tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post8274163829934861193..comments2023-06-23T04:16:42.171-07:00Comments on Our Blessed Family: Home 4 Weeks TodayKevin and Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536140585873685012noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post-5428112609957086712008-08-23T08:42:00.000-07:002008-08-23T08:42:00.000-07:00Sounds like things are going really well over ther...Sounds like things are going really well over there:). I'm sure that being in school will really help their aquisition of English.Tonyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03997440256348249766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post-3071800686749219742008-08-22T19:25:00.000-07:002008-08-22T19:25:00.000-07:00Hooray for your Gumdrops starting school! I'm ver...Hooray for your Gumdrops starting school! I'm very pleased for you that the principal agreed with you on their placement. Isn't it fun that we both have kindergarteners this year? Hopefully, Lily will take to it as well as Maddie has and you'll have a little chatterbox telling you everything about the day she just had!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post-17058696704631442132008-08-22T08:40:00.000-07:002008-08-22T08:40:00.000-07:00Your kids will do beautifully in school. It sounds...Your kids will do beautifully in school. It sounds like you have a good principal who focuses on the need of the child, not only the "rules".<BR/><BR/>I think you'll be amazed at how quickly they start picking up English being around all the other children and in class. We had Leeza start preschool about 3 weeks after returning home (at her request). She loved it and even though she couldn't communicate much, she picked up the language like a sponge. Between preschool and her big sister, she's now quite the little chatter box (6 months home).<BR/><BR/>Congrats on how well everything is going for your family!Kathy and Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18325130949702199172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post-2134178465088663462008-08-22T08:34:00.000-07:002008-08-22T08:34:00.000-07:00I love reading up on all your progress as a family...I love reading up on all your progress as a family. It's so wonderful seeing how happy he kids are! We look forward to seeing pictures and reading your updates everyday! Melody sits on my lap and looks at the pictures. I'm teaching her how to say all their names:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post-63585189485514514812008-08-22T07:45:00.000-07:002008-08-22T07:45:00.000-07:00They are so cute! I'm glad you're still blogging,...They are so cute! I'm glad you're still blogging, too.<BR/><BR/>From a mom who's been there and done that and still doing it, you were absolutely right in pushing to get your kids retained a year. But, it's probalby best the private school idea didn't come to fruition. :-) We attempted a charter school with our newly arrived children last year. They promised us the wind and everything looked perfect on paper, but in reality, it was a disaster! They were back in public school, with my adopted son getting the services he needed within 6 weeks.<BR/><BR/>One thing I STRONGLY recommend is insisting (with great passion) the school test your kids in areas such as cognative functioning, speech, adaptive functioning, IQ, etc. What I didn't realize when I first got home is that truely BY LAW (under the federal "no child left behind" and IDEA acts) the school is required to administer these tests in their native tongue. They'll give you all sorts of run-around about it, but it's their job and they know it. There are also several non-verbal tests they can do as well. <BR/><BR/>But, it will be a long time (at least a year or two or more) before these same tests will be accurate if they are administered in English. That's too long to wait if your kids need extra support in some areas. For example, if they test speech delayed in Russian (very common for PI kids), they will likely also be speech delayed in English once they transition. Things they "should" know in Russian, but don't yet...or issues related to ARND (also common in EE kids, even without physical markers) or other learning delays may also show up. You can also have them do tests in social and behavioral areas if these are a concern to you. In a nutshell, the earlier you can catch any potential issues, the earlier you can start interventions and set up IEP's for them, which quite honestly, they will likely need just by virtue pf being PI, language transition and lack of education. <BR/><BR/>The trick is, though, you need to act quickly, and possibly very quickly on this. My son refused to engage with anyone in Ukrainian when we were home 6 weeks, which is also about the time he started rapidly loosing it. By then, it was too late to push to do the testing in Ukrainian. He wouldn't have cooperated! Where all your kids speak Russian and probably do to each other as well as kids at school, they may retain theirs a little longer. But once they start really transitioning, they will do it quickly.<BR/> <BR/>This is all stuff the schools don't want you to know. It is something you will have to push them on. You can "load your guns" by doing some research on the internet. A search with the key words "[name of your state] special education laws" shoud provide you with all the info you need. <BR/><BR/>Reality is that there are 13 different classifications for special education. Knowing what I do about PI kids from Ukraine, it is pretty likely at least one of your kids will meet one or more of these criteria. PLEASE don't take that as any offense or a slam on your darling kids. It just means that there are 13 different avenues you can look into to help them catch up and learn in ways that will work best for them. The schools can be brutal, especially on "unique" kids, which our IA kids are. There's no way for them to get around ELL at this point, but believe me, they're banking on you not knowing about all the other stuff.<BR/><BR/>Better run get my kids ready for school. There's a link to my blog in my profile and a link on my email on my blog if you have any questions.Dianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08444891084585965661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post-19044643999238006052008-08-22T06:38:00.000-07:002008-08-22T06:38:00.000-07:00I cannot BELIEVE it has been 4 weeks! Wow! What ...I cannot BELIEVE it has been 4 weeks! Wow! What a blessing that the school is working with you on placing the kids. I am sad that Sophie didn't get in the same class as the Russian-speaking girl, though. I am much more nervouse for HG to start school than she is! I am grateful that I got 4 months with her...but it's still not enough for me when I think about Kindergarten. <BR/>Have fun at dance today! :)Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01446068234025300810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5325966144333538556.post-22864275852097056512008-08-22T05:35:00.000-07:002008-08-22T05:35:00.000-07:00I love the updates! Can you believe you've been ho...I love the updates! Can you believe you've been home for a month? Doesn't the time fly? Just wait until you've been home for 8 months--rejoicing in the amazing accomplishments and wondering when some of the other stuff will fall into place. ;)Courtneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13677010442934664757noreply@blogger.com