Our local school starts next week and we would like to put the boys in, at least part time. While we connected with the principal before we went to Bulgaria, the office staff are still out this week. So it's not clear when we will be able to register, meet the teachers, and so on.
We don't know how it will work. Elisey says he is anxious to start school, and we hope the structure will be good for him. On the hand, given how easily he melts down when he is frustrated by a task -- much like a two-year-old -- we worry it will be overwhelming.
We also don't know how well the schools will be able to handle them. As we talk to educators, it becomes clear that the boys are much more unique than we realized. We don't have grandiose expectations for them, but their delays are mostly institutional, not wholly organic, and we don't know how the school will respond to boys who can throw an infinitely long tantrum, throw things, and so on. A friend from church who is a teacher came by, and she was telling us about how they would likely be started on a computer. I pointed out the boys would probably unplug the computer, become frustrated, and throw it, something that surprised her. But despite their problems, they probably should not be shelved with kids who have organic problems, at least not until we have a better idea of where they are at.
They do show promise. Elisey can count to 12 in English, and almost to 20, having trouble with 13, and he has mostly memorized the ABC song even without knowing the letters, in just a few days.
As with all parents, we will have to be their strong advocates, and will likely have to educate their teachers, who haven't seen kids like this before.
Today was a pretty calm day. Dimcho awoke at 4:30 and joined us in bed, and then thrashed around, insisting he didn't want to sleep. He has been acting out almost more than Elisey, with more random hitting, kicking, scratching, and biting, but since he is smaller it is easier to brush aside. Elisey wants to be a good boy, and often asks if he is. We suspect he may have been told, in ugly words, that he is a bad boy, and this internal script he has learned may be driving some of his behavior.
