I'm not telling you to sit back, and let bad things happen. I'm not telling you to withhold your voice. Please, do stand tall, and speak loud. But, take care in the words you choose; others are listening. Maybe even - if you're open to the idea - the universe is listening, too. What you put out there will come right back at you.
I had an incredible meeting at Elyse's school today. I was invited to attend an in-house one-on-one speech session to observe the strategies the speech pathologist is using with Elyse to be able to replicate the activities at home.
I watched as the speech path pointed to animal flash cards, which Elyse correctly identified in French. Then she upped the ante. Using a sentence starter flash card with the words, Je vois... (I see...) she had Elyse say a sentence in French. Je vois un lapin. When Elyse did so, the speech path was elated.
"Did you see that? "she said, "She just said a sentence!" I looked unimpressed, and stated my case as politely as possible.
Elyse can already say sentences, this isn't impressive. She regularly uses sentences in English.
The speech path was floored. Usually when the child struggled in French, she said, they were struggling in English, too. Don't get me wrong, Elyse drops sounds off words like a cheerleader drops boyfriends - she has work to do, but I wasn't going to sell my kid short or waste anybody's time.
"You mean she does this in English! Then why not just put her in English?" She almost wondered this question aloud to herself, but I was meant to answer.
I took a measured breath, and explained there was a healthy body of research to support the use of learning language strategies in one language to support another. Everything she learns in French she will then transfer to English, and vice versa. Elyse's reluctance to speak in French is her catching up on the language, not the skills. "With time, I know she will get there, and having a second language is beneficial for many reasons," I reasoned, in French.
I remained positive, confident in my decision, our families decisions, and the speech path understood that immediately, and was on board. I told her how we support Elyse with French speech and language every other weekend, and, as it turns out, she knows our speech pathologist very well. She was a mentor of sorts to her.
I remained open, and shared what that speech path had taught me about Elyse's speech, and we engaged in a conversation.
Then, the school speech path did something unexpected. She offered to accompany Elyse to her weekend speech lesson so that she could align her teachings with the way Elyse was already being taught. When she did so, Elyse's EA, who was also present, asked if she could go too. Her EA works with her every single day. She will take away strategies from two very experienced speech pathologists that she will be able to incorporate into Elyse's days. I could not be more thrilled.
The speech path looked at me, and she said, "You have done well by your child. You have brought these caring, supportive, wonderful people together into your life because you yourself are good, and have done well by your child." Essentially, she acknowledged that I reached out to the universe for support, and the universe has delivered.
In an email she then composed to Elyse's regular speech path, she described Elyse's EA as "Une personne qui tient Elyse à coeur". There, that sentence, is a reason in itself for learning a second language. I do not feel there is an equivalent expression that does that expression justice in English, but what it literally means is, "She holds Elyse in her heart." What more could a parent ask for?
I feel as though Elyse's education is on the right path.
Now, I'm not going to say that luck didn't play a part in all of this. Elyse also isn't a fluent French speaker YET, but I know that one day she will be. I am also not going to stand around and say that I'm good, because that would be my ego talking, but what I am going to say is that I am PERSISTENT. If you want to bring good things into your life, for you and your child, you must persist, and do so with open arms, and an open heart. Do so with the right light attitude.
I left the meeting on a high, literally running out the door for my second last training run before Dan and I run our first marathon this weekend. The sky was baby blue, with a few white cotton clouds, and I see my friend Sarah, a trained goddess, running toward me. In passing each other, we laughed, and reached out, high fiving each other, and it was like the universe was giving me a high five, saying, "You got this. Keep doing what you're doing. The gods are in your favour."
Some days are struggles, but every day is an opportunity; and unless you persist, you'll never know how it's going to play out.
pictures from my run
No comments:
Post a Comment