My First "Report Card"

Piper's first school status update (report card) came in the mail the other day. She's now been in school for several weeks attending ELD (English Language Development), Mandarin, math, history, English, and PE. Since she's very social, attending class and being around other kids her age seems to be a place of comfort for her. Meeting new people when she cannot fully speak the language is a place of real discomfort for her. And naturally, she does much better in those classes that don't require English skills over those that do. For example, she received high marks in Mandarin (shock and amaze us), PE and math (really well in math). However, she doesn't do quite as well in history and English (grammar) - obviously since she cannot really understand what's being taught without the language skills. Nonetheless, she wants to excel and was disappointed in her status update because she didn't get "Exceeds Expectations" across the board. Of course it probably didn't help when she asked me what "Exceeds Expectations", "Satisfactory" and "Needs Improvement" means, and I translated the words literally for her. I think what she heard me say (although I didn't say it quite like this) was that "Exceeds Expectations" is an "A", "Satisfactory" is a "C", and "Needs Improvement" is an "F". (One has to be very careful how they explain things to older adoptive Chinese children because things are taken literally, but we have the benefit of upbringing and culture on our side to smooth things out.) She received "Satisfactory" remarks in every class, with one "Needs Improvement" in the remaining one. When Victoria and I saw that we were thrilled. When Xiao Qian saw that she was extremely disappointed. (I think we have a high achiever on our hands.) I tried to explain to her that we couldn't be more thrilled with her advancement in two short months, but she wants immediate mastery of all subject matter right now. In fact, she's already talking about wanting to take Spanish classes soon so she can learn yet another language. We gently reminded her that she's yet to get English down for now. Mind you, it wasn't as if she was moaning and groaning about her grades, she took them in stride and still with a smile on her face, but she wants to do better. Here's a quote from her ELD teacher: "I also wanted to let you know how proud Piper seems when she talks about going to her brother’s volleyball games. She seems to be adjusting so well to your family and to life in the U.S. and she has a great attitude at Stanley. We really enjoy having her!"

Speaking of volleyball games, we just returned from another one of Barret's matches. He and the team are doing so well and, yes, Piper really seems to enjoy going and watching him play. It's evident she really loves him.

Well, nothing terribly profound tonight, except that all of life is really quite profound at its core. I just wanted to give this little report on Xiao Qian's "report card". We head off for Avila Beach, California tomorrow for Spring Break and to be close to Annie at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. We hear the weather isn't going to be that great, but as we learned while in Guilin, China with Xiao Qian, that's all a matter of perspective. Rain and cold can be just as beautiful as sun and warmth - depends on whether you decide to wear the paradigm of the Creator or the created.

He Is Risen,