Well, our not-so-little girl started Brazilian preschool in September! She's already been there for over a month!! For the last 18 months (the exact time we've been here as of today - whoohoo), the Brazilians have been asking me when she would start school. For cultural reasons, I suppose, most of them just can't understand why I would want to be home with my child when I could put her in preschool (a.k.a. daycare). I just can't seem to understand why you would want to have children if you don't want to be home with them!! (That's not an argument for whether or not women should be home with their kids. I'm not going there.) Anyway, it's more culturally normal for kids to start "school" around 4 months of age. Maybe they need to make up time because they only go half a day until they're out of high school!
Well, this past winter (U.S. summer), Kevin and I started talking more about our plans for Emma and school. We are the only ex-pats in our little town with a child, meaning, she's the only little kid who speaks English here. Because the children start school at such an early age, there are no little ones running around during the day. When we go to the park, we're the only ones there. When we go to the stores, she's the only child in the store. I've really wanted her to have some friends to play with, but I felt it more over the last few months. I loved watching her play with friends and cousins while we were in the States in September!!
We visited two different preschools before we made a choice. The first one made me cry. Seriously. I was in tears that week and determined Emma didn't need any friends. . . not if they were going to punch each other and pull each other's hair!! It was awful. I realized while I was in that school that Emma had never seen someone hit another person, let alone a child doing it to another! There was little discipline and the kids seemed out of control. We never did go back there. It took me a while to decide to visit the other school. We actually went several times before I made the decision to enroll her. That was back in July. I didn't enroll her until we came back here in September. I can't believe she's old enough to go to school!!
Sometimes I struggle with comparing our life here to what it might look like if we were still in the States. Sometimes that's OK. I am an American and I'm proud of that. However, I do live in Brazil for the time being and I'm proud of that too. I've had to change my mind on some things and hold tight to others. All that made the enrollment a little emotional for me. As I was filling out papers and giving the school our information, I asked them if they had an option for three days a week. The two women helping me looked at me with frowns and then raised eyebrows as if they'd never heard that question before. The one almost laughed and then said it's better for the kids to have a routine of going every day. Well, the hours are from 1:15pm-5:30pm. Yikes!! I was not ready to drop Emma off for over four hours five days a week. She was still taking a 2-3 hour nap every day! Nope, no program in the morning. Well, there is, but it's not available for us. I didn't even try to explain to them that I thought that was way too much time for her to be away from me. It was one of those days that I felt very much alone here. I so wanted her to have time with other little kids, but not over twenty hours a week!!
The first few days, I stayed with Emma and observed her teacher and the two other adult helpers. I'm so happy that there are three adults for 12-15 kids!! Emma was so excited about all the new toys and games that she hardly noticed I was still in the classroom! When she did notice me, she grinned and ran to me and gave me a hug.
The first few days I left her alone there were a challenge for me. I trust her teacher and I know she's going to be OK. It's me I'm worried about:) Sometimes it's so quiet and lonely here anyway!! Now my little girl is in school for a few hours each week!! After the first week, I didn't care so much about missing a day here and there. In fact, she was so tired after the first day of school that I kept her home the second day. She took a 3-hour nap!! I remember sitting on the couch that day thinking, "I am her mom. It's my responsibility to make the best decision for her." I was confident that keeping her home was the best decision. Some days I'm confident that taking her for a few hours is the best. Because I take her a little bit late and pick her up early, she's usually at the school for about three hours, sometimes a little more. Some days, I have her take a nap after lunch and then I take her to school really late. She's still 3. She still needs a nap most days and she's a happier girl when she gets one!!
Now she even has a little uniform! She has to wear a t-shirt with the name of the school on the front. She has a white one and a navy one, but she said she likes the white one better because boys wear blue!! I think the blue is beautiful on her.
Every day when I pick Emma up, she runs to me smiling and loves to tell me about her day! Yesterday, when I dropped her off, another mom told me her son came home and told her that his favorite classmate was the little girl who speaks English. Emma smiled at him after I translated for her and then she ran away. Oh boy. . .
I spent some time with Emma's teacher one morning. She's incredibly calm and so patient with the kids. She explained her method of discipline and what happens when kids don't obey. Most of the kids are 2-3. Emma is one of the oldest in her class. So, imagine a bunch of 2-year olds in a room together!! Adriane (Emma's main teacher), or Profi Adri, does such a great job of teaching, loving and disciplining those children. Emma loves to talk about her and give her hugs and kisses when she leaves school.
Even though I'm going through a whole new transition (having a child in school), and as hard as that is sometimes, I'm also really loving this stage! I've been meeting several other kids and occasionally I get to meet one of the moms. Oftentimes the nanny or maid will bring the kids to school, too. I've offered to volunteer in Emma's school, but I'm not sure how normal that is here. We'll see. I've started writing a schedule for myself for the hours that Emma's gone. I don't have to do laundry, make beds, clean bathrooms or any other cleaning type things in my home, but I do have a lengthy list of other things I'd like to get done. When I pick her up from school, it's just us and I don't want to have anything else distract me from my time with her.
On a side note: I've been asked a few times whether or not we would homeschool. Some of that is necessary because the schools here don't teach some of the same things as in the U.S., like the Pledge of Allegiance and the history of the United States:) Kevin and I are taking one year, or rather, one semester, at a time. For this time in our lives, we're choosing to expose her to another language and culture and kids as well as teach her at home. We're so happy that she's enjoying school and it's fun to hear her singing songs in another language!!
More stories to come, I'm sure. . .
