It Takes A Village

As I sat at my daughter's high school music concert, surrounded by family, friends and my daughter's forever faithful cheerleaders - (her two sisters) it occurred to me that it truly does require a village to raise a child.  Every one of those people seated around me had helped my husband and I find the resources and expertise to assist our daughter in getting to this point in her education.

She has now graduated from high school and off to College.  She has come a long way from the little girl who wanted to stay in grade one because; "grade two was too hard when you can't read."  From the time a dear friend had cut out a small classified ad about a little reading company with a big promise to now, this little girl has grown into an incredibly talented young woman.

The Village Has to First Listen

Back in the early days when I saw my middle daughter doing the same things I did as a child, I was terrified.  There was a lump in my stomach that just wouldn't go away.  I knew the hours that I poured into homework just to keep up.  I knew the lowering of self esteem that I went through and was not about to allow the same thing to happen to my daughter.  I was on a mission!

As an educator myself, my first stop was the school.  Her grade two teacher was in full agreement.  She felt that although my daughter was a very articulate, engaging child, there seemed to be something amiss.  The teacher was listening but at a loss as what to do about it.  She was an excellent teacher and I respected her thoughts and ideas.  She, in return, was willing to implement suggestions and do her best for she was accountable for the success of all of her students.  Now that's a teacher - Mrs. Clark, we love you!

Not Everyone in the Village is a Brain Surgeon

My background told me to suspect a reading difficulty, Dyslexia to be exact.  (Dyslexia is simply a fancy Greek term meaning difficulty with words or difficulty with language.)  I sought out advice from other friends and fellow professionals.  I took my daughter to a psychologist to have her tested.  After a ton of testing, not to mention a ton of money, we were handed the standard ADD/ADHD diagnosis.  I asked if perhaps she could be dyslexic.  He said that she was far too articulate to be dyslexic.  I replied that often dyslexics are articulate - that is how they get by.  He suggested drugs to keep her from daydreaming and fidgeting in class.  Hmmm, I was not about to take that boulevard, so where to now?

Every Village Should Have a Library

When a parent suspects a problem there is much to be done and due diligence is on top of the list.  I checked out everything, including the Ritalin suggestion.  My conclusions:  methylphenidate is not a good thing.  I suggest every parent look this one up in the library.  An excellent website developed by the parents of a child that was on Ritalin explains the dangers of this drug.

www.ritalindeath.com

At the same time I researched reading methods and signs of reading disorders.  Now I felt I was onto something.  I remembered the classified ad my friend and the girls' nanny had cut out of the paper.  I researched and made a list of questions to start asking.

The Village Book of Questions to Ask:

1.  Do you do any diagnostic testing?
2.  How long does the testing take and what is the cost?
3.  What kind of gains should I expect?
4.  Do you offer a guarantee?
5.  What is your success rate?
6.  Do you have names of individuals I could call?
7.  What is the cost?
8.  Is the program instruction one on one?
9.  How many sessions per week are recommended?
10.  How long are the sessions?
11.  How many sessions does the program run?
12.  How soon could we start the program?

The bottom line is trust your feelings and search for answers.

When the Village Comes Together

We all celebrated our daughter's success that night.  As we all watched with incredible awe the talented individuals performing on stage, we all took pride in the fact that we had done right by this incredibly talented young woman.  We also know that a village's job is never complete as there are many more children for us to raise, nurture, empower!