I've been spending my evenings trying to finish up our taxes. Thanks to the boys, we should be getting some money back which will go to paying off a student loan and work on the new house. Yes, we're still working on it--or I should say, Mark is still working on it. He's done an amazing amount of work on it in his spare time. We're waiting on the roofers to come out and reroof it (complete tearoff) and then Mark will need to do some framing before the plumber, electrician, and HVAC guys can come do their stuff. Then we'll be to the point when the boys can start helping. :) :)
This week has been good. Dima has been on spring break but we went ahead and sent Zhenya to preschool so we could have some one-on-one time with Dima. I think that's been good for him and something he may never have experienced before. We've been going to the playground on the days it hasn't been raining which the boys love. There's a park with a playground right across the street from their school so we stop there after I pick the boys up.
Zhenya's English is really coming along. Not so much for Dima. We're really thinking he's going to need speech therapy. I've already called the insurance to find out what's covered so now we just need the referral and a place to go. If anyone has any speech therapists in the St Louis area to recommend, please leave me a comment! :)
Tomorrow we're participating in our neighborhood Easter egg hunt at the community garden a few blocks from our house. As far as we know, this will be the boys' first Easter egg hunt. In preparation, we played a game tonight where I sent the boys to their room and then hid a white plastic egg in the living room. They would then come in and find it. They obviously haven't done much "hunting" before. :) :) But they quickly got the hang of it and hopefully it will help them be prepared for tomorrow.
Friday, March 21, 2008
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3 comments:
Your son should be able to qualify for free speech therapy through your school district. My 3 yr. old adopted last summer from UA goes to spec. ed preschool provided by the school district 3 days a week and gets speech therapy services on two of them. It's helping a TON! I don't remember exactly how old your boys are, but even if they are K age, they will still be eligable for speech therapy...and ESL as well.
Especially if your kids still remember their Russian, now is the time to have them evalulated by the school. Once you request it in writing, (talk to the principal to get whatever forms you need) they hvae 45 days to complete the testing...AND they are legally obligated to test him in his native tounge. Don't wait until they lose it or refuse to engage with anyone in Russian anymore. You'll be so very, very, very glad you did. Otherwise, the school may well tell you they have to wait a couple more years (balogna!) until their transition is complete. BTW, they also should do an English proficiency test as well.
In a nutshell, call your local school district office and talk to the people over special education. Don't be afraid of the lable. There are 13 different classifications of special ed...one of which deals with language. It doesn't mean your kids are sub-par or anything. This just happens to be the department that deals with these issues.
I second the school district info. All three of our older kids had help with their speech through the district. Some insurance companies will cover speech help, but if they don't the district is a good source.
We missed making Maddie a tax deduction by 10 days! Kind of stinks knowing I have to wait a whole year to start getting reimbursed for all of those adoptione expenses...of course I wouldn't trade her for anything!
You gotta go to the school district. They must do testing if you ask for it and provide help if it is found that you need it. Jenn can tell you more specifics, I don't deal with that as much at the middle school level. Labels aren't a big thing. Special needs ranges from food allergies, to language needs, to genius IQs and everything in between.
Happy Easter!
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