What Jinna has learned this year

When we met Jinna Rai and brought her home almost a year ago, she clearly was very competent and capable in a lot of ways.  She navigated how to communicate without a common language like a real pro, expressing herself in very creative and effective ways.  She knew how to just jump into the life of a family, finding her role and responsibilities easily.  She knew how to take care of herself well.

But there were a lot of things she didn't know, and in some ways we were taken off-guard by how like a toddler her understanding really was -- through no fault of her own, of course.  She just had never been exposed to some very basic concepts, living within the same 4 walls essentially her whole life.

For example, she never knew what a family was, or how it should operate.  She didn't understand that parents are in charge and kids are not.

She didn't understand how families were created, or how babies are made in their mothers' bodies, are born, and then grow up to be children.

She didn't know that boys grow up to be men and girls grow up to be women.

She didn't really understand the concept of growth at all.  Watching our garden grow this year has been a huge experience for her -- learning about seeds and how plants grow.  She just recently started asking about why plants need water and how they drink it, so I showed her about the roots of a plant.

She didn't understand basic calendar concepts, or daily and weekly routines.  She couldn't tell time (and still can't).

She didn't understand the geography of the world -- how China was a different country, etc.  Now she knows all about travel, and can identify the US and individual states, as well as China.  Looking at a map today she pointed out that we could drive to Tennessee in a short time, but it would take a long time to drive to Ohio.

She didn't know about the alphabet or letter sounds -- but learned all that very quickly.

She didn't know about numbers beyond 20, but now can count to 100.  For a long time she used the concept of 100 to mean an impossibly large number, ("We have to drive for 100 hours??") but I think she now realizes numbers don't end there.

She didn't understand the concept of personal property.  She still takes my things and doesn't always realize that is wrong.  When she receives a present, she gets very excited, but sometimes doesn't know how to take care of that thing and doesn't understand that things need to be put away in specific spots so they can be found the next time, etc.   (She is, essentially, like my other kids in this regard.)

She didn't know anything about LOVE.  She had never heard the Chinese word for it, and certainly not the English word.  But we kept saying it to her, and pretty soon she was repeating, "I love you," often.  At first she resisted when I told her I loved her -- like she couldn't comprehend or accept that was true.  But now she gets it and wants me to tell her I love her.  She also loves to write notes to all of us, telling us that she loves us.

She didn't know anything about GOD.  She quickly grasped the concept that God made the world, but still sometimes has to ask us who made a particular thing -- God or people.  "Who made this desk?"  "Who made this pool?"  She also became fascinated with the concept of Heaven pretty early on, and seems excited to go there someday.

But despite having to start basically from scratch, she has made huge gains in her comprehension and understanding of the world.

For the last 5 weeks at Classical Conversations she has gotten up in front of her class and given a little presentation about various topics -- herself, her doll from China, the trip we took this summer, the bones in a skeleton, etc.  Her pronunciation and delivery need a little improvement, but the fact that she can understand what she is supposed to do, and does it, astounds me.

It has been such a delight to see her learn all these new things in such a short time span.  It's like watching a child grow from toddler to 1st-grader all in less than a year.... but only grow 1 inch in stature!

We pray the Lord continues to bless her with understanding, knowledge, and wisdom, as she grows!