I have been a long time believer that things happen for a reason, and we come in contact with the right people at the right time. Just a short time before schools shut down for the COVID-19, I attended an early childhood conference that you (Meyer) spoke at in Indianapolis. You might remember me as the teacher that shared the story about using Minds-In-Motion strategies with my Title one students and being able to see the crazy data growth.
My daughter started school off getting services for developmental delay, but lost those once she turned 5. This meant that she started kindergarten without any additional services, and has struggled ever since. Being obsessed with reading interventions and data collection, it was beyond frustrating that she refused to let me help her in any way. My husband is also in education as a principal, and we continue to fight the school to get support for her.
My husband's school has had a classroom dedicated to Minds-In-Motion for many years. With my previous success with your strategies, I was totally motivated to implement Minds-In-Motion in my classroom and home right away. After your presentation at the start of March, I looked in my Minds-In-Motion file folder and found the Minds-In-Motion assessment that someone had shared with me many years ago. Being the data geek that I am, I was so excited to use this data collection on both of my daughters and myself. My husband and I had gathered the necessary materials to build the Maze in our home just days before our schools closed. We started doing Minds-In-Motion with our kids every day from the first day of the Covid-19 school break. I choose to see this Coronavirus experience as a blessing that my daughter desperately needed! For the first time ever, she is allowing me to be her teacher! I am now able to put Minds-In-Motion into our daily practice and provide her with the instruction she needs and to go back and build up her missing foundational skills.
Thank you very much for your passion and expertise for creating such an amazing program and for sharing it with the world. I am so thankful that our paths crossed when they did and am excited for the opportunity to use your program to help my daughter finally bridge the gap!