Well, it is official. Our Elspeth is both making remarkable gains and borderline delayed. Sigh. I always applauded the dedication of parents who worked to help their children address any delays. It is one of the first things that I thanked them for in Kindergarten interviews. Katrine’s Kindergarten years in school and organized daycare showed me first hand how aggravating it can be to advocate for a child that an instructor just doesn’t get because they are not within the mold. I also got to see first hand how it feels to know that your child is not being programmed for appropriately for a number of potential reasons such as lack of resources, time or just not getting that she is playing you. Katrine was never delayed. Elspeth is giving me alot of different insights which I hope will help when I return to work to make me a more compassionate teacher when dealing with parents. We knew going in to her adoption that she would have delays just not what they were. Once again we were blessed, she will be fine with time.  That said, this journey is giving me a whole new appreciation for those of you coping with language delayed children.
The way that we play with her is completely different than Katrine at this age.  Most every activity is structured so that she is working on skill X or Y. For instance, giving her one piece for Mr Potatoe Head and naming it, then having her repeat the name before inserting the piece. Or, doing a puzzle together where she has to ask for every single piece, or repeat the name of the photo, before getting to do the fun part of actually putting it together. Have you tried talking in two and three word sentences for a whole day and also doing it almost non-stop? “Yes. Plane go. Plane go sky. Bye plane. Yes, puppy. Puppy brown. Puppy small. Puppy walk.” On and on. Now do that seven days a week. Thank goodness there is Katrine to break up the insanity of it with her arrival home. Then I get to talk in a combination of simple sentences and French. Sigh. Don’t get me wrong. Knew what we were getting into. Just didn’t realise how draining it is to try and think in such simplified speech for such an extended period of time. To those of you who do this every day, well done. I finally get it. The next time I teach one of your children and get frustrated by the fact that they are still working on basic grammar structures, I will pause and remember all of the work that you have done to get them to this point and look for a fresh approach.
Isn’t it amazing what we can learn from our kids?