Podcast, Episode 4: All About School

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to As the Dynasty's Turn. Today we are going to be talking about school and the things that we have learned about the Portuguese school system versus the US American school system.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And we should start by explaining why our kids ended up kind of being thrown into Portuguese school one week after we moved here when we were not anticipating having to do that. So when we moved, the idea was that they would finish in U.S. online school. And for various reasons, after we moved, we discovered that that just wasn't going to happen because there were certain things that they wanted the kids to do on the ground in the US. And it's like, well, that's not going to work.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

And so no, when we were enrolling them, we had long conversations about the fact that we were going to be in a different country and they would not be in the United States. Then it was all of a sudden, oh, but you have to be at you have to be in Park Meadows and Altuna on this date because otherwise, you know, like they are required to take this test. And I'm like, well, can't we take the test in another way? They're like, no. And so it's like, okay, well, we're gonna unenroll you now.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

It was one of the first days that we were here, one of the first full days that we were here, that that suddenly happened. And so I remember we drove to a school. We didn't even really know what school we should go to, but I remember we drove up to this school and we walk in, and thank goodness for the official interpreter of our trip here, because uh I wouldn't have been able to do well to do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Honestly, I did a little, so I went into whirlwind, oh my god, problem solving mode. And for those of you who know me, you know that that's what happens. Like, okay, we're gonna have problem solve. That's fine. It will, we will figure it out. I was like, it's okay, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. Mainly because I'm trying to tell myself it's okay. Um, and so through some exact expat forums, I realized and learned that we had to have um the school records, which we had, um, we had to have the um we had to have passport sized photos, we had to have NIFs, which we had for everybody, and we had to have passports. Um, and then we had to bring all that information to what's called an agrupamento, which is a group of schools. Um, this is you know the equivalent of a district, I would say, um, in in Iowa. Um, an agrupamento can be of multiple things. Um, but that's that's what we ended up with. Um, I would also say that we um went, showed up, and they said, are you sure you want to enroll them now? And I'm like, I don't know. I they're federally required to be in school. Um, but the deal was that they had one week, no, two weeks before the end of the quarter, and then or the trimester, because that's a trimester system, and then they had one more trimester after that. Um, so we got them enrolled and they literally had a week of school, four days of school, and then we're off for two weeks for Easter vacation and trimester break. So the way things are set up, you have um primary one, primary two, and primary three. Primary, well, and pre-primary. Primary one is really um that kindergarten first and second, third. Primary two is um, no, sorry, first and second. Primary two is third, fourth, and fifth. Primary three is sixth, seventh, eight, and ninth. And that is where all of our boys ended up because secondary is actually 10, 11, 12, and you have to choose which path you're going to go. And only certain schools offer certain paths, secondary schools, towards your next collegiate or after education, after secondary education um options. So sixth and ninth. So our when we went to enroll the student, we went to enroll our kids. Um we enrolled them, they um got everything ready, they got them ready for um Portuguese, additional Portuguese development courses, like their its equivalent of ESL. They call it lingua não materna, non-maternal language Portuguese classes. They had some support, but because it was the end of the year, they didn't have as many supports as they normally would have, starting at the very beginning, um, because they were at the very end of the second trimester and the third one was going to start. We didn't know that federal law questions then about education started to determine if our kids were going to be allowed to move on to the next grade level or not. We knew they had to go to school. We knew we needed them to learn more Portuguese and we needed them to connect with other people. And I have to say that that's been a fantastic process for them. But at the same time, um, they are going to repeat the school years. And here, here are the reasons why. Um, did they pass their classes? Yes, they actually passed all of their classes. Both of them did. I had this conversation with their directors of their grades. Um, they they did very well. And if it was just based on their abilities or any of those things, then no problem, right? They could move on to the next. However, there is a federal law in Portugal that if Portuguese if they're not enrolled in a Portuguese school for at least two terms and evaluated for those two terms, they cannot move on to the next break. So since they were not evaluated in that second term because they were only here for a week of it and it was the finals area, there was no point, they didn't do anything. Um, they were only evaluated on one term, even though they passed everything in that term, they still have to go ahead and do it again, which is fine because Jack also then tomorrow there's the national math exam for ninth grade, and then he would also take a national Portuguese exam the following week, which we're talking Portuguese, we're talking about the equivalent of maybe your English literature class that you would think, oh, I had to read in the ninth grade, I had to read Romeo and Juliet and Tale of Two Cities and all of those types of things. It's that, but in the Portuguese equivalent, uh so they're reading medieval Spanish and and I mean medieval Portuguese and iambic contaminator and all these other things, and um, he's not able to do that. Jack's not able to do that. Um, Tyler doesn't have wouldn't have any exams. Um so they are going to repeat, and we literally just finished the school year for them. Um, Jack's last day of school was the 8th of June. However, he has four, I don't know this, they have four hours every day of math and Portuguese lessons that they need to go to. They're still required to go to, even if they're not taking the exams. So he's doing that. And I think he's also required to show up tomorrow morning, um, even though they're not taking the math test, and he'll have Portuguese classes that he has to go to next week as well. So technically he's done the 23rd of June. Um, Tyler's last day was the 14th of June. Um, so he is now on summer vacation, but they also get additional support. So we there are study centers in every corner and near every single school, and you pay for support, which is called apoyo. Um, and this support would be like they go in, they do their homework, they socialize. It's kind of like an afterschool program. Um, and they can focus on certain things and they'll focus on certain things with them. Um and they for their apoyo sessions, they focus on Portuguese. So they're actually doing Portuguese with um the primary Portuguese students. They're actually doing like third grade, fourth grade level Portuguese like um tests and things like that, and writings and working with them on it. And then they in turn are helping them with English doing all of that type of co-study part, which has been great. Um, Jack also goes for um two hours a week for a math review and math classes. So knowing that math here is structured very differently, um, and that they're preparing you for absolutely everything starting in the 10th grade, meaning they're preparing you for calculus in 10th grade if you need to go to engineering school, um, or they're preparing you to just know, like maybe you don't have math in your next field, but they still have to prepare everyone for if you're gonna go be an engineer, um, that he was suddenly gonna be doing trigonometry and all kinds of things that he had never had before. Um, I thought additional support would be good for him. Um, and that's turned out to be pretty good. It's like a group of four students that are in his class of 20 um students, and they work together. So um they will continue doing Portuguese this summer. They're finishing out the month of June at the supports, and they'll start again in September when they go back to school. September here will start around the 15th of September, right then. Um, and then we'll end again in the middle of June. So um, trimester program, like I've said, um the days are very different though. Like we think an eight to three school day, that's pretty much what you would be. They'd have all their classes, they might have block days, they would have their lunch. That is not the way it works here. Um, they have each one of their classes for at least three contact hours a week, sometimes four contact hours a week. They will have short days and then they will each have two long days. A long day means that they are there from 8.25 in the morning until 6.15 at Jack's level or until 5.25 for Tyler's level. Um, lunch is always an hour, and there are on long days, there are three or four 20-minute breaks built in. Um short day meaning 8.25 to 115 or 115 to 6.15, right? So um then they also have two 20-minute breaks built into that day, and then they will go around um to their different classes in different buildings, different, different rooms. Um in Portugal, you are not, and this is a pretty common practice. I mean, this is, I guess, what I saw in Spain too. As a student, you are not allowed to enter the classroom until the professor or the teacher comes. So um there are different seating areas outside of each one of the buildings. And once the teacher arrives, you're allowed to enter the building and enter into the classroom. Um, no food drink. Um, everything is also very manual. There's no one-to-one classroom. The online system is used religiously for sixth grade, not even touched by half of the ninth grade teachers, which was interesting. Um so I'd have to say that they're they're used to having to check email every day and they have their Chromebooks or their, you know, laptop or whatever. That is not the way it works here. So everything is very much pencil and paper. Um, you bring all your books with you in your backpack. There's no locker, there's not, you know, then you go into your classroom. Um they're learning how to use a compass and a protractor. Um that apparently they were supposed to start learning in fourth grade, but COVID screwed up the entire levels and now nobody knows how to use, but they have to know how to use them in order to do some of the work they're doing. So they're learning both of our boys are learning how to use a compass and a protractor, which they haven't touched before, but it's no virtual drawing or anything like that. So um, but yeah, I think that it's been a learning process for them.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Take us back to that first day of school in late March. You took the kids that day.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

