Tage’s in the middle of his pre-school orientation, which means that he and I go in from 9 to 11 every morning so that he can play and get a feel for things.  We started last week, and on Friday I was able to leave him and go home for a little while.  This morning, though, he wanted me to stay with him again (they were closed yesterday, so he had a long weekend and lost a little ground because of it).  We’re going to carry on like this for the next couple of days, then see how it goes to start with the “real” program, which will be from 9 to 2, three days a week.

I’m a little apprehensive about leaving him there for five hours at a stretch, but we’ll see how it goes.  He seems to have a good time when he’s there, and he does play with the other kids (particularly with a talkative little character named Isak, who is 3½), but he hardly talks at all.  I worry a little that the other kids will ride roughshod over him, since he’s pretty shy and doesn’t speak much Swedish (he understands it, but speaks almost exclusively English).  I know I’m just being a mother hen.  After all, the entire reason we’re sending him there is to get some socialization and to improve his Swedish, and there are bound to be some bumps along the way.  It’s so hard for me not to hover, though, and to let him make his own way.

This morning another little boy Tage’s age started his orientation weeks, and the staff are really hoping that he and Tage will hit it off, since they are the two oldest kids there, and the only four-year-olds.  This little boy is also from an “international” family, and he has three languages, which puts shame to Tage’s two.  His father is French and his mother is Russian, and they speak Swedish at home.  I guess the little boy speaks only Swedish, however, though he understands French and Russian.  While the kids played today, the French father, the three teachers, and I had a rousing discussion about languages and multi-lingualism.  They’re a very chatty bunch, and I think I spoke more Swedish in one hour this morning than I did in the whole of the past week.  I have no doubt that they’ll have Tage speaking like a native in no time.
*Orientation