Kindergarten For Ava

It's official!! Ava is now in Kindergarten!  We decided that she needed WAY more than I could offer her in homeschooling....and retain my sanity in the process;)...so we talked to the principle of our local public school, and we stepped out in faith! 

She has an AMAZING teacher, who, in the first week of school, has already had her evaluated by the school psychologist, and the occupational therapist...WITHOUT my prodding:)!  They are on the ball!!  Love Mrs. Blount!

I've talked with the psychologist, and I'm just so impressed...such a gentle and caring man...and we are all on the same page.  And YAY, I wasn't crazy!!;)  Ava is having trouble with memory, copying basic shapes(i.e. writing), and reasoning skills, etc...  We don't know if it is a "language issue", or delay because of living in an orphanage, or something physically going on in her brain.  The bottom line is, ALL that time we spent last year doing preschool activities has only slightly helped...and she NEEDS intervention to succeed in school.  They are also going to check into ESL services of some sort..haven't heard back about that yet.  And I'm sure an IEP is in her future.

She DOES really like it, and LOVES riding the bus(against my better judgement)...but I can tell she's trying to find a "new normal".  She asks every night if "Daddy's going to wake her up...", and she has be up at 6:00am:(!  She goes to school from 7:30 till 2:30, and then she has to take a nap.  We learned the hard way that this is going to be necessary.  She began to have accidents in the middle of the night because she just couldn't wake up.  She was TOTALLY exhausted!  She doesn't understand why she doesn't go on Saturdays or Sundays...and she gets a little mad about it!

We all would appreciate your prayers as we get used to our new schedule, and for Ava as she adjusts.  We want her to get the help she needs, and at this point feel she is getting that.  I know that our relationship as mother and daughter is going to be much better, because now I can just be "mommy" and she doesn't need to perform for me as a "teacher".  Now I can just support her.  Different, but good for us:).

In other news,  all the other kiddos are going strong in homeschool, and now I have Caleb doing Kindergarten this year as well!  He's a challenge!!  VERY KINESTHETIC learner....having to come up with games daily to keep his interest!;)  He's also going to a local preschool in the afternoon for speech therapy.

So, that's our crazy life....in a not so small nutshell...would again appreciate any and all prayers for great strides to be made this school year for ALL our kiddos!!

God Bless!:)