I wanted, I was gonna be sick. I was like, I told Jason, I was like, Jason, they know nothing. They speak like, okay, Tyler's done duolingual Portuguese, but it's Brazilian Portuguese, which can be helpful, but it's not the same, pronounced very differently. I told Jason, I was like, Jason, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can send them. Like we had this conversation, and I'm usually the one like, they'll be fine, let them go. No, I I couldn't sleep. Um, I sat at the um pastry shop next to the school all day long. I did not come home. I was like, I can't, I can't. What if they need me? What if this goes very badly? What like, because I also have had friends who've taken their children um on study abroad and they're there for a semester, and sometimes it goes very well, and sometimes it goes very badly. And the directors of their turns had had talked about how there's a lot of bullying problems right now, and they're dealing with all of their infighting and you know, all of that kind of stuff amongst the grade, and so they weren't sure. And to be prepared that nobody was going to talk to our eldest because there are very few girls in his grade, and so all the guys are competing for all these girls. And I'm like, Jack is oblivious, he's totally oblivious, but he'll understand if nobody wants to talk to him or if they're making fun of him. I was just prepared for everything to be horrible, and I think the directors were too, they were very worried. Um, but it was it was absolutely fantastic, and also both Jack and Tyler coming changed the entire dynamic of both of those classrooms. Like ninth grade was abysmal, apparently. Like there was infighting and people throwing things at each other in classrooms and trying to corner each other, and that all stopped the moment Jack got there. Um, because they started to develop more empathy. This is also, I mean, we know this that children who were in online school and are on their devices have less empathy and less awareness and um create a lot of social drama for those of you who are teachers of shocking, right? Um but I have to say that it's turned out to be a very positive experience for them. Like their entire class, which each class is limited to no more than 21 students. Jack is a number 20 on the list, and Tyler is a number 21 in his classroom. Um they go with the same students to every single class. So these kids really took them under their wings and they quit fighting with each other, um, which is was fantastic. So it completely changed it and helped everyone grow in real ways. So it turned out really well, but I was terrified. I was ready to literally follow my children around all day long if I needed to. And Jason said, do it. I was like, I don't, I mm, hmm.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

