The Big School Switch

We recently made a whirlwind decision to jump at an opening in a Chinese language immersion program in a neighboring elementary school. We decided to say we'd be interested on a Thursday morning and by that afternoon we found out that Rachel needed to begin at the new school the next Monday. She was so excited at the idea of learning Chinese, but she was sad to say goodbye to her friends. Bringing pink sugar cookies helped soften the blow a little bit. However halfway through her first week we went back to say a better goodbye to Mrs. Birrell. She was such a kind teacher that Rachel really loved. She had great art ideas that we will miss. It was hard being back at this school because Rachel really has had some great experiences here and made some very sweet friends.
They made her this book which brought Bridget and Rachel to tears by the end. Each of her classmates wrote a sweet note and drew a picture for our girl.
To say thank you we made her old class this poster and brought some fortune cookies on Chinese New Years.
In her new school Rachel has been a little overwhelmed at the prospect of catching up with the other kids on Chinese (they have been in this program since kindergarten). She has two fabulous new teachers - English in the morning and Chinese in the afternoon. And, she has made some good friends already. We've had lots of talks about how we can do hard things and how she needs to be patient with herself and she really is learning a lot and her teacher is hoping she'll be caught up with the language by the end of the school year and be on track for 2nd grade Chinese. For Chinese New Years the students hosted a great assembly which has been a hugely wonderful distraction for Rachel. Here she is inside the dragon for the opening parade.
The second graders (the first group of students to be in the immersion program) were incredible. The boys started off with kung fu moves and the girls did dances, twirled parasols, did flips, and ended with some confetti explosions.)
The first graders were very cute and sang songs about the different Chinese years...
and wore these masks which Josie dubbed as "sad babies". They also performed a fan dance, which was Rachel's favorite.
We had some very happy spectators (Grandpa came too!).
And a sister excited about an excuse to dress up.
We're really proud of Rachel for trying something so hard and hope that it will be a great experience. We're already learning a lot about Chinese and China and think this is going to be a great thing for our family - Josie and Ian are now guaranteed a spot in future classes. We hope that you're all enjoying the year of the dragon!