We made it! Rita's teacher reported that she had a great first day! We heard that the class went to a school assembly (and saw some sort of play), ran on the track, practiced counting and colors with jellybeans and the class started to work on their Easter bunny bags for the egg hunt on Friday. Rita also got to color her bunny (the top bunny with the striped top and pink skirt above her in the pic) which the kids completed yesterday. She also got some 1:1 time with the teacher to practice with her new english flashcards.

When the kids went up to get their math assignments (after talking to the teacher it sounds like she customizes homework for the kids), Rita went up too. She told us she wasn't going to give Rita math homework but since she came up she gave her some simple addition to work on so she didn't feel left out. (We did that tonight after some coaching and without much problem.)

At snacktime, Rita had her granola bar and string cheese, and started to eat her chips but the teacher had her save them for lunch. For lunch she ate her chips, applesauce and drank her juice pouch but didn't eat her sandwich. She also tried to eat her raisins in the afternoon but the teacher told her to put them back in her lunchbox. She was also trying to play basketball during one of the recess breaks but couldn't get the ball up to the hoop.

I was pleased to hear that she also asked nicely to use the bathroom. And said "bless you" to a boy that sneezed. And the big news, her teacher was super impressed that Rita participated in class early in the day. When they were talking about Easter, and the kids were talking about bunnies and bunny parts, Rita raised her hand and said "bunny". And then later she raised her hand and said "tail". Too funny.

The only thing Rita didn't want to do was stand in the line following the recess breaks and going out to the track. She wanted to walk alongside her teacher in front of the line. (Rita's teacher seems firm but really flexible and was OK with this as she gets adjusted.)

We got some additional feedback. One of her classmates came up to us and said that she did a great job! Another girl asked us what was wrong with her eye... she said that they (the kids) thought that it was bruised. I explained the situation simply and the girl took the explanation like it was no big deal.

On the way home Rita seemed to be raving about the school assembly and seems really excited to go back tomorrow. She was so proud to show us her bunny projects and her empty lunchbox.

So far, so good!

ps. Rita is learning words a bit slower now than she was in the beginning but she seems to be understanding what we are saying in english much much more. One of my favorite expressions of hers is "Ya OK" after I ask her "Are you OK?".