Would be interested in some of your thoughts on this, and especially if there are any primary teachers out there on your perspective.
We went to DS's parents evening tonight, and met his Yr1 teacher for the first time properly (ie. not just at the classrom door etc).
I've really like what I've seen of her so far at parents' group meetings, and a couple of information events the school have had where she has spoken, but tonight I felt a bit disappointed.
Basically she started by saying she had 'no problems' with DS, that he had settled in well and was making good progress. Things like he had a good general knowledge and mixed well.
I know that all sounds OK, but it was a very sort of 'he's doing OK' sort of conversation.
Now I really don't think of myself as a 'pushy' parent, but I've spoken enough to friends who help out in the class, and also seen for myself that he is, in my opinion, doing what I would call 'really well'. People spontaneously comment on how bright he is, how advanced his vocabulary is, what a confident little boy he is etc etc.
If I thought he was just 'doing OK' then I think I'd be worried that I had somehow overestimated his abilities. So I asked his teacher a few questions:
- how was his numeracy/ reading etc relative to his peers? Oh, he's at the top level she said.
- how does he interact in group sessions? Oh, he's excellent at talking to the class, and is a confident member of the class.
And there were a few other similar examples.
So what I don't understand is why she wouldn't spontaneously mention some of these positive things? It was almost as if she didn't want to acknowledge any strengths
When we came out I was discussing with DH and he said 'well maybe that's just her style' but I don't like the thought that there is no recognition of success.
When I had asked her if there was anything he needed to work on she said he had to try to remember to wait his turn, as he often blurted out the answers to things in class.
Now I can understand that this can be hard for a teacher trying to work with lots of children, but shouldn't they learn to handle this without dampening a child's obvious enthusiasm?
I really don't think he's a 'know it all' sort of child, but he IS interested and enthusiastic about things around him. I'm now beginning to worry whether his teacher is really supporting that enthusiasm, or pretty much ignoring him 'cos he's "doing OK" (and perhaps others aren't and need more help?)