Kelsey the Wunderkind

Shameless brag, I know.    Is it her ability to follow instructions to a T? Is it her amazingly ability to be logical in everything she does?  Or is it the fact that she is fluent in one of the world’s hardest languages?

AND…at the parent teacher conference today she received the ultimate compliment…

Her grammar (compared to native Icelandic speakers who have no English) is NOT the worst in the class, by far.  So her Icelandic grammar is better than at least some of the kids in her class who speak nothing but Icelandic.

Mind you, this is not an insult to those children.  In fact, they have undoubtedly contributed a great deal towards Kelsey learning Icelandic.  We are just so darn proud of the little nugget for having such an incredibly convoluted language (grammar-wise) imprinted on her brain. 

Now, we know she could lose it, but we are hoping not for a while.  All 5 children in next year’s ISI kindergarten class are bilingual English/Icelandic and the principal is already working on a plan to ensure they are learning as much as they can in both languages next year.

The picture?  Well, not only was today parent/teacher conference day, but also the opid hus.  From klukkan 16:00 – 18:00, we were able to watch Kelsey run around with her friends and show off her work from this year.  While some of it was on the wall (as in the picture),  most of her progress came tumbling out of her mouth in the form of Icelandic every time she spoke.

Although we do occasionally have to correct one teensy-weensy item.  When asked where she is from, Kelsey proudly beams and says, "Iceland!"  Well, we’ll correct it next year, if the dark hair doesn’t give it away before then….

NOTE:  The picture was drawn by all of the Njalsborg students.  The figure in the picture to Kelsey’s immediate right is a self-portrait and Jen’s caricature is floating somewhere on the left side of the picture….