from the mom
Last week M and I went to our first parent teacher conference as parents. It was an interesting experience. In her defense, Ben's teacher is new and Ben has been either sick or on vacation for much of the year. But we came away awed by how we learned nothing new.
His teacher said his cognitive skills are far and away at the head of the class. "Did you know he spells?" Uh, yeah. We had noticed that. She then told us she had tested him on counting to 10 only to have him keep going. She stopped him at 20. "I don't know if he counts higher than that or not." (He does.)
She was worried about his "common sense" because he doesn't follow directions. She described him as being nice about it but sitting there with a smile and a blank look. I assured her that he did hear her, and did understand but chooses to pretend otherwise. He did this with me very successfully until I realized he understood me perfectly. Now that he knows I know he knows we get a response. He is preparing for the day when his wife asked if he took out the trash and he says, "I didn't know I was supposed to." "But I asked you to." "Oh, you did?" (blank look) This is a skill that has been mastered to perfection on my side of the family.
She also was concerned about his fine motor skills because he doesn't want to write, draw or color. We assured her he uses a fork well, uses hand controls, and operates all equipment handily. She continued to worry that he wasn't writing and then at the very end made some comment about him really not being behind for 3. We think she might expect a little more because of his spelling skills. We are really not worried about him not writing. He can take another 5 years if he chooses.
Overall, I came away realizing why I want to homeschool him. He is bright but I don't want him to have to keep pace with classmates in his early years. We are very grateful for his preschool experience. It is a wonderful outlet for him right now and he loves it. But in two more years, he's all MINE. Then we'll see if he can spell in Latin.
4 comments:
Good for you!You will be the best teacher for Ben.
I don't reqret at all homeschooling my kids. Just wish at times, that things had worked out that I could have continued to do so.
~Becky
I doubt many teachers get parents who are so well-informed of their children's development. Didn't you say that M was the only father they'd seen attend these consultations? You know what Ben needs and you're sending him to a school to help him get it. That's definitely the right way to do things, but probably not the typical situation!
In fact, probably all your blog readers could have come to that conference just about as well-informed. :)
And I'm laughing about Ben's smile and blank look. That's hilarious.
-- SJ
How encouraging! Even if the teacher isn't sure about things, it is clear Ben is doing well and you are able to see it in so many ways that the teacher doesn't. I agree with SJ -- I wonder if other parents are so well informed of their children's development as you two are...
Oh dear Rachelle and Mike, brings back sooo many memories from 35 yrs ago. Moving from the big city back to Oregon in our white Volvo money pit. Reading every book that Ellen White ever wrote and some the church synthesized from things she said. Moved to 80 acres 2 miles from the county road so we could home school away from neighbors. Muriel working nights and home schooling days with out electricity and phone. I'm tired already again. It's a good thing that babies are born to the young and relatively young. Only people your age could be up to the task you have set before yourself.
Bless you
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