Page 46 - 2022 May Report

May Report 2022
Weingarten Children’s Center report
April 29, 2022
Bobby, Susan, David, King and King’s friend Ken Levinson arrived at the Weingarten Children’s Center at 8:30 am on Friday, April 29. We were warmly welcomed by several staff people, led by Jennifer Aguilar, Director of Student Services. Also present were Sara Feree, Director of Development and Jan Christensen,ateacherandparentofaWCCalumnus. NotpresentwasBillDoylewhohadtestedpositive for COVID just a day before and was staying away from the school. All of us had to show evidence of our vaccinations just inside the door and everyone was masked. Obviously it would be difficult for me to communicate with everyone masked, so the school had a special mask with clear plastic for the mouth so that my interpreter could be easier to understand.
We gathered in a small room and were given a brief introduction to WCC and the Foundation for Hearing Research, Inc. WCC was established in 1967 and has continuously been teaching preschool deaf children for more than 55 years. There are currently 39 children enrolled, ranging in age from 0-6. The student/teacher ratio is always less than 5 and the very small classes allow the teachers and aids to give a great deal of individual attention to the students. Also enrolled are “several” hearing children, most of whom are siblings of deaf students. The majority of the children have cochlear implants and there was discussion about how the implanting of children is happening earlier andearlier,whentheyarestillinfants. Nearly all of those children who do not have implants use hearing aids. Classes are separated by age: infants (up to age 12 months); toddlers (18 months) preschool; pre-kindergarten; and kindergarten. Their programs are designed
to prepare their listening and speaking skills in order to be successful in the mainstream.
WCC has a number of programs designed for parents in keeping with their belief that the parents need to be the primary “teachers” of their children.
We were told that the daily schedule always begins in the music room and that on Fridays music is called “request-o-rama,” where the children select a song they want, go to the front of the room for the microphoneandleadtheentireroomsingingthatsong. Ibelievethatnormallythismusicbeginsat8:30 and they were already in the music room waiting for us when moved from the reception area to that room.
The music room is a very large room with a high ceiling and I would guess that the acoustics in that room are not especially good. Their technology is such that the singing from the microphone goes directly to the implants and we were told the children can hear it very clearly. The music teacher, Karen Erickson, welcomed us and explained that today is special because having the children select the song and sing from the front of the room not only helps with language development but is a real boost to self-confidence. There were small, circular pads on the floor in a large semicircle and each child stood on one of the spots. When Ms. Erickson finished explaining the plan to us, she moved to the front of the room and asked for volunteers. Many hands went up and she selected a young girl who, very shyly, walked to the front and announced that she would sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” She did, and all the children as well as all of the teachers present joined in. As soon as she was finished, she ran to her teacher and buried her face in the teacher’s skirt. We were told later that she is very shy and not at all confident and everyone at the school was delighted that she had volunteered. There were several other
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