time flys

First days home. Monday was spent making lists of things to do this week before I go back to work next Monday, things like getting Dat on my insurance; making doctors appointments; getting him tested for language; getting the dog fixed and the other dogs the shots they need; registering Dat in school, etc, etc.

Tuesday we went to my favorite nail shop where all the people are Vietnamese. They are all from Saigon so have a different accent than Dat does so he didn't understand everything they said/asked him. However they did the main points across: 1- he was going to the doctor's today and they would want to draw blood; 2 - He was being tested for school in the afternoon; 3 - the dogs and cats aren't toys and he needs to pet them but not try to pick them up; and 4 - he needs to try to learn English. He told them he really missed Vietnamese food and I said I was planning on taking him to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. They gave him some noodles with Vietnamese seasoning and he was in hog heaven.

So today we dropped off the puppy to be fixed, went to the doctors where they don't have him listed on my insurance yet so I had to pay, then in the afternoon to have him tested for language. The class I had been told about - special class for non-English speakers - isn't up and running yet. The district is trying to get it going but doesn't expect to have it going until after the next academic year. Well, by then Dat won't need it - real bummer. So he will be going to school with A and C and will be in 1st grade and will be pulled out for ESL classes.

In the process of talking to her, I told her about the issues and concerns I have about C's English and comprehension. I explained that C had tested out of ESL before we moved here but I was very concerned about her since she has comprehension issues. I have talked to her teachers but they say she is doing fabulous and not to worry, well, while I agree that she is doing fabulous, I do worry since she is so great at memorizing and bad at understanding what she is memorizing. I am very much afraid that when she gets to the grade where memorization is out and comprehension is in, she will fail. I have several times asked her to draw a conclusion from something she is memorizing for a test or to tell me similarities and differences between two things when she is memorizing stuff about it (for example - similarities and difference between hibernation and migration when they have finished the unit on them and she just looks blankly at me). She had to do a science project and even with the rubric and at least two pages of information on projects, she had no clue what a hypothesis was (the word was on the information sheet sent home), no clue beyond 'mix this with that and see what it does' , no plan, no thought as to how to photograph the experiment, no clue as to the quantities she should use, basically, beyond mixing two things together and seeing what happened. The teacher says 'oh, yes, we went over that in class for a couple of days. She knows what she is supposed to do.' Well, she doesn't know. In large part due to her not asking questions and not wanting to say she doesn't understand. I have told her millions of times that if she doesn't understand she should ask, but her best friend is in the same class and I don't think she wants to appear dumb in front of her. It is also an Asian thing - they don't want to appear dumb and will not say they don't understand. But I have also told the teachers that they need to do more than ask if she understands, she will say yes and that will be the end of it and she really has no clue. Her grades are good now so the teachers think she is comprehending, but I know she is not and is getting by on memorization. So tomorrow I am going to try to talk to the principal and see if she will have C retested for ESL. This is what the language evaluator said I needed to do. I said I hated to go above the teachers and she said, no, I had to go to the Principal and get her retested.
As for Dat, he will start 1st grade after spring break.

Sometime tomorrow I will have to find a dentist. I'm not real happy with the dentist we are currently using so I will be trying to find another and using Dat as the guuiney pig. His teeth are horrible and his gums bleed when he brushes and his breath stinks. Poor baby.