One Month of School Completed; It's time for a Vacation!

No really, this week is vacation.  All of China will be off celebrating a national  "Golden Week" and we'll be getting the heck out of dodge.  It's been a busy first month of school, I do think a break sounds good.  

ChinaBean headed back to her little preschool at the beginning of September.  Could she be any cuter?!  She attends a Chinese preschool three mornings a week.  If you ask her, she eats rice and soup every day for lunch (which is probably true).

ChinaBean was walking home from school pretending to talk on her wooden iPhone.  She's a woman with a mission.

EBean was very excited to be recognized as her class's Golden Child.  She was honored during the weekly school assembly for her perseverance while trying to write sentences.  We celebrated with the traditional visit to Cold Stone.

EBean has also been taking swimming as part of her PE classes this term.  She loved it!

Nice form EBean!

Girl Scouts has resumed.  This is the start of my 4th year as a leader!  Now I have a better sense of how women end up leading for 20+ years...they must have several daughters too.  LBean is a second-year Brownie and EBean is finally a Daisy.  The poor girl has watched her sister do activities and make crafts for the last three years and she is super excited to be an official member this year.

Our troop has grown so much that my friend Sarah will be leading the Brownies and Juniors and I will be taking on the Daisies.  We have around 21 girls in our lovely troop.

Bridging ceremony.  Time to welcome the new Brownies. 

EBean playing a game at our first meting.

 Each class at the girls' school takes a turn to give a class presentation at their school's weekly assembly.  LBean's class performed at one of the first assemblies and I think it's nice to get it out of the way.  Her class performed a skit, sang a song, and showed a video about endangered and extinct animals.

LBean with one of her closest classmates

Taking a selfie

Class 4D at Dulwich

LBean's entire grade took a 3 day, 2 night school trip.  The kids were bused to Taihu, a lake situated about 1.5 hours from Suzhou.  They took a ferry to an island called San Shan where they learned about ancient temples, hiked a Buddha trail, picked oranges, made s'mores, watched a movie, took a night walk, and lots of other interesting sights.

Packed and ready to go!

Selfie has been mastered.

I was teasing LBean about this picture.  I asked her if she
realized that this was someone's underwear.  She said
that one of her teachers made a joke about the undies being
ancient artifacts!

Let's see, I know I'm leaving out something...homework, after-school activities (knitting & ballet for LBean), lunch-time club (ballet for EBean), violin practice, birthday parties, orthodontist appointments, colds, strep throat for me, and on and on and on.

Maybe we really do need a vacation...

School Days (or is it Daze?)

Both LBean and EBean have had a good start to their respective school years.  EBean is still at Newton Kindergarten, which has two programs, a Chinese kindergarten and an international program.  EBean is in the international program and 1/2 of her class is Chinese and the other 1/2 are international students.  We love her program because 1/2 of her day is taught in Mandarin and 1/2 of her day is in English.  We were told by friends that we would really see her Mandarin skills jump during her second year at Newton and that has certainly been true. 

EBean hops on the little yellow bus at 8:45 and I get her off the bus at 3:30.  She eats a Chinese lunch (no pizza or mini-corndogs here) and is no longer taking naps at school, she's a big Pre-K kid now.  This term she is very excited to be taking swimming lessons once a week during school.  Although, she thinks they could do a little less kicking practice.

In the elevator and on our way to EBean's first day of Pre-K.  LBean hadn't started school yet, so she got to see her sister off too.

Let's go, we don't want to be late!

Time for a quick picture because the bus is here.

Getting on the bus and off she goes!

Home again.  ChinaBean is so excited that her sister is home.  She was waving frantically and saying "jie jie" (big sister) over and over.

LBean is a big Year 3 (2nd grader)  at Dulwich College this year.  This means a new school building, the junior school, a new school uniform, and lots more responsibility.  I think she was more excited than nervous about all the changes and she has handled it really well.  This term she is taking ballet once a week after school and Suzuki violin once a week during school.  She also enjoys being able to go to the library during recess time.

