took during their walk.

Willow's class took a field trip to the National Museum of Korea.  Here are a few pics from her trip.

Charlie's class went to a place called Kidzania.  It's like a little kid-size town with businesses that the kids can pretend to work at.  Charlie's group got to "work" at Dunkin' Donuts, then on an airplane, and finally as veterinarians.  Here are some pics.

Charlie as a Dunkin' Donuts worker.

Charlie as an airline pilot, with his wings.

The school has an outdoor education program that includes overnight camping trips starting in 4th grade.  Maya's class will go on their camping trip in the spring, but to prepare the students, they had a sleepover at the school a couple weeks ago.  The 5th graders had to sleep in sleeping bags on the classroom floors, bring mess kits that they used during dinner and breakfast, and had to clean their own mess kits afterwards.  They played a lot of games that sprawled all over the school grounds that evening.  And somehow they had the energy to get up and attend school the next day without going home first.  Maya had a great time.


The school has a vegetable garden and a chicken coop that kids can work as one of their Exploratory options.  They learn how to compost, tend the garden, feed the chickens, and there is a greenhouse to get new plants started.

A few other cool things the school does include House and Buddies.  House reminds me a lot of Harry Potter, but there is no House Cup.  The school is split into four houses: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.  On days where they have House activities, they wear their House shirts, representing their particular House.  Earth = Green, Air = Yellow, Fire = Red, and Water = Blue.  Then the whole school participates in crazy things like water gun fights, field games, tug of war, and whatever else the P.E. teachers can come up with.  Buddies alternates with House from week to week.  With Buddies, the older grades get paired with younger grades to participate in activities.  It could be playing a game, reading a book, or tutoring.  Whatever the buddy pair wants to do.  It helps the different age groups co-mingle.

And I have to mention mindfulness time.  When I saw this on their schedule, I had to ask what it meant.  All the grades do it.  They take 15 minutes a day to slow down, do breathing exercises, listen to visualization recordings (i.e., picture a flower in your mind) and just hit the reset button.  Both teachers and students benefit from mindfulness time during their day.  I picture it as mental yoga.

Willow and Charlie have each played soccer on the weekends at the school.  They have monthly Saturday scrimmages with other international schools in the area.  It's a long day of 15 minute games with 15 minute breaks in between, but the kids get to play with their friends and kick the ball around without actually committing to being on a real team. They just wear their PE uniforms to play in.

The teachers at the school are from all over the world too.  There is a lot of diversity in the staff and faculty.  I love hearing all the accents as I walk around the building.  It's like being at Disney World! Maya's teacher is from Canada.  She also has a co-teacher from Tennessee (not pictured).

Willow's teacher is from California, and her co-teacher is from Scotland.

Charlie's teachers are from Germany and South Africa.

Each of the kids has made a few good friends already.  I'm happy they have assimilated so well in their new classrooms.  

Their school has a mix of international students and Korean students.  For a Korean student to be accepted, they have to pass an English proficiency test.  All the classes, except their foreign language classes, are taught in English.  Many of the Korean students come in from Seoul each day.  Below is a picture of one of the eight school buses that drive over an hour each morning to bring the students from Seoul.  For the students that live in Songdo, they all have to walk or ride their bikes to school.  We only live a block away, so this is nice short walk for us.  Charlie and Willow both have made really good friends with kids who live in Seoul.  If they want to come to our apartment to play after school, we have to walk them back in time to take the late bus, at 5:30pm, back into Seoul.

I have the privilege of volunteering in the library, reshelving books that have been returned.  It is a nice way for me to spend a quiet morning.  The library has 21,000 books in it and since all 670 students check out 3 new books a week, there are always a couple carts full of books that need reshelving.

I'm just throwing this last picture in here, for those who might be curious what the school cafeteria serves.  My kids pack their lunches, so they don't partake, but maybe next year.