Prisha goes to school in Germany

All set for the new school

First day at school

In class

      Last month has been so full of my settling in the new place new home and in 2 days it was also school time, that I had no time to write on my blog.I am so glad, today I am updating it , weather is just right to sit at home and write.The cold  and the rain  and coffee just put me in the mood.
     Prisha started school on 12th Aug and we had no idea what we could expect. We all were very excited at the newness of it.It is a long day and Prisha went happily and after 4 months of being home, home felt empty with both my kids away for a good 7 hrs.In the evening she looked fine and the teacher wanted to see me the next morning. I was a bit worried as I did not know what to expect.The next morning at school Prisha started to cry as she didn't want to go.A promise of a surprise waiting at home fixed that.But I got concerned and felt that Prisha was finding it hard to understand what others are talking as the accent is very different and there are people from so many countries.She was finding it difficult to make friends too as some don't speak             English at all.So I was prepared with my concerns too to meet Mrs.Hunt, her teacher.
     Mrs. Hunt wanted to understand a bit more about Prisha. She thought that she was not hearing well in the class and maybe Prisha needs to lip read.I told her that since all this was new to her, she would take time to adjust.Also she needed to sit closer to her and also NO LIP READING.She is auditorily trained and did not need signs and lip reading.She said Prisha was not responding to her name being called too a couple of times.I told her that since she is new , she was more interested in knowing what was really happeneing around her with her kids next to her. Assured her that I would have a word with Prisha.I also mentioned about her not being out when it rained and she not being cold and wet as the cold aquired leads to ear infection if not treated early.So she needed to be as dry and warm as possible.Explained to her about battery change as Prisha is equipped with that knowledge too.The meeting went well and I too happy to have quick rapport with the teacher.
    The school nurse too wanted me to update her with all her issues.I told her all the issues and she said she would inform other teachers too about her requirement about being closer to the teacher and if they had issues , we would solve together.I was happy to get positive input from them as in India , I needed to do things myself and not much support was there from school.
Next 2 weeks have gone by when I have observed what she did in school.She sang out her German rhymes where she was learning numbers and little poems.She has been singing them away , though a few words here and there need to be cleared and that is happeneing slowly.So a new language and I love it when she tells me what a few words means!`Like this morning, in the shower ,she sang a number rhyme and then she said...schlafen.....Mum, schlafen means go to sleep.Her German teacher mailed in to tell me she was bright and there were no issues.I was happy.She gets one story book from school every day which we have been reading and talking about it.Drama class feedback too was good.Music class is great too as she sang out with perfect intonation but words needed to be clear here and there.The rest is well.She loves school and i am happy about it.
      Yesterday Mrs. Hunt wanted to see me again this morning.She said the nurse wanted to meet me.I went a bit uneasy again and was a bit worked up.The nurse needed her aided audiogram to know her level of hearing with aids for records and there were no complaints from teachers about her hearing, she laughed looking at my concerned face.
      Today had a meeting with the class teacher and she said that Prisha would require a little support from school to bring her to the level at which they were teaching. I could understand it as in India the styles are different and it was more rote method.here the emphasis was much on thinking and putting into words, where she sometimes is not able to or gets stuck somewhere.So she needed my permission to add her into a support class and maybe a little work with speech therapist to get her used to the accent and aid her speech.I thought that would be great as any extra work from school would not only help Prisha pick up more, it would give me a chance to work better with Prisha.she is a quick learner but she needs to leave her shyness away a bit and open up with the teacher.Also in Maths too she said she knew for eg, 5 is bigger than 2 but "how" she came to that ,she was not able to express. Maybe Prisha was not prepared for this kind of questioning as back in India , we were never asked in school about it and so did not know how to put across this.Since I too am new to this system, I asked her what she would expect, she said some kids say they counted, some showed them how. But Prisha was not able to.So I need to work on that.She could count the 20 circles and say they were 20 of them, but how did she know that they were 20, she fell short on that. The simple answer could be like said I counted, or I counted in pairs, or she could put dots on them and said they were 20 or even if she wrote on each circle the number would be fine. So need to work on it. the systems are different and has nothing to do with hearing loss.She listens to her name very well after I told her about it.The teacher has no complains and said she was bright and just needed support.I am happy about it and I hope they would add me on in those classes too as I could then work from home for her.She is now going to update me each week and also give extra work from school to give practice to her.I am looking forward to this work and hope to see Prisha at a much different level from where she is in a years time.She is already very confident, I see a vast change in her in 3 weeks of school.So more to come.