Children with Special Needs

I am going to simply start with this......

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reservedI am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

........Here I will say my very special little one that lives here is a fairy. Once you have been sprinkled by her magic dust you are captured. By her spirit, her love of live, and "see it as it is" personality. NONE of which I would change, because if you did she would cease to be my VERY special fairy. This I would mourn more then the shock of "landing in Holland".

I encourage you to read the book "Finding Kansas" by Aaron Likens or get his D.V.'s. Saw his presentation on campus Monday night. What a great way to see for just a bit through the lens of a person with an Autism Spectrum diagnosis.  

*Bilingual Children*

In my wonderful class of Educational Psychology our text book is "Educational Psychology" written by Anita Woolfolk. In this week, chapter 5, I am reading about Bilingual Children. Having all of this language diversity in my house, along with observing some in the community that seem to be so resistant to what bilingual children and immersion schools and what they can do for children. Here are some objective and interesting facts to keep in mind as this country of ours is changing and so many languages are joining English. We need to support these children and these families. Encourage them to learn English but always support them in keeping their heritage and language. Communities, schools and families need to come together with the focus of benefiting all who live and attend school in the area. Whether bilingualism is something that is chosen by a family or not is not the point. ALL children need and have the right to the best environment we can provide for them. Please find all of the facts, research, and studies you can. Remember lives, learning, and self-esteem are all on the line for the rest of these children's lives.  

“If they are exposed to two languages from birth, bilingual children reach the language milestones in both languages on the same schedule as monolingual children.” Page 175

“Later bilingual exposure DOES change the typical pattern of the brain’s neutral organization for language processing, but early bilingual exposure does NOT.” Page 175

“So the best time to acquire two languages on your own through exposure is early childhood.” Page 176

“Higher degrees of bilingualism are correlated with the increased cognitive abilities in such areas as concept formation, creativity, theory of mind, cognitive flexibility, and understanding that printed words are symbols for language.” Page 176

“Even more impressive, children from monolingual English-speaking families who attended bilingual schools and learned Spanish had better phoneme awareness and reading comprehension than their peers who were educated in an English-only program.” Page 176

“These conclusions hold as long as there is no stigma attached to be bilingual and as long as children are not expected to abandon their first language in order to learn a second.” Page 176

Even as a mother of immersion school children some of these quotes and facts blew me away. A lot of these quotes people try to discredit and cover up. They are true and not only sited here in this book. Look up Hammer, Lawrence, & Miccio, 2007 Head start program. Or Anderson & Graham, 1994 and Au, Knightly, Jun, & Oh 2002, and Au, Knightly, Jun, Au, & Romo, 2008. These are just a few. I have more but you get the idea of the names and the research that is out there.

I hope this helps in understanding a bit into the lives of those who have multiple languages and cultures in their lives. Let's enjoy each other, appreciate each other, help and encourage each other, and except each other. Not to the point that we has Americans need to drop who we are, but enough to get us through this though thing called life that we all have to work through.  

Teaching WaHoo!!

School is under way. I am feeling like I am actually learning the knowledge behind the application that I have been using in my life for the last 9 years. It is making school much more fun, relaxing, and interesting. Some of the content I feel as though I already know. Now I am just learning the professional or study terms behind the reasoning. In a way it is making me all the more sure that teaching is where I belong. I am loving every minuet of this.
People in my life thought I was good at what I did before. Watch out, cause with the resources I am finding and the ideas I am gathering. Wow, you are not going to know what hit you.

Then there is this side of OH MY GOSH, what am I taking on. SO much responsibility that goes into this. Every child is in my care. There education is in my hands. There is so much to be aware of, Special needs, learning styles, personally making a connection with every child in my class, etc..... Can I really take all that on and still meet the standards that the country puts in front of us as educators?? Are the standards in front of teacher and students really fair??? Am I going to be a feather ruffler for wanting to think out side the box and bring excitement to education??? A very overwhelming feeling. Wanting to give every child the best and yet knowing what a mountain of a task it is to do that.

The short of it is, if your child has a teacher that has connected, educated, and appreciated you child. Thank them, tell them, it is a huge job that good effect teachers take personally. It is apart of who they are. Trust me they don't do it because of the glamorous pay. Most of us truly love each child and what we do. And in the words of many of my professors, "if you don't truly love the job and the kids, you're in the wrong job. Get out!"

And away we go....

Here it is, the edge of the cliff. Back to school night is now behind us. My nerves are a bit calmed now that teachers have been met, classes have been seen, and lockers have been found. This year is giving me a positive vibe already. The family schedule seems to all be falling into place nicely. Everything is coming together at the right time.

For me it is a BIG day. First class of the first year of my first time back since 13 years have gone by. I am glad that it is here. I am ready for all of this to begin. The build up and waiting is the hardest part.

As crazy as summer started it seems to be ending in the same way. We had a good fun filled, family time, play time, and some relaxation summer. Reflecting on it, I could not have ask for anything more.

So good luck this school year. With minimal illness and great memories created.

Monkey Sister

Fast track to Insomniac

With books to buy, school issued lap top to pick up, school id to get, and parking pass to figure out. Along with confirming all of those loans, grants, and scholarships. Oh, and navigating campus.
 
Then there is my oldest. Will she have a better year? Will her struggling subjects be a bit easier for her? We spent so much time on them this summer. Will her class mates easy up? Will she at least find one friend that will make her year and years to come a bit better?

How about the middle one. How will those gross and fine motor skills come along for her? Will she at lest give them a try? Can I get her to eat more then 2 bites at lunch? (Seeing as they only get 15 min to eat.) What new ideas can I put in her lunch box to make lunch say "eat me". My sweet slow little eater that you are. She however makes friends with such ease. She already has one in her class this year that was such a good friend last year.

The youngest, wow! Will she do ok at school every day? How will she do being away from home and myself most days, all day? Am I asking to much for her at the age she is?
Then there are all the activities they are involved in. How will I fit in the Christmas play, Chess club, violin lessons, piano lessons, conferences for school, etc....? Oh and let us not forget working on the weekends still.

Of corse all of this comes to you once the sun has set. Racing through your mind and nerves. Keeping you from that beautiful thing called rest. So here I am sleep deprived, nervous, overwhelmed, and stressed.

Ok deep breath and jump right in. Wish me luck and survival.

2013 school year

As this crazy mom of 3. I am returning to school and life is going to get even more interesting. Hoping to survive it. Stay tuned for all the adventures that are to come. I am sure there will be plenty to share.

New Year 2013

With the end of the year being an extremely tough one. From children in Conneticut losing life to the illness that took this family down for 3 weeks before, during, and after Christmas. It is amazing how with all the bleakness and darkness around. How I have been able to look at all the positive that is blessing me day after day. We have 3 beautiful children that I still can kiss every day, we have 4 jobs that put food on the table, a community of friends that are uplifting us day after day. Every time I turn around I see another way the Lord has kept His hand on this family. Some times I think you need to hit the bottom to see all the good that is really around. Maybe because I have lived at the bottom so long the positive seems to creep forward in all the hard things swirling around.
So in this new year I am hoping to step out more, do more paying it forward. Share my gifts, time, and talents. I challenge you all to do the same. Let's make this year positive, good, with values, love, and memories to last a life time.

Monkey Sister