Newsletter #44 for Internationally Adopting Parents
January 9, 2007
PAL Center Inc.

Copyright@2006-2007

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As the adoption from Russia gradually shrinks (20% down from 2005) under the pressure of public opinion and the actions of local Russian authorities creating a more and more complicated structure and a web of conditions, under which a foreign adoption can take place, some Americans try to understand why. Why do a lot of Russians believe that it's better for their unwanted children to live in slums rather than be taken away from the Motherland? Can we get the straight answer from Russian authorities? Hardly. May be the Russian art and literature can tell the truth? The arts in Russia always aspired to present the "state of Russian mind" directly or indirectly.

We looked at the movie "The Italian" ("Italianetz") that was very popular with the Russian public, has received several prizes on the International festivals and now becomes available to Americans. We also went back to the astonishing memoirs of Ruben Gallego, a former Russian orphanage resident himself, called "White on Black" and now translated in many languages.

From the editor

Boris Gindis Ph.D.
Italianetz: A Message That Hurts
In January 2007 Americans will be able to see a Russian movie of 2005 “Italianetz,” a controversial film that touched upon many people involved in international adoption, the movie that stirred various, predominantly positive emotions among Russians and abroad. The author of this review, B. Gindis Ph.D., looks at the movie from the perspective of a child psychologist working with the internationally adopted children from Russian for more than a decade.

Ruben Gallego
White on Black (The Link to Synopses and Commentary)
Translator: Marian Schwartz
Publisher: Harcourt

Steps to Help Your Child Acquire English Language Skills

In this newsletter we continue printing 4 steps that our speech pathologist Natalia Likhtik offers to new adoptive parents as a guide for helping children acquire the English language faster.

Step 4
Parents should provide children with frequent, hands-on opportunities to answer questions by using a scientific method. This method teaches a child to make a guess or predict what night happen based on what they know, then to perform an experiment following an ordered set of steps, and finally, to talk about what happened and how it relates to the world they know. The most successful learning opportunities open up with a topic, in which your child has already acquired some basic concepts.

Charting is helpful to track individual child's predictions, outcomes, and responses. Charts provide children a visual reference for comparing results, teach significance of print, and encourage pre-reading skills when icons are used. An experiment, as simple as predicting which of three types of apples the child thinks he will like best, and comparing the charted responses can be funny and successful.

Typical language, which children use during this type of experience, is not only more complex but significantly lengthy. Your job as a language facilitator is not to do all the questioning or directing, but to encourage discussion and provide the opportunity to share the ideas.

Goal: To practice complex verbal reasoning and direct the child to:

• Provide explanations: "How does that work?" "What is happening?"
• Make predictions: "What do you think will happen?"
• Make interpretations and judgments: "What do you think of this?" "Why did is happen?"
• Relate and compare experiences with remote events to increase understanding, (e.g., "That's like I saw during the storm," "My mommy sometimes uses this when she cleans our house.")

How:The parent should facilitate discussions during experiments and hands-on demonstrations of the activity presented for your child

Strategies:

• Ask open-ended questions.
• Comment on problems and problem solving opportunities.
• Describe actions as they are performed.
• Add written language and numeracy to activity to make comparisons easier.
• Tie current experience to remote events and experiences.

Compiled by Natalia Likhtik
Licensed Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist
www.bgcenter.com/BE/NLikhtik.htm
www.bgcenter.com/BGCenterServices/SpeechandLanguage.htm

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