Kinder it is! TYJ!

Okay so this is not really new news (I'm like a month behind here, heh) but yes, as the title states, Kenji is going to Kinder now!! Hmmm, let me back track a bit. Well, due to many, many things (I'll save, you the reader, the details :D) happening, changing in the last couple of months and with things not panning out as I would have liked them too (I guess our ways are not His ways, right)?! :) I found myself seriously tossing up the idea of putting Kenji into Kinder not only for the obvious reasons; schooling, fun, etc. But also as a means for him to interact with kids (he's the only kid here, other than my 12 year DS brother) and get to practice and better learn Spanish!

Now as you all know, or at least parents, heh. Tuitions are not cheap! :D Speaking of tuitions, I knew that I didn't want to put Kenji into just any school - a public shcool. So with that factor alone the amount of money I would need in order to put him in Kinder could easily have been doubled! Yes, I'll be honest here, worrisome did hit, for a bit. Until I armed myself with faith, (you'd think lots of it but no it truly felt like I only had a bit of faith to put forth due to the many things I was experiencing at the time) and put the Lord on the spot through prayer. I told Him that to be perfectly honest there was NO way that I could afford such a thing, so He was going to have to do something, a VERY BIG something and pretty soon, as we were already in the beginning of August and school years begin towards the end of it.

Well, inspite of my little faith :D the Lord, unbenownst to me, had already began to prepare the way for the impossible - in my eyes. One day, our August Prayer Day, (we have a sweet friend who joins us for this occasion and she likes to bring lunch, wine and bread for communion) while chit-chatting at the table our friend out of the blue tells me "You know I see Kenji very restless. He needs to get out of his at-home environment. He needs little friends, don't you think? When the school year begins, why don't you enroll him into my Kinder, I'll pay for it!" Then she added, "Can you do that, like does your group allow it?" I explained to her the latest about that very subject and she embraced it very happily. It's given her a greater respect for us (The Family) to see that we aren't stuck in the past but are rather moving, changing, expanding while also remaining so radically different from the endless churches she well knows. I was SO amazed, baffled really, and ever so thankful to the Lord for once again coming through for me! TYJ!

(This friend of ours has known the Family for many, many years, but sadly didn't really know much about us, our doctrines etc., until we came in contact with her through some FM brethren here and began to get her up-to-date with how the Family is presently. She loves it, everything! And on top of joining us for our monthly PD she wants to begin having devotions with us 3 times a week! - for now. She's a labor leader, a go-getter type of person and has a connection, in some way or form, with many affluent families in the city).

As the month grew closer to the end - enrollment time and the like - I wasn't totally sure how much or what exactly our friend had in mind to cover financially. She had told me, that Prayer Day, we would talk about the details later. So with my faith a little stronger now, yet at the same time a bit apprehensive to find out if I would have to put forth some money towards Kenji's tuition, books, uniform etc., as I clearly had literally $ 00.00 for this. If it hadn't been for my mom's encouragement to leave it ALL up to Him through prayer, I would have worried myself sick, again. Silly me. :D

Anyways, with just a week away from kids starting school our friend called us and asked me to come by her office and sign Kenji up. I had butterflies in my tummy, I really did, as I made my way to the schools office. After the sign-up paper work being completed, she said; "Oh here, take these 2 sets of uniforms (shirt/shorts & shirt/pants) and sweater. And later when the winter uniforms and P.E uniforms arrive, I'll separate a set for Kenji. Is size 2 fine?" Size 2 looked closer like a size 3, so it was perfect! But that's not all, she then added; "He'll need a set of "Kinder I" books, let me see if my bookstore friend still has some." After the call she gave me a slip of paper and told me if I wouldn't mind doing her the favor of picking up the set of books down town as she wasn't sure she would have the time to do so that day but didn't want to loose those books, as it was the stores last set. And added, not to worry about a thing she had already worked out the payment. -- Would I mind merely picking them up?!! Heck no!! :D

So that's the brief (ha!) version of how the Lord not just answered my prayer - to have Kenji go to Kinder - but my desire as well, which was to have him go to a private school and to boot it's bilingual, and only 2 blocks away from our house! And the only expenses I had to make were buying him new tennis and school shoes and the pics they ask for when you sign them up! It couldn't have been better, or easier, or cheaper! He really does spoil us! :) TYJ! Today will mark 4 weeks of attending Kinder - what a shiner! Thankfully this time around he did a lot better when being dropped off - he hardly cried - TTL as that made it sooo much easier on me. :) -- My baby, I miss him so much when he's away.

