Our first parent-teacher conference!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So Bricker Jr., who just turned four this September, has been in pre-school this year with the four-year-olds. He’s the youngest (and smallest) in his class, just making the cut-off – in other words, kids who turned four from last October all the way through this September are part of his class.

He only gets two grades - I for “Improving” and S for “Satisfactory”. The teacher evaluates in various categories; broadly speaking, they include counting and letter skills, following directions, social skills, and physical coordination.

My son got high praise from the teacher – she couldn’t believe he was reading, and how much he was reading. His vocabulary also got high - nay, unbelieving - comments. Apparently my son wandered up to her one day after Wilma was announced, and said, “Did you know there’s another Category Five hurricane out there?”

He got an “I” on following directions, which surprised me at first, but the teacher explained it was entirely due to his reluctance to put toys away after playtime. Everything else – lining up, sitting quietly, etc. - was no problem. But he can’t be bothered to put his toys away, and we see that at home, too. Gotta work on that.

His physical skills – drawing, cutting with scissors, writing – are all “I”. I’m not too wrried about any of that; he’s young for the class and I think those sorts of things can get solved easily with a bit of age.

One other comment that pleased and floored me: apparently Bricker Jr. is VERY popular. He’s made friends with everyone, and everyone asks about him if he’s absent, and several children actually get teary-eyed if he decides not to play with them at any given point.

So… wow. My kid, the Big Man on Pre-School Campus!

2

He sounds cute. I am always interested to see what others have to say about how my son does in settings outside our home, too. Sometimes it seems like kids have a split personality and they are totally different away from their parents. It’s nice to hear good stuff about your kid!

3

Um… Yes. Why?

Sort of. I don’t think that “I” and “S” qualify as actual grades, in the sense that one day they’ll be the make-or-break on an admission decision to Harvard, but they are quantifiers that serve as a useful framework for the teacher to discuss what she sees going on with the parents. Since the parents don’t get the opportunity to watch the child in a classroom context, this feedback can be useful.

Is this unusual in your experience of how pre-school works? I found it both fun and valuable; I’m not sure I quite get your objection.

4

Like giving a dog a “report card” during his annual check-up with the vet., pre-school reports are more for the parent’s benefit than the child’s.

It lets the parent know that the teacher is paying attention to their offspring. I had my kids at a pre-school that did not have any formal evaluation. Some teachers were great in communicating how they were doing - the positives and those things that needed to be “worked on.” One never said a word, and when directly asked about how my kid was doing in class (with anything- interest in books, getting along with others, following directions) teacher would kind of shrug and say, “She’s doing O.K.” I believe that teacher actually was quite good with her kids, but the entire year it was pretty unsettling.

5

I think it’s good that they let you know how the chip off the ol’ brick is doing there Bricker. Heh, if he’s anything like me, he’ll be getting an I in putting stuff away when he’s in his fifties. :smiley:

6

Yes, of course, we wouldn’t the parents to actually interact with the teachers or anything. Seriously, it’s a good habit to start with right away. I know when me and my parents didn’t get along at all, they still managed to make every parent-teacher conference, and that helped me feel they were at least still interested in something.

And parents should be involved more. There’s an ad in the mall that goes like this:

Name three famous celebrities.
Name three of your child’s teachers.
Get involved.

I always wonder how many parents can’t.

I didn’t go to preschool (not in this country) but I did have parent-teacher conferences in kindergarden, although a lot of that was because I was still speaking Hindi.

To Bricker: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

7

The best part is sitting in the tiny chairs at the tiny table and gazing around the room and finding your kid’s artwork posted prominently for all to enjoy.