Jonah: SEARCH & TEACH Program

Towards the middle of January, Brian and I met with Mrs. Crabb and one of the Discovery Program therapists at CHA to talk about some testing they did with Jonah before Christmas break. Jonah is very, very smart, they told us this several times, but he sometimes struggles with visual/auditory processing. His reading is a little below level and just not progressing as fast as it should be. There is a program at CHA called Discovery/SEARCH & TEACH for kids who just need a little extra help, and that is what they are recommending for Jonah. It was a hard meeting for me, and I basically ended up having a sobbing meltdown before it was over. Mostly because its just hard as a mom, to hear that your child is struggling in any way. And secondly, I haven't been at the top of my game and I felt like I had failed as a mom, to help him. I was also just overwhelmed by the weight of life in that moment. Plus, the SEARCH & TEACH program would cost us nearly $400/month and there was no way possible we could do that. Basically, if we decided not to do the program, we would have the added responsibility of teaching Jonah extra at home (which I'm barely keeping my head above water as it is, so that felt impossible to me), and we would also be risking him really struggling through 2nd grade. They didn't pressure us into anything at all, they were just trying to explain what they were seeing and what they thought would best help Jonah. It's also hard to know what is an actual "slight disability" and what is just his learning style/pace...like genetically...Brian really struggled with school and had to work very hard, so maybe that is just Jonah's genetic make up?

We left the school that day, not sure what we were going to do. Financially, it just wasn't feasible. And there was also part of me that was still unsure about the SEARCH & TEACH program and whether it would add a lot more homework/time to our schedule every day. Brian also reminded me that it is okay for Jonah to have to struggle...Brian learned to be a hard worker, because he had to...he probably worked harder in school to get C's than I ever did to get A's, just because it didn't come naturally for him the way it did for me. But that built perseverance and made him better in the long run. It's hard for me to remember sometimes that its good to let our kids struggle. I just want to fix it all for them, but I know that's not the way its supposed to work.
God is always so faithful to meet us where we are. We spent a few weeks praying about what to do...Brian felt like we needed to put Jonah in this program, but I was just still wrapped up in the expense of it and didn't see how we would pay for it. Well, at one of Mackenzie's basketball games, I was talking with my friend Shawna, who works at CHA with the Discovery program, about it. She knew that we were considering it, and out of nowhere, she offered to help pay for Jonah to be in TEACH for the rest of this school year. Wow!! What?! Once again, we are blown away by God's provision, through his people. Basically, we are paying $100/month and they are paying almost $300/month, for Jonah to be in TEACH February-May. What an answer to prayer!!
Now we are just really praying that this program helps him! I am assuming it is something they are going to recommend for him in 2nd grade also, and we will just have to cross that bridge as it comes.
Jonah started going to TEACH at the beginning of February. He sees his therapist 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time. They do rhythmic writing and things that feel like games to Jonah, but they are geared towards helping him in the areas he needs the most growth in. Jonah loves going to TEACH and getting to work one on one with his therapist! I still take him to speech every Wednesday at Northern Hills Elementary by our house also. I have gotten very good feedback from his S&T therapist and his speech therapist at Edmond...they have told me that he is polite, teachable and always ready to try hard and learn, and just a sweet, good boy! I love that so much! We are so very proud of Jonah & know that he is going to do big things in life! We just want to make sure that we do all that we can to help him succeed!