Green or Purple Room

This was our big decision last week.  Let me break it down for you.

In JJ's Croatian school, on the first day, he was placed in the Green room.  All rooms in the school are Croatian rooms except for one, the Purple room, which is the "English speaking" room.  Apparently in this room, there are both international children and Croatian children, and the teachers only speak in English to the children.  However, the children play in their mother tongue with each other, which is mostly in Croatian.

So, JJ was placed in the Green room with all Croatian children and Croatian teachers (with one whose communication with JJ is mostly in English). All day long the instructions are in Croatian and the play amongst the children is in Croatian.  We knew this would not be easy for him, but we thought - what a great environment for JJ to learn Croatian!! 

Anyway, day 2 or 3 of school, we were pulled aside by the speech therapist and Director.  They informed us that JJ may be more comfortable in the Purple room (for those who are already confused, that's the English room).  They told us stories of other children who learned lots of Croatian in this room even though English is spoken by the teachers, and how JJ could still be prepared for Croatian school next year in the Purple room.  They were saying this because they watched him play primarily by himself for 2-3 straight days and that he gravitated only toward the teacher who primarily spoke English with him.  

We listened and while it broke our hearts to think of our little social extrovert playing by himself all day, we told them our concerns with putting JJ in the Purple room and why the Green (Croatian room) might be a better fit for him in the long run because he needs to learn Croatian.  We told them that every playground and play place JJ visits, there are Croatian children, not English speaking children.   Despite our efforts, we yielded to their advice, which was to invite JJ to be a part of the Purple room to see how he would do.  The idea was that JJ might learn Croatian faster in a room where he feels more safe and comfortable.  So, on Friday he went, and we were told to ask him what he thought about it and which one he liked more. 

So on Friday after school, we did just that, and he said he did not want to talk about it but think about it all weekend.  So, we let him.

On Monday morning, he said he had made a decision.  He said something like this:
"I've thought about it and I really like the Green (Croatian) room.  I have friends there, and I like to practice my Croatian!"

Then he proposed that maybe he could go to the Green room in the morning and the Purple room in the afternoon, but that he wanted to be in the Green room every day in the morning with his friends. 

So, when I got to school, I met with his teacher and the speech therapist and told them of JJ's wishes.  The speech therapist said she would invite JJ again to go to the Purple room that day to see how he would do and the next day she would tell us which room to put JJ in:  Green or Purple.  She also introduced me to one of the teachers in the Purple room who told me that JJ could contribute in the English room and possibly encourage the others to communicate in English.

For some reason, I drove from his school feeling a bit defeated, like I hadn't succeeded in putting JJ's wants first. In the end, I thought, Purple room it will be. 

So, I arrived in the afternoon and was eager to find out which room he would be in: Green or Purple.  I saw my happy energetic boy playing with many children on the terrace.  He ran to me when he saw me and his teacher from the Green room came over to tell me what happened that day:

Come to find out, JJ WAS invited to go to the Purple (English) room, but he declined.  He told them he wanted to stay in the Green room.  And his teacher continued to tell me that he asked her all day long how to say various things in Croatian, so he could interact with his friends.  She said he was very eager to learn Croatian, and that he likes his friends there. 

Have you had that feeling of busting with pride?  That was me.  Here JJ had all these people deciding what we thought was best for him:  maybe he would feel safer/more comfortable there, maybe he could contribute in what he knows best, etc...

And all the while JJ stuck up for what he wanted.  In the end it's not the "easy" choice for him, but he made it, and he wants to learn Croatian and is going to stick it out!

And yesterday was the same report - JJ had an awesome time, participated, listened to the teachers and interacted well.  No, he's not communicating in his first language, and he's playing with children whose first language is not English.  BUT he's thriving.

I couldn't be more proud of my little guy!!!