This past Wednesday we took Evan to his new school for registration. His comment when we got out of the car was, "Wow! Big!" This made me smile because his new school WILL have more students than his school in Ukraine (500+ here, 200+ there), but the building itself is smaller, probably about 90 years newer, and smells so much better!
At the moment, he's not assigned to a 4th grade teacher because the principal is waiting for the ok to hire a new teacher for his grade. There are 32 kids in one class and 33 in the other, not including Evan! That's too many kids!!!! We are hoping to know by Monday if the situation improves. I was glad we had the chance to speak to the principal for several minutes so we could introduce Evan and explain that he is new to America. She was very reassuring about her goals for students in the English as a New Language program, and expressed her support that we're putting him in a grade level below his biological age friends. We were also told about an extra tutoring program on Tues-Thurs. that we may enroll Evan in to help him further.
I showed Evan around some of the school (I used to sub there while I was going back to school for my education degree), and then a teacher friend of ours came by and gave Evan the more personal tour. His eyes just kept getting bigger and bigger! We left the school feeling very excited about his education and decided to celebrate by taking him out to lunch. After arriving at the restaurant, Evan mentions, "Um, Mom-- my tummy!" Off I sent him and Tim to the bathroom!!! I guess it was better that he got sick inside instead of in the car! I'm beginning to think some of the car sickness is anxiety related. He's been fine on numerous trips lately, both long (3-4 hours) and short, and hasn't gotten sick. We'll see what happens in 2 weeks when school officially begins.
Speaking of which, we made the decision that I'll be driving Evan to school in the morning and enrolling him in the before-school care program. This way I won't have to worry about him waiting at home for a bus, and it's not really too far out of the way to take him on the way to my new school. Tim will then pick him up after school each day since the high school gets out almost an hour earlier than the elementary schools. The other advantage to this system is that Evan won't have to worry about the "stop/start" motion of a school bus and potentially getting sick in front of his friends. Who wants to send a kid off to school and remind him to put a gallon-size ziplock bag in his backpack????
We've been working on Evan's reading and math, computer skills, and he also knows his address, phone number, and the name of his new school. He's slowly getting the Pledge of Allegiance, and we've talked about procedures in Ukrainian schools vs. American schools. Turns out you have to raise your hand, wait to talk, be respectful of others, and be a good listener in Ukraine, too! He's definitely talking SO much now, and some days it's all I can do not to shout, "STOP talking!" :-) Our little shy guy is coming out of his shell and is becoming more comfortable with all things American every day.
Where'd She Go????
13 years ago
2 comments:
Aww.
Our school has already started. However, we started Kole last year - a week after he arrived. Kole's school sounds smaller. Kole's building has probably between four and five hundred students in grades K through 4. Kole was in first grade in Ukraine and in first grade last school year here. He is in second grade this year. His school does not have English as a second language resources. However, he is in a classroom where he can get special attention. I think it will work out fine. Last year, they also had a Chinese student. Other than migrant families, that has probably been the extent of this school's ESL student population. (The high school gets exchange students every year and has occasional other-language students.)
I think I mentioned before that last year when I was bringing Kole home from school, I heard him reciting the pledge of allegiance - badly - but on his own and well enough that I recognized it.
You talked about Evan being quiet. Plplpl. We have never had that to deal with. While in Ukraine, our translator told us we sould be glad we didn't know what he was talking about because he rambled and babbled and talked about anything and everything. Now, I know exactly what she was talking about. He uses all his language every day. He just said, "oh, yea! Too cool, dude." Now - he just changed channels on the TV and came across Monster House (I think is what it's called) and got really excited about it. He said, "I love this movie! I watch it in Ukraine! It is too cool!" etc. etc. Generally, teachers tend to shy away from using the television as an educational tool, but I've heard that for those learning a new language, it is helpful. We have hosted exchange students before, too, and they have picked up quite a bit from TV.
He has also picked up "I hate" and "stupid", which we discourage, but nothing worse, so far. I do have to supervise what he watches so he isn't exposed to too much too soon. Yesterday, we went to see Ponyo in the theater, and he loved it. He was even able to tell me some about plot and why he thought certain things happened. Jefferson Hunt
I think it's a wise decision to NOT put him on the bus. His sensitive tummy aside, the bus is such a foreign place and can be tough to handle even for a non-ESL student. I think you're wise putting him in 4th vs. 5th-that extra year of growth will help Evan so much in the long run. :)
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