New starts

Rose is home and she's studying for her upcoming Arabic proficiency exam that she needs to complete before she receives her final funds from her Fellowship so the house is festooned with post it notes in Arabic. It is a language that to me is incomprehensible but now Rose has puzzled it out and finds it fascinating. I think it is very pretty to look at, somehow reminds me of embroidery. I am very grateful she's returned, she swears she told me that after I left ISIS was camped for 2 weeks approximately 20 km from where she lived but I swear even more fervently that she skipped that part. She was connected by all means of electronic devices to the State Department and the Embassy but still it's times such as these that emphasize the split that happens when they grow up. I can't ride in and 'fix it' anymore as I could when they were 6. ISIS isn't going to care that "Mommy says BACK OFF!" That's true regardless of where my daughters are, they are adults, more peers than babies, though that continues to catch me by surprise. Anyway her test looms and we are awash in stickyness.

Beyond that I am coming to terms with a new curriculum that promised to help me teach 'reading' to my class. Never mind that I don't want to teach reading, that I believe reading is the last thing that 3-5 year old's with (or without) disabilities should be concerning themselves with. (My father says as soon as I teach my class to read I really ought to eradicate ebola). I have 11 kids so far this year (w/5 more in the loop to qualify pre Christmas) and 9 of them are extremely low verbal. Low verbal meaning this year that they make sounds (read screaming) but have an average of 3-7 words that are frequently not intelligible and not consistently used. But I'm gonna teach them rhyming-as soon as I finish with that ebola issue.

So I have been arguing with administration, finding research that says preschoolers should be learning how to socialize, empathize, play cooperatively, observe their world to glean information, not to mention fine and gross motor development. Not reading sight words. It has taken a tremendous toll on my spirit to be honest and I have truly been casting about for a new job. Truth be told, I have never wanted to teach which is why special education preschool is perfect for me. It's big on imagination, low on facts. The need for the 'low on facts' part became achingly clear one pre Thanksgiving day as I gave the kiddos a history lesson about the day's art project (a group designed tall ship) and related the story, repleat with storm sounds, as to how the Pilgrims came to America on the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. My assistants were shaking their heads as I named the ships but I continued undaunted, smiling and chatting with the kids explaining how we would tear the paper, use the glue, etc.

Naturally, I had a mother observing that day to decide if she wanted to place her typically developing child in my class. I apologized to her later about getting the ships wrong and she replied,"I don't care, I'm Canadian. I think your class is great!".

And really, unless you have a ticket to ride, do you really need to know the name of the vessel?

Anyway, I digress as I always do, but I have missed you all and marvel at the fact that you can post a gorgeous photo and a meaningful text daily and I can't seem to get in and out of blip in under 3 hours! I get lost in everybody's journal, I always find new places to look up, new facts to research, new places to run away to in my head. I began editing my dad's trip to follow my grandfather's prisoner of war path and will post it this week, not that anyone can remember back that far!

And can someone explain to me why the Osprey are still here on their nest? Aren't they due somewhere?
Love and good thoughts for a happy week ahead! Missed you all.

Oh and we've been boiling our water for 10 days--e coli outbreak.
And I do not mean to make light of ebola. It's horrifying and my heart is breaking for Africa yet anew.
xx