Parent-Teacher Conference

James and Kate have been going to a Spanish immersion preschool since early September. The first two weeks or so were a little shaky, but they seem to really be enjoying things now. They adore their teachers and they each have a favorite friend in the class.

Each day starts with group singing, the calendar, the weather, and feelings. Then they split up into two groups. One group does a cooking activity in the kitchen and the other group does an art project, then the groups swap places.

At first Kate would refused to go in the group without James, but eventually the teachers were able to get them to go to separate groups, which is great, because Kate seems to prefer talking English to James and English is not allowed. In fact, if English is spoken, the whole group chants, "Uno, dos, tres, no Ingles!"

I'm so pleased with their progress. Having lived in Austria and learned to speak German, I know how tough it is to be dumped into a new environment with a new language. I can only imagine, however, how that might be for a child who doesn't understand why he/she doesn't understand anything. I stayed the first couple of days and wanted to translate everything for them. (Although I only caught half of what was being said.) I felt so bad for Kate when the teacher asked her what color paint she wanted to use and Kate just stared back at her. "Pink. She wants pink." I wanted to say. Instead, I just watched on as my kids' faces returned blank stares to the teacher.

Leaving them on their own was hard those first few days. In fact, the first day I left them, I just sat in the car outside the school for the entire three hours. I knew James and Kate were confused and would struggle, but patience and perseverance on every one's part (especially the teachers!) seems to be paying off.

Parent-Teacher conferences were last week. James and Kate are both doing great! The teacher kept telling me about things they were doing/saying, and I'd say, "He says that in Spanish?!" "Of course" was the teacher's reply. You can see their cute class in the photos below and also some of the specifics one of the teachers wrote on their report. I'm so darn proud of my little three-year-olds!