Franklin Elementary Chinese immersion

This year we have had the fortunate opportunity to enroll Max into the Chinese immersion program starting in our school district. This is the first year of the program and children must start in the Kindergarten year. There was a waiting list so from February till August last year we crossed our fingers that Max would get in!

He attends a school in our school district but not the one Cooper and Eddie go to. Luckily there is another boy in our neighborhood that goes to the same class so we carpool with them.

Now let me tell you about the first day of school...

You see, I didn't put Max in preschool last year because I just needed that sweet little boy with me for one more year. I didn't know at that time that he would be going to all-day Kindergarten so now I'm REALLY happy I kept him with me as long as I could. As the start of the school year approached I was really excited for him and for this cool program, but I also knew I would miss him soooo much. With a very heavy heart I drove him to school on his first day and walked him into his new classroom. I walked back to the car and just cried and cried. I'm always a little sad when my little 5 yr olds start school, but usually they are only gone for half the day. I cried in the car for 20 minutes or so and then drove home. What a quiet house it is without Max talking nonstop like he does.

I'm used to it now and I volunteer in his classroom on Friday mornings. His teacher Hu Hsin-yi is the greatest teacher ever!!! We, the parents, just love her so much. She is doing an amazing job and is the sweetest lady! The kids have learned so much Chinese already. This year is mostly about learning the language. They learn math and science and the other subjects as they are learning the language too. Their teacher only speaks English when she has to tell them rules and stuff, but for the most part they just hear Mandarin all day long! The only time they are taught in English is when they go to other classes like P.E. or library or something else like that. It's amazing.

At home Max tells us the things he learns and we try to remember some words and stuff but there is no way we can keep up when he is hearing it all day long. We have fun with it though and for Charly's birthday (Nov. 9th) we all sang "happy birthday" to her in Mandarin. It was cool. She is also catching on a little. She doesn't know the English word for cat, but DOES know it in Mandarin. (mao) Cute.