Dancing, a New School, and Another Spanish Blunder

The girls had their Clausura (closing night) for their school a couple weeks ago. Usually these involve dancing and/or singing of some kind.

Ellie dancing with her class. There are 2 girls and 6 boys in her age group. 

It was held at 7:30 in a place pretty far away on a Friday night. It was pouring rain and both girls fell asleep in the car on the way there. Ellie woke up fine, but Hazel never seemed to snap out of it. I think she would have slept for the night, had we let her.

One of Ellie's little buddies.

The school sends us special notes all the time with reminders. For this Clausura we received instructions on what to wear. I thought I read it all correctly, and didn't take time to double check one of the Spanish phrases, but I was pretty sure I remembered the meaning from the last Clausura.

This is Hazel's class. Notice anything odd? Yes, she's in a totally different outfit than her classmates.
I read the note to mean Hazel was supposed to wear her tulle pink skirt and pink tights (and no mention of a shirt, so I went with white.)

As you can see from the picture, I was a bit off. She was supposed to wear a jean skirt, with a pink shirt and pink tights. Silly gringos. I blame the lack of commas on the list that added more confusion to the mix. Use your commas to separate listed items, people!!

For Ellie, we knew she was supposed to wear overalls, a yellow shirt, and a red bandana, but unfortunately I couldn't find overalls anywhere. We were close enough.

Compared to previous presentations, both girls have markedly changed. I was so happy Hazel wasn't screaming and crying for me during the whole song/dance that I didn't mind that she just stood there. Literally, just stood there. Doing nothing. Except standing. But not crying, so that was a win. I blame that on her interrupted sleep. Everyone kept asking us afterwards why she was so serious. I think she was doing it on purpose to protest being woken up.

The girls also received little diplomas to "graduate" to their next level. Hazel received a special award for "haber dejado los pañales," which means having quit wearing diapers.

Her one smile of the night. 

The girls are going to start a new school on Monday. It's a little bittersweet. Ellie has made a few buddies at this school, and that will be hard to leave behind. But, if you ask Ellie about her new school she gets giddy and excited and starts clapping. She's very excited.

The new school has a large outdoor space to play, unlike the current school, which is basically in a house with no yard. It is a much bigger school with more kids, and seems a bit more professional. There were 8 kids in Ellie's group this year, there will be 3 classes of 4-year olds next year. She's had several days where her one or two good friends aren't at school, and she tells me, sadly, with big puppy eyes, that she played by herself. I'm hoping that will be less likely with more kids.

I say it's bittersweet to leave the current school because this is where they started in Guatemala. Their first preschool/daycare, their first "home away from home." It is definitely special for that reason. The teachers have been sweet, and the girls have been well taken care of. For that, I'm eternally grateful. But, there's also been a high turnover rate of teachers, meaning both girls have had several teachers in the 18 months they've attended. They get attached and accustomed to a teacher, and one day, without warning, that teacher is gone. That's been frustrating at times.

The one teacher the girls have had throughout their entire time at this school.

The new school has a much higher retention rate of the teachers. At the minimum, they'll have the same teachers for one whole school year, and will probably have mostly the same classmates every year, which is also a change from the current school. It's also closer to our house, which means we could walk if we have to, another plus as Michael starts traveling more without the rest of us.

The new school is bilingual, which actually made me hesitant. I like that they've been immersed in almost 100% Spanish. (There has been some English in this school, but very limited). Hazel speaks "spanglish," with a huge emphasis on the Spanish. The majority of her common words and phrases are still Spanish, though she understands completely both English and Spanish. I worry a little that having more English at school might lower her Spanish skills, but I think I'm worrying too much. They still get plenty of Spanish at church and everywhere else. And in fact, it will probably be good for her to start counting and learning some other things in English.

We had a conference with their teachers today and they told us how intelligent and great our girls are (Bragging Mommy Moment). The one teacher who has been there since the girls started was reminding us of how both girls cried so hard their first few days they turned blue! We had assured them that it was something both girls did often, but I think it stuck in their minds. Now, they rush into school every morning, toting their backpacks and ready to see their friends, barely looking back at us to wave "adios." Ellie corrects the teachers when they try to speak in English! We've been blessed and it's obvious our girls are cared for, as the teachers get tears in their eyes talking about our girls leaving. But, we're ready for a change, and excited for our girls to get settled into a new place before baby sister arrives in January.