Jamie walks LBean to the bus every morning at 7:30 before he catches his ride to work.

Sisters

About a month after school started, EBean's new school uniform arrived.  This is the first year that her school is requiring uniforms Monday-Thursday.  Fridays are free-dress days.  She is really excited to wear a uniform just like her big sister and it makes getting ready in the morning really, really easy (yeah)!

It seems that once school starts, time begins to fly and we measure time by the next approaching school holiday.  One holiday down, just a few more to go...

School's Out for the Summer!

My girls are out for the summer, from all their schools...China and America.  

We left China in April to return to the US for China Bean's surgery.  Because my oldest girls would miss the end-of-the-year festivities and good-byes, each girl took in treats to her class to tell them "see you in the fall".

EBean attends a school that has both a Chinese section and an international section.  In EBean's class, about have are Chinese and the rest of the students are from various countries.  Half of EBean's day is conducted in Chinese and the other half is done in English.  I'm pretty sure that she has the best language skills out of our entire family!  The current plan is for her to attend the same school in the fall.

The children enjoying cupcakes.  We had to
tell some of the students how to take the paper
cupcake liners off and eat the cupcakes.

EBean with her classroom Ayi (assistant)

EBean with her "English" teacher.  The teacher
attended the same university in the US that
Jamie and I attended!

LBean attends a private British school and she studies Mandarin for 30 minutes a day.  Below is a picture of her Mandarin teacher and class.  

LBean was in Year 2 this past year, which is the equivalent of 1st grade in the US.  Below is a picture of LBean's class and her classroom assistant.  LBean's class celebrated with cupcakes too, which has become a favorite.  It really is just a cupcake mix from a box, but they sure do like eating them!

Love this picture of LBean and a classmate.  Her friend gave
her a book as a "going away" present.

LBean's Year 2 Class

We were very fortunate that both EBean and LBean were able to attend school for a month in the US while ChinaBean was preparing for and recovering from her open heart surgery.  It helped provide some normalcy and familiarity for them as well as keep LBean up on her academics (LBean missed the entire last term of her school in China).

EBean with her preschool teacher.

LBean had a very special 1st grade teacher and I can say
that because she is my sister-in-law! I think LBean only
goofed once and call her Aunt instead of Mrs. B.  

We are excited that ChinaBean's medical restrictions have been lifted and we are going to make as many "American" summer memories as possible.

Sports Day

Recently LBean's school had its "Sports Day" for the younger students.  All of the children were divided into their houses (read about "houses" here), which means classes were divided and each team had Year 1 (kindergarten) and Year 2 (first grade) students mixed together.  LBean is in the Anand House and purple is the house color.

Ready for Sports Day (and I love that
daddy is in the background with coffee in hand)

EBean and I also wore purple to
Sports Day to show our support.

EBean loves to visit her sister's school, so it was great that siblings and parents were invited to cheer on the kids.

LBean waiting for her turn.

Each house team rotated through several challenges on the field.  Teachers and assistants kept score and  a trophy was awarded to the house with the most points.  Anand House was in the lead for much of the day, but ended up with second place after the relay races.  As a newbie parent, no one let me in on the secret that parents and their children run the last race.  LBean chose not to run, but one of her classmates and his mom (and they live in our apartment building) took first place.

LBean with another Anand House student, he is also
in one of her after-school clubs.

LBean was so hungry after Sports Day that she ate school lunch and then went to McDonald's for a congratulatory meal.  All of us took a nap in the afternoon in the air conditioning!

Private International Schools: Harry Potter and other Differences

LBean is entering her third term of school and it’s been interesting observing the differences in her school and an American school.  (**My disclaimer is that I am comparing the elementary school of my childhood memories.  I’m sure that American elementary schools are also a bit different now too.)  I really assumed that a British school and an American school would be alike, but there are differences.  From what I’ve been told, the differences really have more to do with the fact that it is an international school and that the school is different than a traditional British school, too.

