(cross posted in Montessori board)
I have posted her a few times about our decision to send dd1 to a local French Montessori school. She has now been there for 2 weeks and it has been hard on her (and hard on us!) But we have also been very impressed with the school and with her very caring, supportive teacher.
Dd is a pretty confident, outgoing kid, also very articulate. She is finding being plunged into a 2nd language environment VERY hard. She has cried at school at least 4-5 times, something she would normally avoid doing 'in public' at any cost. She is really nervous and uncertain and anxious. She is the kind of kid who likes school, wants desperately to fit in and succeed, so not being able to understand what's going on 80% of the time is very hard.
That said, we love this school....the kids are soooo lovely to her, all of them warm & friendly & trying to help her learn how to do things, how to speak the language. They are so genuinely sweet. The teacher is very very good, caring, creative, very communicative & willing to work with us. Dd wants to learn French & has made friends with another girl in the program. The school's overall philosophy fits well with our own values (i.e. green, anticonsumerist). So much to like here.
But it's heartbreaking to see dd, who has always loved her preschool and her teachers and been confident in new situations, cling to us, cry when we leave and cry if she thinks we are late picking her up. We really want this to work. But we are both starting to have doubts. We don't want to torture her, yk....we're not sure at what point we should do something differently.
In addition I think that there is a big change from play-based to Montessori that she is also adjusting to, though frankly I think this is much less significant than the language issue, as she seems to like the work and it seems suited to her personality.
Any suggestions/ words of wisdom welcome! I may cross-post this to education...as it may be more of a 2nd language issue.
I have posted her a few times about our decision to send dd1 to a local French Montessori school. She has now been there for 2 weeks and it has been hard on her (and hard on us!) But we have also been very impressed with the school and with her very caring, supportive teacher.
Dd is a pretty confident, outgoing kid, also very articulate. She is finding being plunged into a 2nd language environment VERY hard. She has cried at school at least 4-5 times, something she would normally avoid doing 'in public' at any cost. She is really nervous and uncertain and anxious. She is the kind of kid who likes school, wants desperately to fit in and succeed, so not being able to understand what's going on 80% of the time is very hard.
That said, we love this school....the kids are soooo lovely to her, all of them warm & friendly & trying to help her learn how to do things, how to speak the language. They are so genuinely sweet. The teacher is very very good, caring, creative, very communicative & willing to work with us. Dd wants to learn French & has made friends with another girl in the program. The school's overall philosophy fits well with our own values (i.e. green, anticonsumerist). So much to like here.
But it's heartbreaking to see dd, who has always loved her preschool and her teachers and been confident in new situations, cling to us, cry when we leave and cry if she thinks we are late picking her up. We really want this to work. But we are both starting to have doubts. We don't want to torture her, yk....we're not sure at what point we should do something differently.
In addition I think that there is a big change from play-based to Montessori that she is also adjusting to, though frankly I think this is much less significant than the language issue, as she seems to like the work and it seems suited to her personality.
Any suggestions/ words of wisdom welcome! I may cross-post this to education...as it may be more of a 2nd language issue.
. Rivka's Hebrew is fine. If you want to stick it out, it will probably take at least 3 or 4 months for her to get more comfortable in French, but after a year or 2 you will never know she was a native English speaker 
so hard! I really hope the week gets better or I don't know what we'll do!
