I think I may have left out a few pertinant facts. We are living in Germany with the US Army and have decided to send Nicholas to a German kindergarten. We decided to do this for many reasons, for starters it will be wonderful for him to learn a second language (and a good challenge) and the great teacher my niece had last year was replaced by a first grade teacher who got scores of complaints (about not being able to handle a classroom among other things).
German Kindergarten is different from most American kindergartens in that they don’t focus on the academics and are more concerned with helping the children learn to get along together and letting them explore their own interests. From what I’ve read, it’s like a cross between the Montessori and Walldorf theories of early childhood educations.
We’ve not had him tested, but now I’m wondering if we should do it. I need to find out where I can get this done…he’s not fluent enough yet to be tested in German, and I don’t know if the American school will test him without him being a student. He’s always been, like I said a rather unusual child (I mean this in the nicest way). He didn’t talk until 3 1/2, but then a month or two later he was reading. So far, I’ve been teaching him at home, not formally but as the opportunity comes up.
I don’t think that emotionally he’s ready to be moved up to first grade, and there are also some fine motor skills that he hasn’t mastered well enough to do first grade work. For example, he doesn’t write very well yet…he’s rather agitated that we want him to write, as he can type.
Last night, we finally had a heart to heart at bedtime schnuggle time and he wanted to know what he should do if he had a “sigh day”. He says that sometimes he is lonely in school…perhaps because of the language barrier? I gave him some suggestions on ways to get the other kids to want to play with him (be cooperative, ask nicely, ask for help translating from the teacher) and he said that he would try them. He is having some trouble pronouncing German words (and English) because his teeth are starting to fall out, so I told him he could use a form of sign language if the children didn’t understand him.
Another possible problem is that he is several inches taller then the other children and built like a mini-linebacker. I’m wondering perhaps if he gets frustrated, it intimidates the other children? I’m going to work with him on staying calm, because I don’t want him to get the idea that other kids are afraid of him. We’ve already discussed the count to ten technique, and I’ve told him that if he gets angry the best thing for him to do would be to leave the situation until he gets calm.
I’ve not yet figured out how to solve the obeying the teachers part…the best I can think of right now, is to let him know that I’m going to ask the teachers each day about how he has been and make a chart to track it. I’m going to sit down with Hubby and figure out some sort of reward scheme. And of course, we will praise him when he does well.
The teachers are fantastic and very willing to work with us on this problem. He does love them very much and always gives them big hugs when he sees them…I’m also wondering if he is trying to test the waters, since this is a new place.
Thanks for all of the advice, guys. And I hope it’s been helpful for our new parents, too. Yup, before you know it, you’ll have a kid in school, too! It’s a little freaky, but I’m sure I’ll manage in time.
. Your posts reveal an interesting person, who cares about other people.