Adoption, Language Development and Homeschooling

I have found a common thread throughout my research on IA (internationally adopted) children and language development. Most if not all of the research and expert advise in language development are based on children being placed in the government school system at the age of 5. Most of what I have read points to the difficulty of newly adopted IA kids coming into the schools without enough time to have a proficiency of the language to proceed in academics by the "normal" track thus requiring specialized care in the system. Many of these language development articles point to how you can get your kids labeled correctly in the system i.e. understanding your kids MA (mental age) vs. LA (language age)-new term being coined for IA kids in the school system who in the past have been mislabeled with younger MA but no true cognitive delays only speech/communication, but in time they catch up only it is hard to shake the MA label once it is attached. The most glaring remedy for all of these issues to me is simply....HOMESCHOOL. Even if it is only for the first year. Homeschooling gives the extra years without the labels plus it fosters the family life over institutional life in a government school. The additional time with family can only continue to reinforce attachment without introducing new people who will have 40 plus hours a week with your child.

Interesting to me are the assessments made about children in orphanages with large age-related peer groups and few caretakers as one of the main reasons for language delay yet, this is the situation in our government schools today and at ever increasing hours a day. Children grouped by age and in ever increasing numbers to one or two adults according to this study results in language development delays. "No matter how caring or well-equipped an orphanage appears to be, placing a large number of children in the care of a few adults is a recipe for delayed language".-Orphanage Care and Language While I realize for many children a stable loving family is a huge factor in making up for delays I can't help but think that increasing the number of hours with that family would have exponential results especially in the first year.