It's taking him a little longer, though, to adjust to the new surroundings/environment, etc. But he's getting there, slowly. :) The other day I learned that he made a little friend! Yay, Progress! And he's beginning to communicate a little more with his teachers. What I really liked, though, is that his main teacher is both his Spanish and English instructor, rather than having 2 separate teachers for each language - that would only make it all the more difficult for him to adjust and grow in confidence. So I'm happy for that. :)

Okay, well I'll leave you with some Kinder related pics and of an activity we did with a couple who faithfully comes for weekly classes, as do their kids. Enjoy!

Learning progress!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!! (^) MAY THIS YEAR BE THE BEST YEAR YET ... WITH PLENTY MORE TO COME. ;) WLY!

Alright, well on to my ramblings about Kenji. :D Well first of all I'm so happy that Kenji loves doing projects! Okay, okay, so I hear you all saying, "Um, duh, all 2 year old's do." True, but the thing is that Kenji wasn't really into doing projects before. He was mostly preoccupied about kicking a ball around, throwing it into the neighbors house, playing with cars, riding his 'motorcycle', etc., etc. You know the usual 'boy thing' -- getting into mischief! ;) And no matter how hard I tried to make it fun and interesting for him he just wasn't game. Much to my dismay! :D Maybe the fact that it's just him alone doing the project is what kept him from finding it interesting.

But recently he's started to show more interest (finally) in projects that don't solely revolve around playing with cars, play-dough, or balls! YAY! It's a huge step of progress, really it is! As there is just so much to learn and do through projects! But of course first of all you have to enjoy doing projects. :D So I'm quite happy that he finally is showing more interest in this.

Another major progress is ... today he started reading!! Yippee! He's always loved school - flashcards/picture facts/reader/school videos - but wouldn't repeat much when doing his FC, PC, or readers but I knew that he was just storing all that info in his little brain and sooner or later it would all spill out. And it has! He's quite fond of reading the reader books on his favorite computer school game - Starfall - and is picking up on not only sight reading but the phonetic route as well! I'm soooo happy! :) :)

While it is a big deal for me, as you can tell, yet it was bound to happen sooner or later and I'm glad it was the latter. It's common for kids learning 2 languages at at a time to be 'slower' on picking up talking and reading, but I don't think Kenji has really been all that 'behind'. At 1 1/2 he knew his alphabet letters and sounds, shapes, colors, and numerals 1-10,(the last 3 in Spanish as well) plus lots and lots more. It was around this time that his vocabulary began expanding a little more each day, both in Spanish and English, and he started to put simple 2-3 word phrases together.

Now he says a lot, makes himself understood, and copies just about any word he hears that is doable for him to say, ha! I know it's a matter of time before he fully takes off talking - full sentences in either language - there is no rush, and when that occurs it will be one very happy day for me. :) For now I will simply do my best to expand his learning skills and simply let him go at his own pace. I think I will be astonished at the progress made therein, though. ;)

Here are pics of some of the many daily cute things he does. I also have a video of Kenji reading some words, but I'm having issues uploading. So check the blog out again later. :)

* Small note:
He helped make his own lunch, did just about everything from peeling/cutting the veggies, to making a tomato based sauce for the chicken,(an expert garlic peeler) and making mashed potatoes as well. He was so proud of himself and couldn't wait a minute longer to taste his food, he literally dug into the chicken minutes after I removed it from the fire!




The video of him reading some words from his Starfall reader is not working :( I'll keep trying. But, in the meantime here's one of him making lunch for Angel and him. It was his first attempt at saying the words to the things he used. He says it all oh, so very cute!