Desmond and I have been asked why we chose to put Savanah into a private hearing pre-school twice a week along with USDB. Our reasons are as follows: I saw very little progression with speech over the last year while she was in pre-school full-time at USDB. It wasn't until her cousins came into town (who are both hearing) that I saw her speech really soar. There is very little pre-school skills that are being taught at USDB. Reading skills, pre-K skills, handwriting etc. is not very prominent in USDB. She is only with other deaf children, they are each other's models for speech which at times can be very difficult to understand each other and learn from one another. We both want to see Savanah mainstreamed into a regular Kindergarten with very little assistance from a helper. We feel she is extremely capable and very intelligent. She is learing handwriting, numbers, excellent phonics etc. at Kids Village. We have chosen to keep her at USDB for the extra speech therapy she recieves there along with the teachers and the more intimate setting.
