Thoughts on this description of a 5 year old by a teacher.

[NorhamGardens]

What do you think of this description of a just turned 5 year old by a teacher?

'Georgia is a quaint character, she can be very mature and confident in her approach to adults but very infantile indeed and irresponsible when it comes to more practical issues such as looking after her own belongings...Georgia lacks confidence in her ability to achieve success and has poor motor control... her work is spoilt by poor presentation.'

Holy crap. Sounds very harsh to me! Ds1 is 5 and I would be upset to have received that. Sorry know that's not much help to you. Aren't all 5 year olds a bit careless with their belongings at times?! Don't they all doubt their own ability and need praise and encouragement?! I especially don't like the use of the word spoilt in the report. How do you feel about it?

How can a 5 year old be expected to know how to present work? That sounds like a comment you would expect for a 10 year old!

I wouldn't be happy with a report like that. Most of the things written so negatively are normal for a child that age.

It could have been worded Georgia sometimes needs a little reminder to look after her things and at times lacks confidence in her own ability but together with praise and encouragement we can achieve this together.

V harsh!!

And 'quaint' sounds very patronising. Doesn't sound like she likes her very much.

She's infantile because she's a infant.
It's a ridiculous and cold report on a 5 year old, poorly phrased and irritating in the extreme.

If you can't be infantile when you an infant, when can you?

What a judgemental and unpleasant person.

Horrendous!!!
If you wrote this report, change it!
If the report was written about your child, go and see the Head.

Good luck!

There are many, many ways that it could have been worded better. Some extremely inflammatory and judgemental language (very infantile indeed is inflammatory, irresponsible is judgemental).

It's very negative overall talking about 'lack', 'poor' and 'spoilt'.

I'd be very pleased if I had ever got so much feedback about my kids.

All I ever get are generic computer generated watered down reports that tell me nothing at all.

There's a lot of information in there.

This for example - Georgia lacks confidence in her ability to achieve success and has poor motor control Is really useful stuff for you to know.

Ignore the phrasing, think about what she's trying to tell you.

She's trying to tell you she's worse than would be expected of a 5 year old. Don't take offence, talk to the teacher and find out how school and home can support her.

I think you're very lucky to have got an honest assessment of her.

(If this is from your DDs school report. It's not clear from your OP)

I think that the teacher is trying to get some pretty important messages across.

If I received this message about my child, I would take action:

• do everything in my power to improve her motor coordination and control - so lots of sport, climbing frames, sandpits, trampolining, drawing, stringing beads etc etc etc

• organise her bedroom and belongings in such a way as it is really easy for her to use them effectively, and ensure I was setting a very good organisational role model

It is not phrased well and the use of "infantile" in the context of a 5 year old is laughable. However, as others have said, I would question what the teacher was trying to tell me. I think I would ask her to elaborate and then work out what could be done to help.

What Bonsoir said.

Honestly, some parents really need to start listening to teachers and accepting they know whereof they speak and not get so blimmin offended all the time.

Presumably the report is for the parents, not Georgia herself?

It is a perfectly OK report, it points out the good, and the not good.

Georgia, to get on in life, is going to have to learn sooner or later, that when people tell you only good things about yourself, it tends to be bollocks.

I'd think 'fuck off shes 5! what is this some employment review?'

I'd smile polietly at the teacher.

And take my DD for a icecream at the park and thank my stars teachers change each year.

It's really badly phrased, but he/she is trying to tell you important stuff. I would be asking for a meeting, personally.

That report basically describes DS2. He is 9 now but it would have been equally correct at age 5.

Sometimes teachers just need to say it how it is.

I would ask for a meeting because I think you need some specific examples so you can work on any problems at home. the phrasing seems a bit harsh but i think it means she doesn't pay attention enough and her work is quite messy.

We just get the computer generated (and essentially meaningless) reports and it tends to be massively frustrating.

It sounds rather as if the sentiments were reasonable enough (needs to look after her stuff; could do with a bit more confidence, etc.) but it's just horrendously pompously phrased.

I reckon the teacher is pissed off at finding him/herself teaching primary and always wanted to lecture in semiotics or somesuch.

I'm not one for frilly "everyone is lovely and bright" comments but that is very harsh for a 5 year old, especially the "infantile" part.

'Georgia is a quaint character, she can be very mature and confident in her approach to adults but very infantile indeed and irresponsible when it comes to more practical issues such as looking after her own belongings...Georgia lacks confidence in her ability to achieve success and has poor motor control... her work is spoilt by poor presentation.'

Could be easily phrased:

Georgia can be mature and confident in her approach to adults however she lacks confidence in her own ability to acheive success. She needs to work on practical issues, such as looking after her belongings, and her motor control. Her work is of a good standard overall but could be improved by better presentation.

Same information, much less negative.

I think there's a lot which is unsaid - quaint and the comment about adults is maybe saying she's not developing her social skills with her peers? Looking up synonyms for quaint doesn't paint a particularly flattering picture either which rather reinforces that for me. Infantile - is that a comment on her emotional development?

I'd think that the teacher is trying to draw the parents' attention to the disparity between her verbal skills and the work she produces. Rather than getting huffy about the wording, I'd be making an appointment with the teacher to see if there are issues that need further investigation or intervention, perhaps with some of the techniques that Bonsoir suggested.

Norham - are you the teacher?

Very negatively put. Sounds like it was written in 1950s.

And it would make me question if the teacher knew enough about child development and what to expect from a 5yo.

I agree with Bonsoir and Bucharest.

Yes, it could have been phrased in fluffier language, but the report is trying to convey some very important messages about the child that the parent needs to hear. I'm assuming that all the comments are being made against a benchmark of what would be expected from a child of just 5, so that even by the standards of a five year old she doesn't take enough care of her possessions and so on.

Like others here, I'd rather receive a report that tells it like it is than a selection of stock phrases permed from a generic list.