An update on the Mandarin progress:

G has picked up more Mandarin than I would have thought possible in the 6 or 7 weeks she's been attending her bilingual "Kindergarten" program.

I know I have gone over the schooling before but just to refresh:
The kids start K1 when they are 3/4, K2 at 4/5 and then K/3 (or P1 depending on your school) at 5/6. So G is finishing K1 now and will start K2 in August. D will begin K1 in August.

My kids will be in their bilingual program until they finish K3 so we have 2 more full years of it for G and D will get the complete 3 years. After that I am not sure where they will end up but language exposure for the kids is very important to me and B. Unfortunately we can't financially afford the few schools offering near-immersion programs. It's absolutely outrageous how expensive these schools are!

I am constantly researching school options and there are some promising ones. We may be heading back to the USA by then... who knows. We gave up trying to plan everything a long time ago!

G readily counts to about 20 in Chinese all the time. She is now equally as likely to count things off in Mandarin as she is to count aloud in English. Honestly I feel like she counts aloud in Mandarin more but maybe it's just because that is more exciting for me and I take notice.

She will sometimes say things and ask if she said it right. I hate telling her I'm not sure but I have to tell her that often. We google things and listen to pronunciation if we are near the computer.

She does little worksheets for homework that involve Chinese character recognition. She whizzes through it. I have to secretly check on google later and am always amazed. Sometimes while she works on her homework she will say the words only in Mandarin and the English word never gets said aloud. I find that to be the most amazing thing. I always let her finish and then later ask her "Was that the word for x?" Because I have no idea, all I see is the picture. And she will have to think for a minute ... and then she'll say "No it means y."

For example:
Is it a log? No it's wood.
Is it a rose? No it's a flower.
Is it produce? No it's fruit.

Things like that. But she is so cute when she has to translate. Very cool to see her work it over in her mind.

She also learns songs in Chinese at school. She sings "It's A Small World After All" all the time. We don't sing this at home ever. She doesn't know it in English. That tune is unmistakable so I asked her if it was "It's A Small World" and she never really answered me--she doesn't know it in English, only Chinese. She didn't know the English name. And a funnier one is "Frere Jacques". She already knew that one in English and French--we do sing those at home. And now she knows it in Chinese. Pretty rad.

I would love to get the kids a Mandarin tutor or get them in a small group lesson. D is still too young and G is wait listed. I think in another 6 months, after he has turned 3 and he's going to school hearing it every day that will be more beneficial. I am looking forward to eventually doing that for them.