first week of school — primer semana de clases
With all the emotions that go along with starting kindergarten, the whole dual language aspect has kind of been pushed to the back of my mind. Â But since the first few days went well I’ve been able to take a breath and evaluate where we are.
Violet recently asked me, nervously, how she’s going to understand her teacher when she’s speaking Spanish.  I explained that her teacher is going to make sure she understands by using a few techniques.  Then we practiced giving commands (in my very limited Spanish) using sign-language and over-exaggeration.  “¡Necesito un baño!  ¡Por favor!  ¿Dónde esta el baño?”  She got the meaning.  Nothing like a little potty humor to ease anxiety.
I also gave her a little cognate lesson:
“What do you think “cho-co-lah-tay” means?” Â I said, pretending to eat and making yummy sounds.
“Chocolate!”
“Well, there are a whole bunch of words like that in Spanish that sound almost the same as the English words. Â Those will help you understand the rest of the sentence.” Â I also explained that learning Spanish was going to take some time and practice, like anything else. Â But the “time and practice” idea has never been a big hit around here.
The teachers spoke English and Spanish this first week, just while the kids are getting used to their environment. Â I’m okay with that. Â After all, they are in a whole new world. Â So next week they’ll really dig in to the 50-50 model. Â That is: half their subjects will be in English and half in Spanish.
The class is supposed to be 1/2 English speakers and 1/2 Spanish speakers. Â I think the ratio in this particular classroom is closer to 60/40, but that’s still doable. Â However, Violet said that, at her Table, the other 3 kids speak only English to her. Â So, as I’m beginning to suspect, many of the Spanish speaking kids in the room are bilingual. Â This means, at least for now, that most of the play will be in English. Â Eventually this will even out. Â As the kids get more comfortable and familiar with the languages, it will show in their play. Â And play is when we really learn, right?
Bueno.  Ahora soy necesito estudiar español.
All I gotta say is bravo Cheris and Rob for being the most amazingly wonderful parents!!!