Here are some differences that I have noticed:

Summer Uniform

1. Uniforms-This is an obvious difference and I really like not having to fight LBean every morning about what she’s going to wear.
2. Buses-Even the buses are different here.  Each school uses a bus that looks like a charter bus (and so do businesses to get their employees to work).  LBean was very glad to find out that they all had seat-belts and I was glad to know that there were bus monitors on each bus.  The teachers also ride the charter buses, although before and after the students do, to get from their apartment compounds to school and back. 
3. The school year is longer.  I don’t know that they actually attend school more days than students in the US, but the school year stretches out longer.  School began at the end of August and the school year wraps up at then end of June.  LBean’s school year is divided into three terms.  The longer school breaks allow students to travel back to their home countries and for travel to other countries. 
4. We found out very quickly that all students at her school learn to read in preschool.  This is very different than the preschools we were familiar with in the States.  I think it is funny that both systems generate highly intelligent students, but both go about reading in very different ways.
5. Because it is a private school, there are extra staff that are not typically available in a public school in the US.  Each classroom has at least one full-time classroom assistant, usually a Chinese assistant who also speaks English.  There are also extra staff to help hang up decorations and students’ artwork in the hallways (hello, no more late, late nights decorating bulletin boards!), taking photos at events, etc.
6. No special education staff per se.  There are teachers who help the students who are learning English...I was going to type ESL (English as a Second Language), but for many of the students, English is actually one of three languages they speak (Mandarin, their home country’s language and English).  There is a reading & writing teacher that provides additional support to the students, but there are no speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, or physical therapists to provide that very specific instruction.
7. The school is very open to parents being in the building.  There is a small parent lounge in the school’s common area where parents (and siblings) can come to play, drink coffee, use the Wi-Fi, and get a feel for their child’s school and classroom without intruding in the class.  I really, really like this idea. There is also a play group one morning a week where parents can bring their toddlers to run around and the mothers get a chance to talk and see their older children at school.  Parents are encouraged to volunteer in the classroom, which is no different in the States.  But it was so funny when I agreed to help with the reading groups, the moms for whom English was a second language, were very reluctant to volunteer to help (their reasoning was they felt like their English was not very good-which is not true-and so how could they help the students say it correctly).  They laughed and said that I could take care of the English & reading groups and they would help plan the parties...done deal!  
8. The school introduces public speaking and performing from the beginning.  It is such a brilliant idea and the school does a fantastic job of giving the students many opportunities to be in front of an audience, but not just for the “big” productions like a Christmas concert.  Each Monday, LBean’s school has an all-school assembly for the younger students.  The children sit on the floor in the common area and often-times a class will stand up right where they are and perform a song from music class.  This gives them a chance to perform, but not on stage and in a very low-key manner.  On Fridays there is a joint assembly with the elementary students and the middle school students.  Each week a different class is selected to perform (LBean’s class presented on toys, their topic for first term) in front of all the students.  The middle school students take turn announcing house points (more on that in a second).  After-school clubs like LBean’s ballet class, also perform at the Friday assemblies.  It’s just a great way to routinely get the students in front of others without the pressure of this “is the big production of the year.”  It also spreads out the number of parents at school at any given time.

Here LBean (in the blue) is singing a song for Chinese New Year.  

She loved singing the song because at one part it says

"shake your butt" and since we don't say 'butt' in our house, 

the scandalousness was very exciting for her.

A song from LBean's class presentation on "toys".

9.  It’s all very Harry Potter!  Because it is a British school, they have striped scarves that match their uniforms, the school is divided into “houses” (LBean is in Anand house) with house colors, and the students earn points based on behavior and performance.  Harry Potter makes even more sense now!

10.  LBean now takes the “rubbish” to the “rubbish bin,” erases her pencil marks with a “rubber” (yeah, that one makes me pause too), and gets “cross” with me sometimes.  Some times we must do things "straight away".

The glassed off portion is the parents' lounge.

The covered playground.

LBean's Bus