10.18.2004

Iz Rips Along

Steaming load of bragging ahead. But I can't help it; Iz is doing better than we'd ever thought possible with her Spanish.

That girl is kicking some nalgas. I remember when we were questioning whether or not it was a good idea to put her in a class where she would be the only student without at least a year of Spanish under her belt. Our friends would say something along the line of "Give me a fucking break, she'll be speaking Spanish within two months."

They were so right. I can converse with her completely in Spanish now; she understands everything I say (granted, my Spanish is limited), and answers with only occasional English lapses. She is already ripping--ripping through second/third grade level books en Espanol. This is not to say she understands every single word--but she is getting about 85%, her pronunciation is 100% and completely fluid, and her accent is fantastic. Still working on those RR's, but, c'mon. She's 5 and 1/2.

She gets it. And not just the meanings of the words. If she and I are getting tired, she will intentionally lapse into a gringo accent, como "Laah oar-mee-gaah mahss Haym-bree-eyen-taah," to get me to giggle.

The strange part is that she's decided she loves her homework. Rips through it; ASKS to do it. What a little alien.

This attitude is serving her well, as her teacher has assigned a shitload of work during the two-week break. Each day, Iz is to read at least one book, and write and illustrate one three-line diary entry. She also has her regular packets of Espanol y matematicas ("Las matematicas me gustan!" Freak!) to finish during the same time. Plus a special spider construction project/essay. Damn.

None of it is busywork--it is grade-level-appropriate, and thoughtfully assembled so as to make these kids think about what they're doing as they're doing it. But, um, I was under the impression that a break meant, you know, a break. Thankfully she doesn't mind.

P.S. The next time I hear someone talk out of their ass about how crappy the Deadwood public schools are, they are going to get a ration of crap from me, or at the very least a boot up the butt.

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