Why me? Why now?

Hi, I'm Erin.  I just had my first child, John, in April.  On top of being a mom I am also a teacher. I have a bachelors degree in Special Education (mild/moderate) from BYU and therefore I know everything about child development. Kidding. Actually the exact opposite, which is one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog.

When I first had John I was surprised to find out there were many things he was learning about.  I knew learning started from the beginning but I thought babies took a little while to get used to their surroundings before unlocking the key to time travel. This is what I mostly thought about babies' learning.  See, because I'm an adult and am working on learning difficult (for me) tasks like teaching, cooking, how to be a better me and time travel (joke) I didn't think about the fact that my baby is learning about his senses, who his mom and dad are, and how to work all those appendages. Those are all things I know how to do and forgot what it was like to learn them.  I want to find out what my baby is learning, week by week, and share what I have learned as well as fun and easy ways to develop what they are learning.

Another reason I wanted to start this blog is a big part of one of my soap boxes. In my years of being a special educator I have seen many students who come to me with a "learning disability". I don't want to offend or sound rude in any way so let me assure you I know there are students with legitimate learning disabilities and other disabilities. I have also seen students who weren't read to when they were a child, who didn't get help with their homework from their parents, and some who were barely in conversations before coming to school. Yes, they might have talked, but not had conversations. I would even be willing to bet that a large portion of the students placed in special education with mild/moderate disabilities (nation wide) are actually the result of little brain stimulation before they came to school. One of the reasons I think this happens is because people don't know what they can do with their child and don't know what their child is learning at different stages.  Raising a child doesn't come naturally that's why there are tons of books about child development and child learning. Okay, I'll hop off now.

So, why me? I am a teacher who wants to see more students reading, having respectful conversations, and going to college.  Why now? I just had a baby myself and am curious as to what he is learning and how I can ensure he learns what he needs to.