thoughts at the end of the first year

Well, of course I dropped the ball on this blog during the busy-ness of the school year, but now that it's summer and we've finished our first year, I have a lot of thoughts about the whole experience.

1. It's funny how you can be proud of your kid for saying something you don't understand. 
2. The kid's use of Hawaiian is amazing. She, of course, understands everything that is said at school. She uses her 'olelo a lot at home too. 
3. She and Daddy can have entire conversations in 'olelo Hawai'i. She plays in 'olelo Hawai'i a lot (e.g. You be the mommy, I'll be the big sister. You should...). 
4. I can have some conversations in 'olelo Hawai'i with her. I try to practice, for example, translating English books. Kea and I will sometimes be slow in our communications with her, as we try to say something in Hawaiian, and then give up and just say it in English.
5. At one point (toward the end of the school year), she started telling us, "Mai namu haole! (Don't speak English.)" I'm pretty sure this is something she hears at school since one of their school rules is to speak Hawaiian. We were surprised and impressed (that this was coming from a kid who used to say "Don't say 'a'ole!'") and a little bit scared (because our Hawaiian is limited). It's also become kind of a fun game, though, like we will tease her back and tell her "Mai namu haole."
6. She also likes to play school, where she practices language like asking to enter, asking to leave, show and tell.
7. Kea was impressed when she had her first tantrum in Hawaiian. This happened toward the end of the first half of the year. She was screaming, "Makemake e paio! (I want to swing!)" Somehow that moment seemed full of promise.
8. I'm pretty impressed with my own learning too. I can follow most conversations involving kids (e.g. What's in the box? Why? Where is she going?) Conversations between adults, especially adults who are highly proficient in 'olelo Hawai'i are still way beyond my understanding for the most part. 
9. I learned a lot from our language classes, but also just from the kid. I've learned vocab from her (e.g. bee, spider, swing, green beans, hamburger, sandwich, don't touch, kick, move), but also sentence patterns (e.g. want to..., you should...)
10. Also, having started the year with a lot of anxiety--about language as well as things like protocol and belonging--I can say that I feel a lot better about these things now. I used to be hesitant to speak at all--because we are encouraged to speak Hawaiian when at the school, but I have seen from others that it is okay to use English. I have felt very accepted at the school--by parents and teachers alike. I still am not sure about certain protocol, and I'm also just an anxious person by nature, so that's not going away 100%.
11. I think one reason the school is so good is due to the commitment the teachers have. It seems like for all of them, it's not just a job. They really love their work and are committed to the language.

Anyway, next year we'll be starting our second year of preschool at a different campus because we are moving. I'm excited that we have the opportunity to experience two different campuses, and I hope the new school is as great as this one has been.