LockOut of Danish Teachers…Child’s Play?

Last time I told you about the LockOut of Danish teachers – and what the teachers have been
up to, since they’re not allowed to come in to school to teach.

But what about the students? Well, my kids have been in school for the
official classes taught by the teachers’ who aren’t ‘locked out’. Which for my
DS13 (dear son, aged 13) means a double period of Natur og Teknik
(nature/technology/science) and a double period of Idræt (gymclass).
That’s it. Four hours in the whole week!
DD11 (dear daughter, aged 11) has slightly more…five hours of Matematik
(maths). The rest of the hours are tilsyn (supervised), i.e. the
kids are basically left to their own (electronic – boom boom!) devices. Yep,
the school has said they should bring in computers, Nintendos, books, games etc
because they’ll basically be sitting on their own all day – with a teacher on
call somewhere in the building.

Expedition to see…Kon-Tiki Expedition!

Attendance at the tilsynstimer (supervised hours) is not obligatory
so we’re basically homeschooling… The kids and their classmates are here every
day. We’ve baked bread, rolls and cakes – hjemmekundskab (Home
Economics). Trips to the local swimming pool – idræt (gymclass).
Luckily the film Kon-Tiki has just been released here – Natur og
Teknik (nature/technology/science). One set of parents invited all the
boys from the class to make food in their kitchen/in their garden over a
bonfire… And, being an English teacher, I’ve selvfølgelig been giving
mini-lessons.

So, we’re two weeks in. With no end in sight. Because the teachers and
local communes are still at loggerheads and the Danish government won’t
intervene. At first the kids thought it was great fun…just like the long,
summer holidays with late nights and no early mornings! But now even they are
getting bored. Hey, I’m a teacher – I’m missing my students – sniff, sniff! And on
the news they reported that Danish grannies and grandads had had quite enough of
looking after the little ‘uns, thank you very much…

Yep, this LockOut is definitely not child’s play!

Have a great weekend!

Diane