preschool update

Well, three months have passed since Julianna's first day at local preschool and I thought it might be a good time for an update. The short version is: She's doing great! If you want more details, keep reading :)

Julianna attends local preschool two mornings a week - it's the only preschool in our little town and located about a ten minute walk from our apartment. Matt and I prayed and talked and talked and prayed before sending her this fall. (If you are really interested, you can read more about our decision-making process here.) And, time and again, we have seen that it really was the best decision for our family.

The highlights? Julianna's Chinese speaking ability has sky-rocketed! She is getting quite good. The best part is that her confidence in speaking Chinese has increased to the point that she'll try to tell just about any story or recount any event - in Chinese or English. She's a great example of good language learning technique... she doesn't have any inhibitions about trying to say anything, and she'll launch into any dialogue, regardless of whether or not she has the vocabulary to make it through. I wish I had been less concerned about "looking stupid" or "knowing all the right vocab" when I was first learning Chinese - I would have been a much more effective learner.

A second highlight is that she really LIKES it at school. Her face is full of joy as she gets ready to walk out the door on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. "See you later Lydia", she calls as she walks out the door. Her teachers are super patient with her, and she obviously enjoys her classmates.

Another highlight? She's learning all kinds of little social games and songs - starting to "fit in" with the neighborhood kids. Kind of like a foreigner growing up in America would need to learn how to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and how to play "Ring Around the Rosy". I'm not going to teach her those "culturally linked little children games" - I don't even KNOW them myself! But she learns them at preschool. And I love seeing her have more opportunities to connect with local kids outside the classroom now that she is learning some of their language AND culture!

But it's not always a walk in the park. The worst part is that she has brought home every possible virus and germ and shared them with the rest of the family. Yuck. But doctors assure me that this is a normal thing (and maybe even a GOOD thing, as her body learns to fight off these viruses). But there are days it just about drives me crazy as a mom!

Still, it's worth it. What a great experience for all of us! Thanks for praying for her!