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Yay deacongirl! It sounds great, especially since your two older kids are already there and you know the school. I hope it works out for your DD.

deasongirl - Hope it is still working out and remains so...I would imagine it is nice to have everyone in the same place.

Katelyn'sMom- Hows piano?

My little one is doing well. She knows the sounds etc. but seems to learn words by memorization rather than phonics. I was worried in the beginning as I wanted her to know phonics as I never did. So she knows phonics but still prefers to learn the whole word method. She is quite headstrong and things must be on her terms. If the idea originates with one of the adults or is required then she will not comply. She seems to be able to tell the difference when I am just saying something and when I really mean it. So for example if she thinks I want her to take a nap then there is a lot of fuss, but if she thinks I don't care either way then she will settle down and take a nap as though it was completely her decision. Ohh for such freedom.

Hi flower. All is going well, including piano. DD's class is now learning to read in Spanish, plus working on addition and subtraction. I really do love that the school is 2 years ahead but let's face it: even this is below DD's abilities BUT since she still doesn't like to show what she is capable of at least with the advancement of her school she is getting to do more than a typical 4 yr old would in a classroom setting. Of course, DD is at the top of her class for all the work. I'm just hoping that as they continue on with the curriculum that DD accepts it is okay to move forward and not wait for the rest of the class to participate.

The only thing she doesn't seem to like is Mandarin. She absolutely refuses to use the language and has even made claim that the teacher is no longer coming to her school. haha She loves French and is fluent in Spanish. My guess is with some time she will give in to Mandarin.

Hi...It is so hard how these girls it seems in particular hide. My oldest said the other day how she wished she was not so smart. Her desire is strong to be like the other kids. My youngest was painting a few months ago at a friend's house. She was painting x's and y's. The other child, who is also advanced, was making scribbles and making up what they were. She asked my kiddo what she was painting. My little one answered, "painting". If we had been at home she would have said what she was doing without any concerns. She was not even 2 yet at the time. I was amazed that she hid so young. I think it also depends on the school. If the school has an atmosphere that acknowledges positively advanced understanding I think the children hide less. At least that was the case for my oldest.

Do you speak Spanish at home or is it just at school? Is it immersion at school? I think in other posts you said it was. Language acquisition and code switching are pretty interesting and neat to watch.

Deacongirl is the switch still good?

Gosh, I am just contemplating doing this. I'm glad it's working out.

This made me chuckle! My DD8 went to a french babysitter from the age of 1-5. She spent 2-3 days per week with this lovely lady and a few other french speaking children. We only speak English, but it was a good fit for DD because the lady spoke fluent English as well and was happy to use both languages with her. The funny part was, in the entire time she spent there, DD REFUSED to learn to speak french. By the time she was 2.5 Karen stopped translating what she was saying and DD could understand perfectly. Each time she was encouraged to speak in french she would shake her head and say "Sorry Karen, you know I don't speak Spanish." Even now she understands what is being said in french but can only say a few words. I guess she just put her foot down and refused to learn.

No, unfortunately I am pathetic when it comes to foreign language and DD has no patients with me either. When I try to talk to her I usually get a quick NO, you don't speak Spanish. On the few occasions that she let me try I was corrected sooooo many times I just gave up. She is a very critical teacher! The school is a complete immersion.

I went to pick her up yesterday and the class was a little behind and hadn't really started their valentine party. The minute she saw me she had big tears in her eyes and grabbed her bowl of fruit crying that they hadn't had a chance to share. I told her it was no problem and I can wait. She then turned to her teacher and talked to her all in Spanish but I could make out that she basically said the same thing. LOL I guess she needed assurance from both of us that it was OKAY. It always amazes me how quick she can jump from one language to the other.

On a side note, we are having some personal tragedy in our lives. DD's dog whom she loves dearly has cancer. He has a huge tumor behind his right eye and at the very least will need surgery to remove the tumor and the eye. She is devastated. The thought of your dog with only one eye is a lot for a 4 year old to deal with. We had a CT scan done today and our worst fears are coming true. It is massive and just surgery will probably not fix the problem. Now we have the hard decision of possibly having to end his life. I just can't bring myself to tell her that. We go in tomorrow to meet with the surgeon and are praying they have an option that is doable. We already lost our cat last year and it was hard on her, but I suspect losing her dog will be 10 folds worse.

Katelyn'smom- How is your dog? HOw is everyone at home? Hope things are getting clearer and that your choices are ones that are easy to understand and explain. Good Luck.

Love the story of your little one talking in Spanish to the teacher! Code switching is pretty awesome and I've seen studies that equate smoothness and speed of transition to age of language acquisition.

Oh, Katelyn'sMom!!! I am so, so sorry to hear about your dog. Big hugs to you and your family.

Our dogs are important family members, too. We lost two to cancer when DD was 3 and it was more difficult for her than I ever would have thought. These smart little kids have the most amazing sense of their own emotions. It took her a very long time to come to terms with the 'hole' in her heart (her words). They have such a capacity not just for love, but for being able to articulate it.

Katelyn'sM om- I'm so sorry to hear about your dog! Ours had cancer in the exact same place and my parents chose to remove her eye. We eventually had to put her down awhile after that but my parents really appreciated the little time they had left with her after her surgery. We also had to give up our cat recently due to DH's severe allergies (only showed up a couple years after getting the cat but they put him in the hospital multiple times), it's been really, really hard on DD and she still asks about her often.

I guess I'll be joining everyone here in about a week or so. We finally visited DD's school (we decided on a Montessori school) and they really emphasized how much they would work at DD's pace. After visiting the school we think socially-emotionally she probably won't be ready for the 3-6 classroom until she actually reaches the age but they did say they would bring materials to her room at her level. We're mostly worried about stuff like puzzles/math things since she's just been whipping through all the puzzles we've given her (we just bought her a 30 piece one for the first time yesterday and she already did it with a smidgen of help on her first try!). We have a 60 piece one coming in the mail so hopefully we'll find something challenging for her then! I'm not sure financially how we can't keep buying these, though!

Our other concern is language related since the school will be in her second language and we really thought she'd be picking it up more quickly than she has been once we moved here. She seems REALLY stuck on English and even though she can speak quite well in her second language (and her grammar is actually better than English) mostly she still speaks in just English regardless of what language she is spoken to in (surprising since no one here besides DH and myself speak both languages). The in-laws keep joking that it's her mission to teach everyone English here! I'm sure she'll pick it up eventually but I'm expecting some rough patches in between because she can be pretty stubborn if she wants to be. Then again she will no longer have her two favorite free translators with her so it might put more pressure on her to speak more.

Otherwise we're excited about the school. It has an absolutely gorgeous campus and we love that they work on more than just academics (DD seriously won't be hurt by having to pick up after herself there). The school has a video that we were able to show to DD and she kept asking to go to school and when could she start.