Teacher Talk, part 2

And now… Tad’s turn.

All those good day hand stamps he’s not getting? The kid has recess issues. He’s doing very well IN class… it’s the whole OUT of class part that seems to trip him up. The sand-throwing issues persist.

But inside the classroom… his speech therapist tells me that Tad may not qualify for receptive speech therapy much longer if his progress continues to be so stellar. Which is absolutely amazing. He will still have to work on expressive speech (his actual ability to talk), but even there, they have seen great strides. Apparently he’s been impressing them all with his obscure knowledge of various sea creatures and animals – and how he can name them all.

That animal book that Friend gave him has increased his vocabulary tenfold, I think.

His teachers and I also discussed his potty training, and they think the day has come… so next Monday, Tad will be going to school in underwear.

We had a very good chat about how he is doing both with his speech and social skills, and how impressed they are with the progress that he has made since even the end of last year. His teacher even mentioned how she wants me and the Webmaster to attend a meeting in January that will talk about “transitional kindergarten.” I told her that we are planning on holding Tad out of kindergarten until he is six, but she thinks we should check out the program regardless.

I told them that I miss the day-to-day contact that we had last year, but they agreed with me that riding the bus is such a good thing for Tad. And they are very good at answering emails right away, so we still do have contact during the week when there are questions.

They also asked how aware Tad is about the forthcoming baby. I told them that he refers to my expanding middle as “baby tummy,” but doesn’t seem to notice or care much about it. I told them about his general behavior around babies like Rupert and Beth (who he just met) as being pretty gentle and affectionate – kisses on the head and comments of “nice baby” – and they told me that Tad is very kind to the other kids in class as well. I guess when he’s throwing sand on the playground, he’s not actually throwing it at anyone.

Still, Tad is a self-directed kid and he doesn’t play much with other kids. His speech therapist noted how well he does with adults, and thinks that Tad prefers the company of adults because they are more “predictable” in their behavior than kids are. I also commented on his lack of interaction with kids his own age at church, but I think that part of the problem there is that the kids see him as more of a bother because of his immature behavior, so while he may be playing by himself, they have no desire to include him much, either. And a majority of his peer group at church right now are boys – there are surprisingly few girls in that age bracket at the moment – and boys just don’t “play” together in the same sense that girls do. At school, though, all the activities (save recess) are structured and there is a gender balance in the class. So it is a different environment.

His teacher even said how Tad is very “eager to please” this year and follows the rules because he knows the routine of the class. I want to know how I can get THAT kid to come home on the bus to me.

So, there you have it. Both kids love school and are doing very well. And now, we can move on to the holidays. And aunts and uncles and cousins and fun!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 12:57 am and is filed under Children, School Days.
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