Early Intervention

I have wanted to write something about early intervention for a long time now. Ozzy had his first assessment at age 2 1/2.We had to see the dev ped every six months, and now, once a year.We came in for his speech delay and he was observed to be hyper-active. When we started looking at therapy we realized how expensive it was going to be. With the apparent cost alone, we could have just ignored the problem. Many suggested to wait for him to grow up and maybe, later on, the problem will go away.

This is what I looked like before Ozzy had therapy sessions....

Everything was a stand off. I didn't know what was going on. the worst feeling was that I couldn't understand why my son was so disconnected to me. When I used to bring Ozzy to his therapy center, I recognized this same look in another mother's face. Perplexed at their kid. Have you seen your mother look at you that way? Do you realize how that look feels like? Can you imagine what it does to your spirit when you keep getting them? It was the look of disappointment.

Things get better after therapy. I caught a therapist saying, "mukhang nag-iimprove naman si *name*. Tingnan mo si mommy naka ngiti na." 

To see that alone is a grace from God. I am sharing this because I want to share this grace with you and if early intervention is necessary go ahead and take the plunge. It takes lot of hard work and personal acceptance.

Here's our relationship now...

I think I shall leave the planet a better place. 

Figure It Out Along the Way

Now that I’m done with “my” report card, I can let out a sigh of relief. I hold my breath when I do assessments. I don’t know why. It’s just the way it is. Even when I was teaching in a school, it felt the same. You can slice the tension in a room when its assessment time. In school, I am welcomed by exhausted faces of students when I enter a room. Any room. In any class. Across the board. Maybe they hold their breath too. It’s a time when everybody needs a hug. Teachers and students feel pretty much the same way.

Anyway, this means that the following reports will be much easier. I’ve done my formatting and all I have to do is fill in the blanks and file properly. It’s not really tiring to home school. Just tedious. My learning curve is improving.

I am comforted by the idea that nobody really knows what they’re doing at the beginning. I’ve had no experience teaching a kindergartner and now I do. It reminded me of the time I took Art Studies classes and thought I was being spoken to in foreign languages. And I thought I was an art buff and have had my share of art history. It also reminds me of that first day I taught my first grade 2 class: Grade 2 Section 4. They are in college now. Some have become my good friends.

There may be some readings that advice leaving education to the experts (schools and teachers). I thought about this too when I started out. I was really tense about teaching someone how to read. But the truth of the matter is any teacher has to start from scratch. And I wouldn’t have been a teacher now if I wasn’t given a break the first time.  So if you want to home school, make room for some mistakes. Know that even the best teachers make them. There are good days and bad days just like in any classroom. Children will be children. You will always be you. You grow together in the process. Classrooms are kind of like that too.