School Begins!

Ceara in her sports uniform!

Calen on his first day of school.

 This past week Ceara and Calen have been experiencing school for the first time in Ecuador. Ceara is in primeria basica, which is the equivalent to kindergarten in Canada. Last year she went to her first preschool class for three days a week between 9am and 12pm. This time her schedule is much different. I wake up at 6am to get her breakfast ready and then wake her up by 6:15 where she gets dressed, eats breakfast and then we head out the door to wait for her bus which comes at 6:45am every morning. She gets to school around 7:30 ish once the bus has picked up all the other kids. They have a little snack break at 10:45am and then she is done school at 12:45pm where she heads back on the bus and doesn't get home until 1:20pm. She is really enjoying her school, everyone of course speaks Spanish so she is having to learn a lot quickly. There is one exception of another girl who has recently moved to Cuenca who also speaks only English so the two of them are pretty good friends and I am sure that they are trying to learn Spanish together. But at least they aren't alone in the process. There are about 15 kids in her class so she has more chance to have one on one time with the teacher. We hear Ceara everyday speaking a little bit more Spanish. Even though she wakes up a little grumpy she always comes home with a huge smile on her face and tells us all about her day. I know she loves school.

Ceara just about to get on her bus.

Calen in his new school.

Calen in his school uniform.

 Calen also is going to school but he is in preschool. It is his first time to go to school and be away from me for a long period of time. He has always said since Ceara started school that he needed to go to but it's a little different then he realized. Calen's school is only a two minute walk from our house, one block away. We really enjoyed finding this school because it was close and because the classes are only with six kids in a class with a teacher. It's exactly what Calen needs, some friends but also some more one on one time with the teacher to learn Spanish. His teachers say he's pretty quiet in school and doesn't talk much but I know he is absorbing it all and once he feels more comfortable going every day then he will start to come out of his shell. We hear him talking more in Spanish every day so we know he is learning what he needs to. He starts school at 9am and is done at 12pm but can stay there till 1pm if we'd like. Everyday it is the same thing, "I don't want to go to school" but at the end of his time he's happy and excited that he went. He never has cried when we leave him but I think it's more that he'd like to play and enjoy a little more of his morning before he goes to school. It's been a bit of an adjustment for us to be up earlier in the day but it's been really great to see the kids grow and be excited about school. And it does give me more time during the day to do the things I need to do such as writing this blog, haha. It's hard to believe that those little kids we had in Brazil are now old enough to be in school here in Ecuador, where has the time gone? Please keep our kids in your prayers as they continue to go to school and learn more about this culture and it's language.