Kindergarten!!!

I can't believe we have a kindergartner. Cliche, but it went by way too fast! Layla started Kindergarten on July 20th (year round, hopefully just for this year since the new school should be done for next year).

She is in the Chinese Immersion program, which means she is there for five hours a day. The first hour and ten minutes is with her English teacher who teaches English and re-iterates the math instruction that they cover in Chinese. Then recess and lunch. Then the last three hours of the day is spent with her Chinese teacher (literally a teacher from China) learning math, science, social studies, art, etc. Basically everything besides English.

with Amelia

I attended all of the meetings regarding what to expect when you enroll your child in an immersion program. But I am still uneasy with some of it. The idea of her learning things in a different language and bringing home homework that I don't understand kind of worries me. For example, she may learn about the water cycle in Chinese, and only know the word "evaporation" in Chinese. So when she comes home and tells me about it, she can only explain it in Chinese and I have to teach her the English words. They say by third or fourth grade their vocabulary catches back up. I guess as an English major the idea of my kid's vocabulary suffering kind of freaks me out. Ha, ha.

Marcus was grumpy that he couldn't go with her.

That being said, I have also read multiple studies that say how advantageous immersion programs are, so I'm focusing on that and going with it. The immersion program here goes through high school, at which point she should be just a couple credits short of a minor in Chinese. Pretty awesome, huh? I don't know if she'll ever use the language beyond that point, but it is the second world language, and being in Utah there are so many job opportunities for linguists should she decide to go that route. We were told at one of the meetings that the Utah government is trying to make Utah the model immersion education state and the top state for linguistic employers, so I figure our kids might as well take part. And who knows, maybe the Church will be able to have proselyting missionaries in China and she will be called to serve there. That would be awesome.

So, back to the first day. I didn't cry like I thought I would. (I cried for several days before, but not on the actual day.) Letting your oldest child be away from you for five hours a day after being with them every day from the day they were born is tough! But it helped seeing her excitement. Mitch had given her a Father's Blessing the night before and I think she was comforted by it. I was overwhelmed dropping her off; so many kids, so much noise. Layla actually got sad and shy, which is the complete opposite of her normal self. But she was okay and we left. When I picked her up that first day she was SO excited and happy and already knew several Chinese words. And she's been on a roll ever since!

A lot of mornings Marcus insists on wearing his "pack pack" while we drop Layla off at school. Oh, and that hat. It is trashed from falling in the lake, and two sizes too small, but he loves that hat!
 

It's seriously so weird to hear her speak Chinese! We're a few weeks in now and I'm still not used to it. She'll be telling me something and in the middle of the sentence she'll throw in a Chinese word and I think she's just mumbling and tell her to speak up and then realize it was Chinese. HA, ha, ha!!! But in all seriousness, it is amazing to me how much she already knows. It blows my mind. Oh yeah, on the first day of school she came home and said, "Mom, my Chinese teacher had me write some numbers in Chinese and I think she must have been making it up because it was silly!"

On the English side of it I went and talked to her teacher about finding her more difficult books to read. She was so helpful and went to the school library and checked out the first A to Z Myteries book to send home with Layla. She is also sending home the easy peasy books, but including a worksheet with them with questions like, "What was the problem in the story?" etc. for Layla to do in addition to her normal homework. My worry is that Layla will think school is so easy that when it gets hard she will be frustrated. I know it's just kindergarten, but when she already reads that well I want to find other ways to keep her challenged. She's a smart one, my Layla!

After the first full week of school we had to have several talks with Layla about not talking during class. She told me several times she doesn't like her Chinese teacher and I finally got it out of her that it's because she always gets mad at Layla for talking too much. (HA, ha, ha! I've known this was coming since she was three years old.) She is a talker, that's for sure! I think our little chats helped though because she seems to be doing better in this regard.

Marcus and I walk her to school every morning and she rides her scooter home with the neighbor girls. She just seems so grown up to me when I see her riding her scooter down the street with her backpack on. And the eating lunch at school thing is weird for me too. I think I miss her the most at lunch time! Marcus misses her every day and always asks me where she went, but I think he missed her less once he realized he has free reign to the toys in her room. Lol.

They told me at the immersion meetings that most of the kids would rebel, act out, throw tantrums, etc. for the first month or two until they adjust to everything. That is most definitely true at our house! She is acting like she's back to the terrible twos again and it's no fun, but it's getting better and I still think the benefits of immersion outweigh a few tantrums. We go off track in a few weeks and I'm hoping once we go back after the break she will be over that part of it.

When we moved one of our main criteria was a good school, and once I found not only an amazing school but the immersion program, I was sold. And I can see now that we made an excellent choice. I am so grateful to be here, surrounded by inspiring, kind neighbors, with access to excellent schools, and wonderful friends for my kids to grow up with. We are so blessed!