[mschweber]

My daughter is "superstar" this week in kindergarten which means she gets to bring in things that represent her and talk about herself.

Of course she wants to bring pictures from Russia, which is great because it is a positive and happy story for her. This is really the first time she is old enough to really tell her story by herself to others.

I just hope the rest of the class will not be mean to her.

[k8c]

I can't imagine they'll be mean. They may be inquisitive, but I don't think they'll be mean-spirited. Their teacher won't let them. ;>

Let us know how it goes!

[kretzklan]

Prepare her for the regular questions that kids that age will ask. Where are your real parents? Why didn't they want you? The kids don't think those questions are mean - they think it is perfectly normal and they are wondering...sometimes it's fear that it can happen to them and suddenly they'd be in Russia with a new family. I always went in with my kids at that age on the day they were talking about adoption! I'm sure she'll be fine - but tell her not to be upset if they say things that may sound mean to her!

[lambygirl]

The other kids may well have a very positive reaction. . . .

Our DD#1 is also in kindergarten this year. They don't have a superstar day/week, but she has been talking a lot about Russia this year (talking about DD#2 arriving home from Russia, bringing in her Russian dolls for show and tell, etc).

Anyhow, I ran into another mother with a son in DD#1's class this weekend, and she told me that out of the blue the other day, her son asked "Can we go live in Russia?"

When she said no, he asked why not.

Working quickly, she said "We live in the United States, and the United States is the best country in the world."

His response, "That can't be true, because lambygirl's DD#1 and her little sister were both born in Russia."

I was so thankful she recounted this one to me - what a cute thing for him to say!

She also let me know at the same time that all the children in DD#1's class can now locate Russia on the world map

[momraine]

My dd has had positve reactions from her friends everytime she tells them the story. They think it's cool. In fact she and my youngest feel sorry for my older boys becuase they were born in Texas, how boring. LOL

[GCS]

We had superstar week this year too! It was awesome! I wrote a letter to the class about how DS was our superstar all the time. It included that we met him at 3, how he learned the language so quickly, his gymnastics "career" and mentioned that he has a big family with lots of cousins.

It was very well received. We had to send 3 pics and one of them was from trip one. Others were current pics with his family and of course his dog and one in his Russian garb taken this Christmas.

One of the mom's mentioned to me that her son asked her "is (insert our Italian last name) a Russian name?" Its too funny how they process this.

We go to a small school so we've been very open about adoption from the beginning. He also has a little girl from China in his class who's parents are very open. They do a big Chinese New Years celebration in the class every year. The mother is all american and the father is from Japan, so in reality they didn't need to be so open. Like us, they choose to be.

Our school has really embraced the talk of different cultures and experiences. I hope you have a great experience as well!

[MamaChinch]

I'm sure it will go well, remember the kids' questions are soley from curiosity! Make it fun and they will percieve it that way!
Can't wait to hear how it goes!

[beckyww]

Julia did this in kinder and first, plus this year in second grade. Nobody was mean to her - everyone was interested. Plus she took a book of Russian fairytales printed in Cyrilic. Big fun!

In kinder: The Woodworth Family in Beautiful San Antonio TX

And that board is still used: The Woodworth Family in Beautiful San Antonio TX

Have fun with it!

Becky

[mschweber]

According to the teacher it went very well and our daughter was very excited about telling her story.

[angelkisses0102]

Great news...both my kids have had positive reactions...although now that she is in second grade...DD is much more selective about sharing her story!