Jia's School

I can't even express how wonderful it is to have both girls in schools that they adore. For Jia, I really did not know what to expect with kindergarten. I was initially just very relieved that she liked it so much. Lately, I've been surprised at how many topics are covered there, and what the kids are learning!

I mentioned carbon dioxide the other day (don't recall why) and started to explain it. Jia interrupted and said, "Oh, I know all about carbon dioxide from science class!" Jia is also learning about different religions in her class and she told me all about the Maccabees one day. After school today, she rattled off the names of all the continents and all the oceans.

I was worried her school would be too academic and not creative enough. I could not have been more wrong! There are huge tubs of colored pencils and art supplies at each table. Her teacher incorporates art into math and puzzles into reading. They play lots of games and sing songs about everything.

Jia's teacher is phenomenal. She has been teaching since the early 80's and is SO good at what she does. For example, each kid writes every number up to 1000. This is one of the things they can choose to work on during the day, and kids get there at different points throughout the year. When a kid reaches 1000, the whole class stops, cheers and her teacher does the splits! When two students reached 1000 on the same day, her teacher did a cartwheel and landed in the splits! I love this.

Recently in art class, the kids created alms boxes reflective of those created by artist Tony Berlant. They are using them for a Pennies for Peace project through the non-profit run by Greg Mortenson, author of "Three Cups of Tea." Jia came home telling me all about "Dr. Greg" and is so excited to be helping kids go to school - just like she does.