First Day of First Grade

Julia had her first day of first grade two and a half weeks ago. 

The night before she requested crepes with Nutella for dinner (same as her birthday breakfast). Camden and Micah "helped" me make them.

 She started at a new school this year because she is in a Chinese language immersion program. She is taught in English for half the day and in Mandarin Chinese for the second half of the day. We had signed her up for the lottery to get into the program last October. They had the lottery in January of all the kids who signed up, and she didn't make it. So she was put on a waiting list and the week before school started they called us and said they had a spot for her if we wanted to enroll her.

They also have Spanish programs and a French program in the district. My first choice was a Spanish program, but really you get what you get with the waiting list. Now I'm excited for her to be learning Chinese even though it wasn't my first choice, I'll just have to work with her during the summers on Spanish (if that doesn't confuse her too much).

Julia was nervous for school. Not because of the new school, new language, or full day. Because it was her first time eating lunch at school and she didn't know what to expect. She actually struggled with it a little at first because they have so many options for lunch and get to sit wherever they want in the lunchroom, so she was a little lost on the first week (even with a fourth grader assigned to help her). I think she is getting it now.

The kids all got literary shirts for back to school. Julia got Madeleine, Camden got Don't Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus, and Micah got Where the Wild Things Are. I got a Madeleine one just like Julia's and I love it!

Julia's biggest concern after lunch has been making new friends. I thought for sure after the first day she would have some new friends. The whole first week she would come home and say, "I didn't make any new friends today." I felt really bad that we had taken her out of her old school and away from all her old friends and she still hadn't made any new friends. She has made friends now with a set of twin girls who are in a different class, but she plays with them every recess and sits with them at lunch now. That has helped her like school more. She used to say, "I hate school. It's too long and I get lost at lunch." I haven't heard that in a week.

She was pretty indifferent to the Chinese learning at first. She wasn't nervous about it, but she wasn't excited about it either. I think she is liking it more now after a couple weeks now that she has gotten time to get over the shock of only speaking Chinese half the day. She likes telling us the new words she learned and I think she likes that she knows things that we don't know. It's like her secret talent and that appeals to her. She sang a simple song in Chinese to Micah and he laughed and laughed because he thought she was being silly and making up words ;)