If you teach a man to fish...

Every program has certain requirments which need to be met. Without meeting these requirements, essential funding could be lost. One of our requirements is to ensure kiddos are up to date on their blood screenings. If our kiddos are not healthy, they cannot learn; therefore, we ask that hematocrit/hemoglobin and lead screenings are completed on kiddos' first and second birthdays. Often, these tests are completed, but parents have to take an extra step during doctor's visits and ask for the results. Often parents are timid when asking the doctor questions...especially questions which involve using forgein names like hematocrit! In order to help squash some of these fears, our parent educators help parents come up with a list of questions to ask the doctor before their visit. Recently, I helped a mom come up with this very list which included a request for any blood test results. When I met with this mom after her doctor's visit, she handed me a stack of papers. They were all of the blood test results we needed! I told mom how wonderful it was that she got the results. She responded by simply stating, "But you taught me what I needed to ask for, so it really was easy!" She now comes up with a list of questions for the doctor on her own! It looks like this is one family who will be "fishing" on their own for quite some time.
-Tara