A little funny about Trouble #2

Well, it probably isn't funny by the time I write this down, and unless you know Trouble #2, it probably isn't terribly funny anyway, but I have to get a good giggle out, and nobody else is home right now to listen to me.

Trouble #2 is 5, so technically not old enough for first grade. But, both her teachers at Kindergarten and I thought she definitely should be tested to see if she could start early. She is way ahead of the game at Kindergarten. She went to testing, saw the principal, saw the school physician, all was well, yes, your child is definitely ready to start school this coming August.

Today, I got a letter in the mail from the school, confirming that indeed, my child is ready for first grade. BUT... they highly recommend speech therapy. Now, in this letter there are three boxes to mark, one basically recommending some sort of therapy for fine/gross motor skills, one for speech, one to increase concentration. Now, I can see maybe needing something for fine/gross motor skills. Trouble #2 can at times be clumsy. I swear, there is not a portrait taken where she doesn't have a bump, bruise or scratch... and that's just on her face. I can definitely see the need to increase concentration. She does not have a long attention span, but then, she is only 5 and quite active. But speech?

Now, this is the child whose grandfather was worried about her needing speech therapy, because she didn't really start speaking until she was almost 2. Very late compared to her sister. But then there was no stopping. The child spoke in complete sentences and has a vocabulary that amazes me every day. When she first came to Germany and knew very little German and her daycare provider didn't speak any English.... she was the one who would explain words to the daycare provider several different ways to make her understand. She was the one who would translate or describe words for Trouble #1. She can explain the most complex situation or circumstance without breaking a sweat. She soaks up language like a little sponge. And, I always know when she is asleep. That's about the only time when she DOESN'T speak.

So.... this child needs speech therapy. I, of course, was quite surprised, and called the school. The principal herself answered the phone and proceeded to tell me that they had noticed her needed help with her vocabulary and grammar, that she paraphrased, or circumscribed words and text. Uhhhhmmmm, yeah, and the problem is?

Anyway, the way I see it... it's a waste of resources. There are children (i.e a friend of Trouble#1)who would benefit from this but who are not getting the help , no matter how hard their parents try. And then there is my child, who will probably talk circles around the teacher by the end of the first week of school.

But who am I to question the school?

I will leave you with a picture of Trouble#2 when she isn't talking.