{Monday Memory} First Grade

 Mr. Orange started First Grade this past August.  Last spring we were informed that he had been accepted into a Chinese Immersion program.  We were thrilled, Mr. Orange, not so much.  He was not thrilled about switching schools, having to learn Chinese, going to First Grade (he thought he would have his kindergarten teacher for first grade too), etc.  Once we told him that he would be on a traditional school schedule - 3 months of summer vacation, instead of going back to year-round school - 3 weeks of summer vacation, he started to warm up to the idea.

Now that there are only three months left of school, I am so glad that we decided to have him do this program.  It has not been easy - there have been difficulties with one of the teachers (luckily she had a baby and decided not to come back), it's not the neighborhood school, so getting Mr. Orange to and from school can be a trick, there is extra homework on the Chinese side of things that he would not have otherwise, some days he says that he absolutely does not want to do this anymore and there are tears, tears, and more tears.

On the positive side of things I think his Chinese teacher is amazing.  I honestly don't know how she does it.  :)  Mr. Orange has made a class full of friends.  According to him all of the girls love him.  He is reading above grade level in english.  His math scores are awesome - that says something since it is taught in Chinese.  He is friendly to his classmates (and talks waaaaay too much in class).  Although he says he doesn't want to speak Chinese, he is fascinated with China and their culture.  He is constantly telling me new facts about China, pointing it out on a map, drawing pictures of pagodas and dragons, having me read books to him about China, and when he plays pirates in his room he slips in chinese words here and there.

There are times when I look at Mr. Orange and I can't believe how grown up he is.  I listen to him read, or go through his spelling lists with him (he is getting 17/14 on his tests lately!!), or listen to him speak Chinese and it amazes me how much things change in such a short amount of time.  I swear he was a baby yesterday and now he is a boy.

Happy Chinese New Year!

We decided to have Mr. Orange switch schools this year so that he could be involved in a Chinese Immersion program.  He has loved it.  Or, at least, I am pretty sure he does.  He is a boy and just doesn't talk like girls do.  :)  I have been very impressed with his Chinese teacher and I know he is learning what he is being taught in that class.  He especially loves the math portion (taught in Chinese).

Monday was the Chinese New Year and the immersion students put on an assembly.  Miss Pink and I went to the morning assembly and watched Mr. Orange sing some Chinese New Year songs.

After the assembly Miss Pink and I visited our local Asian Market to pick up some CNY decor.  After school we went to an Asian grocery store to find some last minute ingredients for dinner.  Guess what.  Most of the labels are written in Chinese.  I had a hard time finding what I needed!  I can't wait for Mr. Orange to be able to read the package labels!

We came home and the cooking began.  We didn't have anything fancy, it was our first year celebrating this new (to our family) holiday.  We had (really yummy) peanut noodles, stir fry vegetables (so-so), miso soup (needs work), and coconut rice (oh my! this will be a new staple at our house!).  Hopefully by next year we'll be more familiar with some other Chinese foods that we can incorporate into our tradition.  We gave the kids a red envelope with some money in it and they thought that was pretty fun.

Mr. Orange figured that since it was New Year's he could stay up late.  I finally had to tell him to turn out his light at 11, reminding him that he had school the next day!

Happy New Year everybody!