We are still struggling a little with Braxton and Titans behavior and the inability to understand a lot of their speech, so today we met with Titan and Braxton's Mum to try and gain a deeper understanding of what their home life is like and what they enjoy doing at home and the style of discipline that is used. 
It was great to be able to share with their Mum that we are seeing improvements with speech and behavior and she was able to share with us that it is Braxton that is the more mischievous of the two, this is what we had also noticed. Their Mum also shared with us a little about their birth and their living situation at home.
I feel this meeting has given me a clearer picture of the boys and a greater understanding of their home environment. It was helpful to hear that at their previous learning center they were never encouraged to sit on the mat during mat time, instead they were allowed to just go and do their own thing. This explains why we had so many issues with this when they first began kindergarten and I now understand why they were behaving the way they did, our routine would have been polar opposites to what they were used to. It was also nice to hear that their Mum really appreciates our persistence and encouragement that we give the boys during mat time to help them become engaged in discussions and the learning that occurs during this time. It made me realize that the difficult times that we have been experiencing has been appreciated and are having a positive learning outcome for the boys. 
I think it is easy to become weighed down in the day to day struggles and it can become difficult at times to recognize progress that takes place. This meeting to day has helped me to remember how important it is to continue to try and form open relationships with whanau and the learning and partnership that can often occur from these relationships.
I will continue to support the boys on their learning journey but will be more mindful about their previous early childhood experiences and how it may be still impacting on their learning and are committed to continuing to build upon my relationship with their 
whanau to help gain greater learning out comes for the boys.