Success!

During preschool each day, we devote some time to help the children develop their fine motor skills. This can include buttoning and unbuttoning extra shirts, zipping and unzipping pouches, and sometimes even making things from play-doh. On one particular day, we gave the kids a handful of beads and a shoelace each and asked them to make some necklaces (another fine motor skill task disguised as fun!).

This is Emma.

Emma was having a little trouble making her necklace. She just couldn't seem to get the beads turned the right way or the shoelace to go all the way through. We encouraged her over and over, saying, "You can do it, Emma! Try again!"

And try she would. See that tongue all twisted in concentration?

Often times, you can hear the phrase "你真棒!" (ni zhen bang!)  echoing throughout our foster home. This is roughly translated to, "You're so great!" or, "You're awesome!". We use it a lot to encourage the children and let them know what a great job they're doing and how proud we are of their accomplishments.

After a few minutes, Emma had the necklace-making figured out. As she strung her first bead, she smiled proudly. Before we had the chance to cheer for her, she exclaimed excitedly to herself, "Emma, 你真棒!" ("Emma, you're so great!")

A healthy dose of self-confidence never hurt anyone, right?

Well, we all agree, Emma. You are great!


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post and photography by our intern, Jess