Parents As Teachers

[Flipper]

Has anyone used this? What did you think?

 

[heart of peace]

What is it? I get an email message from a group known as Parents as Teachers occasionally. I never really delved into what they did as a company.

 

[Flipper]

I'm sorry, I thought it was all over the US, and it looks like I'm wrong.

School districts have people go into the homes when the children are very young to evaluate the kids and educate the parents on educating their kids before they start Kindergarten. It's big where I live, but most people I know refuse the services because they think the school district is being too intrusive by coming into the home. I'm having a hard time finding someone who actually used it.

 

[JulySheMustFly]

I've never heard of this. I'd be rather offended if the school district felt the need to send someone to my home to tell me how to best educate my children before they were even of the age to mandate proper schooling. I do at home preschool all of my children and I've done my research to do it to the needs of my children.

All that said, I can see how there is a need in some situations for this kind of thing. Just not for my family.

 

[heart of peace]

I know very little of it but the periodic newsletter I recieve so I may be completely off but from what I gathered it targets lower SES families. Am I correct in my thinking?

Some families could benefit from this program. I don't think it is a one size fits all and is certainly not for every family but I do not see this as a harmful thing at all!

 

[Leanna]

That sounds like a program I would never sign up for, but I haven't heard of it here.

 

[Flipper]

My husband and I are planning on adopting, and we are learning that the children's real age, may not necessarily be their chronological age. PAT might be good to help figure that out. However, we're quickly learning from our parenting classes that what most parents would consider questionable parenting, is actually what we need to do to best parent children who spent a lot of time in less than optimal circumstances. If a PAT representative doesn't recognize that, I'm thinking that could open many cans of worms.

 

[heart of peace]

Flipper, what do you mean by questionable parenting? And why are you worried about cans of worms opening? You should be certain that you are at peace with this decision because when one is at peace, one can face any opposition without flinching.

Btw, congratulations on your decision to adopt!

 

[Flipper]

It would take too long to explain, and we're only part of the way through the classes, but it is becoming abundantly clear that we have to parent adopted children differently than how natural children are parented, because the primary caregiver may never had been established to the adopted child before. The methods we are learning in our classes, well, may not come across as good parenting to others who don't know. Bring in a PAT rep who doesn't understand this, and there could be problems.

Hey, I just figured this out tonight - if I realized this, I wouldn't have started this thread because I've just answered my own question.

I just need to look into PAT more and see what happens after we get the kids (yes, plural, we are going for 2 at once).

 

[heart of peace]

Well, good that everything is coming together in your mind. Usually, I journal when I am in similar predicaments to make sense of my thoughts. I follow what you are saying about the can of worms. I agree that adopted children may oftentimes come with a certain amount of emotional 'baggage' that must be worked through in order to discharge all the negative emotions that they have experienced in their tender and volatile lives.

God bless you on your journey.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

School districts have people go into the homes when the children are very young to evaluate the kids and educate the parents on educating their kids before they start Kindergarten.

Never heard of it,But it sounds like a good idea to me I think down here they should make it mandatory.So many parent's are on drugs or just don't care about there kids and there paying for it.Yes if they have the have the program I would defiantly sigh up.In my mind you could use all the help you can get and if your kid has a learning problem the might detect it sooner.Congrats on adopting.

 

[Leanna]

but it is becoming abundantly clear that we have to parent adopted children differently than how natural children are parented, because the primary caregiver may never had been established to the adopted child before. The methods we are learning in our classes, well, may not come across as good parenting to others who don't know. Bring in a PAT rep who doesn't understand this, and there could be problems.

Do you mean you will first need to establish "attachment" with the kids? That definitely lines up with what I believe.... without attachment, parental authority is diminished. That's why stepparents that come in and right away expect authority because of their position alone, and not because of the already formed attachment, struggle with why the children react the way they do.

If what you were asking was about evaluating their levels, there's also early intervention for toddlers/preschoolers.

When you say 2, are you asking for a sibling group? Will it be long before the children come?

 

[DestinationHome]

I think my sister did it 16 years ago with her first. She was really young and it was a good thing for her. For our family, it's not something that we'd choose to participate.

 

[PegasusOnFire]

I do this program with Christian and Mary, though it is not through the schools here but through WIC. I am not happy with the woman that serves us, but I am also working with a woman from my church who is a lot better than her partner, who is the one that serves us. They some in for about an hour, give some ideas about what we should be working on, at their developmental level, and then they leave. They also give some information sheets about the ages of the girls and milestones we should be looking for, helping along.

 

[Flipper]

Do you mean you will first need to establish "attachment" with the kids? That definitely lines up with what I believe.... without attachment, parental authority is diminished. That's why stepparents that come in and right away expect authority because of their position alone, and not because of the already formed attachment, struggle with why the children react the way they do.

If what you were asking was about evaluating their levels, there's also early intervention for toddlers/preschoolers.

When you say 2, are you asking for a sibling group? Will it be long before the children come?

Yes, attachment is a big part of it, but it goes even beyond that.

We are thinking about a sibling group. After tonight's DVD module (part of the required parenting classes we have to do), the idea of more than one at a time with all these potential issues is starting to freak me out. My husband really wants to get them both at once so we won't have to go through the process again. We're in the middle of the home study so we still have a little time to really think about it.

 

[Flipper]

I do this program with Christian and Mary, though it is not through the schools here but through WIC. I am not happy with the woman that serves us, but I am also working with a woman from my church who is a lot better than her partner, who is the one that serves us. They some in for about an hour, give some ideas about what we should be working on, at their developmental level, and then they leave. They also give some information sheets about the ages of the girls and milestones we should be looking for, helping along.

Thanks!