So but they the they got through it.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

They did.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

We'll have to have an entire episode just devoted to them telling us about their thoughts about school.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

I don't know if they'll be very articulate. Let's be honest about it. And like, how's school? Fine. What do you like about it? The food sucks. I was like, oh, but the food's wonderful. I don't know. It was they both became very very more like much more adventurous in conversations and talking with people. Tyler, you know, would read and talk out loud, no problem. Jack became an adventurous eater because they ate the school lunch, um, which was provided, which was always, you know, some type of a hot meal in addition to fruit and all of these other elements. Um, they always say it's rice and some type of meat. Um, I have to say that that was impressive. Like Jack suddenly eating all kinds of things. I never thought he would. Um, and you know, going on field trips with everyone. Tyler went to Porto with his class and had a fantastic time. And, you know, Jack went and visited the university in Guimayares, which is a neighboring town, and loved it, had a lot of fun. Um, he didn't know anything. This was like literally, we had been here for a couple of days, and we're like, guess what? We're going to university today. I mean, that that literally is what he did. He didn't know anything. He got in line by the time he got there. All the chicken and beef was gone. He had to get fish that had bones in it and head and everything, and he ate it anyway. And and then they went down and got ice cream. Some kids said, Hey, come with us. And literally, he just said, Okay, and they followed him. Because while people are learning English, they don't know as much English as you would think. And you would also traditionally teachers at this level are expected to have additional development of English language. Um, but it's been years and years and years and years since any of them have maybe needed it or used it. So it really depended on the person and their confidence if they were able to use English with them.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Yeah, but they got through it. They did, and I think it was good that they've gone to school. I mean, otherwise they would have been an online school and just sitting at home all day every day.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Whereas it it also is good for us because now we have a community too. So we expanded our community, and you know, there's senor antonio who's there at the school, and you know, you have to like scan your card in and out every day, and all of those things. So I have conversations with senor antonio, and then there's you know, Jravajia at the study center, and uh just getting to know their teachers has been good. Um, and it's just a very different philosophy. We are making Jack though go on the end-of-year trip. So for ninth grade, there is a trip every year that they go with ninth, tenth, and 11th every year. There's a summer trip for all of them. And it's like 100 euros, and we are blessed enough to be able to send him on this trip. They're going to Lisbon and he doesn't want to go because he's a homebody. Um, and he's afraid that um he doesn't really know anybody. He's afraid he's not like they've been together forever and this whole year, you know, he's the new kid. Um, but we're making him do it anyway because he is now 15 and he should learn how to travel with his friends because that is a cultural norm here, and it's safe for him to do. So he's gonna learn about youth hostels and explore Lisbon with um colleagues and friends, and we'll see how that goes. But we're making him do it. He's not he's mad at us.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

He is. That's in July, maybe. Well, I don't know if we'll be able to talk to him about his experiences in Lisbon or not, but we'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

I have to say, though, that the community and the change ended up being very well. Um, by the time at the end of the first day, they both had a wonderful day. They loved it, they thought it was great, they didn't understand anything. They've used Google Translate. And if you apparently have the Google Translate app, it will also let you take pictures of things and it will record voices to the point where it'll translate what people are saying if it's quiet enough in a room. I mean, that is scary. They've learned how to do all kinds of things with Google Translate. Um, so now it's no, we're gonna write this email to your teacher and not use Google Translate to do that. Let's let's make sure we're using our resources. So um, but they they loved it. They both had friends, you know. Jack, you know, met um a boy. His name is Shuau. They moved here a year ago and he's from Brazil. And so they he speaks very good English and they kind of bonded. And um, Tyler's got several friends, and he never knows any of their names because it's Tyler. Um, but they they have several conversations and they they text each other on WhatsApp or play games, and so hopefully that will continue.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

All right. Well, join us again next time on another episode of As the Dinoson's Turn. You've been listening to the As the Dinoson's Turn podcast. Check out our blog at asthedinasonsturn.com and join us again next time for another episode.