Operation Inspiration

On a day when frustration was the watchword... the Snowbirds, Canada's version of the Red Arrows decided to give an impromptu flyby to raise the spirits of the local population.

As cynical as I am, the idea that giving people - especially young kids - a "wow! look at that" moment just for the hell of it is something I can get behind. Ottawacker Jr. loved it (and so did I) and it was a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating day.

For I am now, seemingly, a de facto primary school teacher. What sort of hell do these people, these actual qualified primary school teachers, what sort of hell do they go through on a daily basis? Now, in fairness, I knew this a long time ago and this is why I never went near a primary school when I was teaching (except for the PGCE course, which wisely made us spend a day in a class of every grade from kindergarten on up. I suspect this was to make us aware of the challenges faced at every level of education; it worked.)

You need the patience of a saint to teach these kids. I think Ottawacker Jr. is an exceptional child - smart, inquisitive, quick on the uptake, unafraid of taking on challenges - but could I get him to see the objective of today's lessons? All of it is done, of course, as per the Ontario guidelines, in French. So his teacher had done a video of the Rapunzel story. The objective was to listen to the story, pick out the main points (i.e. summarize) and then retell the story in his own way.

I keep on telling myself that he is 7. "Raiponce a une très, très longue chevelure dorée," goes the story. I mean, the idea of a witch and princes and letting your hair down so the prince can climb up... that is actually quite advanced, I think. And, for the first time, Ottawacker Jr. seemed to struggle with the concept of telling the story simply.

I managed not to clip him round the ear and tell to buck up, this is child's play, but it was a close run thing. It is not easy being a teacher, it really isn't. 

Anyway, we decided to call it a day halfway through and we went outside to kick a ball around for a while. And then an apéritif, and then the Snowbirds. Rounded off with Michael Palin's Pole to Pole, which we are now devouring en famille. Much better than Rapunzel.