Chinese Immersion

I got a call from the assistant principal at the school Jorja will be attending when we are at our new house. I had met with her before Thanksgiving. I talked to her about their Chinese Immersion program. The kids have a regular teacher that teaches them all the Language Arts stuff in the morning, then a Chinese teacher that teaches them basically math and Chinese in the afternoon. They don't speak English at all. The kids in this program start in first grade and continue their education like this all through elementary school.

I met with the assistant principal and talked to her about the possibility of getting Jorja into the program. She wasn't sure because Jorja would be entering in a year and a half after the other children have started, and she didn't know if there was any room. We talked about Jorja's academic progress, how she had already reached all of her second grade benchmarks, so I wasn't worried about her not understanding the math, she could concentrate on the Chinese. I wasn't sure if there was room in the program anyway, but I thought I would try to get her in so I wouldn't regret it later.

This morning I was called and told that Jorja got in! I was a bit shocked because I expected a call before Thanksgiving if she got in, so I assumed that she didn't. I asked if I could talk with Mike and Jorja about it and get back with them with our answer. Now we had a decision to make. I had just submitted the SALTA testing forms yesterday. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do SALTA (the gifted program) but I thought I would keep my options open.

I called Renee and talked to her awhile about the advantages and disadvantages of a program like this. I also talked with Becky Johnson. She lives across the street from where our new house is. Her second grader is in the Chinese Immersion program. She had nothing but praise for the program. She says it is Luke's favorite part of the day. She also said that the English teacher is the best teacher in the school. Listening to Becky talk about it made me feel really comfortable about it.

Jorja is okay with it. Maysen was so excited about it. She said, "Jorja, I wish I had something like this when I was your age." In the long run, I think this will be really good, but I think it will be really hard and overwhelming for awhile. Jorja got the last slot they were willing to hand out. A new family moved into our ward last week. They have a second grader and were told they couldn't get into the program. Here's hoping the slot is still available Monday!