School Progress

I keep meaning to post an update on how Gabriella is doing at school. Just too much to do & not enough time! Anyways, she is doing great. My biggest concern was how it would effect our bonding. Thankfully, I still feel us attaching more & more every day, despite her being at school for half of each weekday. A while back, when I had my RA flare up, there was about a week or so that I felt that our bonding was plateauing. I'm thankful now that I experienced that feeling, so that I would be able to see the difference. She loves her teacher & I am so thankful that we have her for her teacher. She has gone above & beyond in helping us see the areas we need to help her in. Today she sent the sweetest note home to tell us that she started some new testing with her today & she did great on her letters & sounds (knowing all but 1 letter & a few sounds). In her words, "She is making very quick progress". Praise the Lord! Gabriella loves all of her new friends & is very blessed to be in a very diverse class. There is another girl that has very limited English & a boy who was adopted from Guatemala. She talks about her friends a lot & is very proud to have them. She is also going to ESL for 30 minutes each day. Her "English class" teacher is also wonderful. When she tested her English initially, she was very pleased. She tested in the mid-range, but she chose to keep her as a beginner so she could have maximum time in the program. One benefit of her being in the ESL program is that we now have access to Rosetta Stone online. It is GREAT! I am pretty much amazed at all the progress she has made since she started school the week of Thanksgiving. We are praying that she progresses enough to go on to 1st grade next year. At this point, it seems that our family dynamics work more smoothly with her in a seperate grade than Siskel & Ebert. It has been unbelievable to see the difference it has made at home. It is hard to explain, but it just seems right for her not to be in the same grade with them. Three is hard number & who ever wants to be the odd ball...you know what I mean. Anyways, she still has a ways to go, but we are putting our faith in God & know that He will help her get to where she needs to be if it's in His will for her to progress to 1st grade. Ultimately, we know that God knows what is best for our family & for each of our children. If it seems more appropriate for her to have another year in Kindergarten, we are totally fine with that b/c we know that God knows EVERYTHING & has a reason for everything.