Comments:

teranika - 2006-09-13 13:36:01
I'm glad to hear that your school is providing these steps for AJ. My friend blighty had a similar problem in the UK - except that when her 8-yr-old son tested out at the 5th-grade level, the principal simply said, "well, he'll have no problem passing the qualifying exams once he reaches the 5th year, then, will he?" At which point her children were rather quickly removed from the school and placed somewhere they will have a challenge. It's also nice that AJ will already know that there are other cultures out there, at the age of 5 - my niece had a wonderful kindergarten teacher, but she lives a wonderbread life.
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Smed - 2006-09-13 13:43:21
Katie is learning Spanish at Montessori, and we have so many ESL kids here now Spanish will no doubt be taught to everyone at some point.
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Claudia - 2006-09-13 13:58:05
Good news indeed! Yes, I've contacted Dusty's G&T teacher as well. I'm also looking into some program called Odyssey of the Mind which is system-wide and sounds like a great opportunity to take advantage of.
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Tia - 2006-09-13 14:01:30
Too funny! That's like, "Mom, today I learned 'fermez le bouche!'"
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sparkspark - 2006-09-13 14:05:26
I hope it's the first of many useful phrases. XOXO Violet
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rs - 2006-09-13 14:11:26
It'll be interesting to hear what the sigted teacher has to offer. That's terrific that the GT teacher had already heard about AJ.
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Harriet - 2006-09-13 14:40:23
The funniest thing about the "Cierra la boca" is that AJ figured out what it meant by himself -- clearly the context was obvious. Plus if you were writing a book of the most common phrases needed to teach kindergarten, that would no doubt be at the top of the list. My husband and I cracked up when we heard AJ's story, which upset him. He doesn't like being laughed at. We were chagrined and had to suffer through AJ's evil eye through the rest of dinner. Teranika, what happened to your friend was apparently what happened to me as a kid, according to my mother. I was also yanked out of that school. It's that kind of thing that I've been worried about but, so far, have not encountered for AJ. I agree about the multicultural classroom environment. Without exception, all the ESL students in AJ's school arrive by bus. Our neighborhood is very homogeneous, so I'm glad he's aware that there are other experiences out there. And Claudia, that program sounds interesting. In some ways I wish there were more programming here too. But every time I see the special programs, I wonder why they wouldn't benefit all students instead of just mine. I'm glad to have them, but it doesn't seem fair. I'm conflicted.
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Laura - 2006-09-13 15:30:38
I'm so glad to hear that the school seems to be one step ahead with AJ. That must have been welcome news (and a relief). Not sure how I feel about the "shut your mouth" comments - I guess it depends on what tone is being used. Good for AJ for figuring out what it means, though.
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elgan - 2006-09-13 16:32:53
Cute!
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f-i-n - 2006-09-13 19:23:15
I wish that I knew spanish (besides ordering from the menu at pollo tropical). It would come in handy here in miami.
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egg - 2006-09-13 21:58:02
Just found out tonight that her highness class actually has spanish class every day for 45 minutes. Finding out about her day is like pulling teeth sometimes and she never thought to tell me she was learning spanish not when there was so much else to report.
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