Parent-Teacher Conference

Why does the thought of a routine parent-teacher conference, no matter which child it is for, always make me somewhat crazy? Somewhat may be an understatement. With all my heart, I want both my children to succeed, to become exactly what God wants for them, to be kind, loving, smart, funny, beautiful children.

So as I drove up to Thomas' mainstream preschool for my parent-teacher conference, I said this little prayer...Dear Lord, I ask that I feel Your presence with me during this meeting. May I listen intently, respond accordingly and not cry. Please help me not to cry.

I was expecting the worst from this meeting...after all Thomas is hearing impaired...so he won't be on average with his hearing peers. I kept remembering the fact that we are not suppose to compare children and yet that is exactly what a parent-teacher conference to discuss assessments is...comparing. Comparing sucks!

I took a deep breath and walked into school, meeting Thomas' teacher at a small table with his file sitting right there on the table. I sat quietly as his teacher expressed how much fun Thomas is and how she enjoys having him in her class. I thought to myself, "She probably says this to all the parents." Then I thought again, "Well, she should say this to all the parents of the kids in her class." So, I relaxed.

I could go into all the details but, will refrain from getting it all down of cyber-paper.

Our little man is on average with his hearing peers. Academically, he is on track with the kids that he will go to kindergarden with in a year and a half. His gross and fine motor skills are where they should be with him being able to put together a zipper and zipping it up, etc. (smile)

He has an issue with waiting for other children to answer questions that the teacher asks to the group. He doesn't wait for the teacher to call on him to answer the question asked...he just blurts out the answer with his hand raised. The problem is that the other children now don't answer questions during circle time, they just look at Thomas to see if he gives the correct answer. I'm suppose to talk with him about waiting for others to answer too and discuss more about taking turns. His teacher said, "I don't want to discourage this too much because this is how leaders are made." (smile)

He thinks differently than other kids. When presented with a problem or issue, he takes the less traveled path or discovers a different way to solve the problem. He is a thinker...a tinker...maybe a creative thinker. (smile)

He doesn't like to do worksheets (a tie to the previous mentioned comment). So, his teacher has set an egg timer to 2 minutes so he knows that he has to work on a particular worksheet for that amount of time. His handwriting needs improvement but, he writes his name in a legible way. I need to work with him on this type of effort here at home. (half-smile)

He is social, almost too much so. He tends to talk to his classmates when the teacher is talking. He is friends with everyone, not showing too much preference to a single child, although he says that Micha and Nathan are his best friends. (smile)

He doesn't have a sense of personal space. An example given, if a child is sitting on "his" letter (the letter I), he will sit right next to the child sitting on "his" letter. Over a period of time, Thomas will scoot so close to the child to make the child feel uncomfortable. He isn't aggressive, hitting or pushing...just scoots. I asked, "Where is this letter on the mat?" The teacher answered, "Right next to me." I explained that Thomas is seeking preferential seating due to his hearing impairment, not wanting to miss anything that she says. He is self-advocating in a non-aggressive way. A lightbulb went off over her head and she got it. (kind of a toothy smile and a slight giggle from me because Thomas is such a turd)

As we finished the conversation, there wasn't a single big "we have a problem" area that Thomas needs to work on while here at school or at home. This meeting wasn't what I expected at all. While his teacher isn't a TOD, AO teacher, she is a licensed preschool teacher in the state of Texas and gave me feedback looking at him as a "whole child."

I know that he still has ground to make up in his expressive language but, it was nice to hear some positive news about assessments...I won't compare him too much to everyone else...I'll just keep smiling, keep working with him and keep thanking God that he gave us our little man.