Stahlke Adoption

Answering a Question

On October 15, one of my cousins posted the following comment:

I'm curious...does the school also test [Kola's] ability to read and write in Ukrainian? Or did he not get much of a chance to learn to do that in his native tongue? I have a friend who developed her doctoral dissertation on teaching young (6-12 yrs old)ESL learners how to master their own native tongue, before teaching them English. She worked with mostly Russian and Serbian students. I find it quite fascinating. But maybe, in Kola's case, it's a mute point. Just thinking...and so appreciate your sharing the news with us.
Love ya,
Your Colorado Cuz
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Here are some observations from the Stahlke experience:

Our older five children spoke Ukrainian at home for about ten months after arriving in August 2005. I made the switch to English at Christmastime, while Jonathan hung on until about May 2006. The children spoke English outside our home, and finally spoke English even with each other by summer 2006.

Kola's experience was more typical of most children adopted from foreign countries. While his siblings were capable of using Ukrainian with him, most of them chose to speak only English. In addition, the ones who did speak Ukrainian used it only with Kola. He therefore learned English by immersion at home, school, and church. Within one year, we think he had lost most of his ability to speak Ukrainian.

Like many other immigrants, our children wanted to learn English as quickly as possible. Speaking Ukrainian made them feel different than their peers. Ukrainian also reminds them of difficult experiences in their past, and some of the kids are very opposed to speaking it.

The educational system, however, won't provide testing in English until the child has been in the U.S. for two years. When we wanted to develop an IEP (Individual Educational Plan) for one of the kids, the required tests were only available to us in Ukrainian. Our children refused to take the tests unless they were in English.

So . . . at the two-year mark, we could finally move ahead with testing for an IEP. Then we learned that the schools only test for educational issues. ADD and ADHD are not included. (For those who need translation of the alphabet soup, ADD=Attention Deficit Disorder and ADHD=Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder). That's one of the reasons we had David and Peter tested through our health plan rather than the schools. The results of the testing do recommend an IEP, however, because of implications for their education.

So, Cuz, to answer your question--
Our kids either can't or won't do testing in Ukrainian. The situation is quite different when an entire family immigrates and the parents continue the foreign language in the home.

posted by Stahlkes @ 11:24 AM