Today was our first parent/teacher conference at Jack’s preschool. Though I have to admit I was a bit nervous – I know Jack isn’t perfect – it was actually fine.
Jack recognizes his basic shapes, and “talks about octagons”. He’s learning his geometric shapes. He recognizes numbers 0 – 9 (though he actually recognizes more than that). Jack counts from 1 – 20 without help (and to 30 sometimes, but past that he needs help). (Oh, and he counts to 30 because that’s how many seconds it takes to put on a temporary tattoo.)
“Jack understands the concept of quantity. He shows his understanding when he does the spindle boxes on his own. He does 0 – 5 just fine and needs minimal help with 6 – 9.” (Whenever Jack sees any pile of more than 2 things, he says “Five”.)
Jack’s pencil control, picture matching, and pattern matching are all “age appropriate”. (While we were there, Jack made a large, wobbly J on a piece of paper.)
“His speech is advanced for his age and converses with complete sentences. He may need encouragement to use his words with friends when they are in his personal space. Jack often finds it difficult to use his words and tends to cry in those situations.”
(Jack can be a drama queen. We’re working on dealing better with other kids – that is, using his words with them. Though part of the problem is that he has words, but the other kids don’t necessarily.)
Jack does well listening, but he gets distracted, and talks to his friends during circle time. “It takes him time to listen when he is unable to control his feelings, such as crying aloud for a long time.”
(See the drama queen reference.)
Jack apparently has been getting better at focusing on his work. He does need work following directions, and needs “second reminders”.
Jack’s interacting skills are better. He had a “difficult time talking with his friends” but now he’s “learning to use his words or come to a teacher for help.” (And not in a tattletale way.)
Jack also uses the toilet at school, and the teacher says we can send him in undies with a cover to see if he’s better about using the toilet there. (Tonight, he actually got into the bath, then told Grandma Sandy that he could poop in the toilet, and he did – for the first time in months!)
His gross and fine motor skills are age-appropriate.
“Jack is a very intelligent young boy and is interested in the materials we offer in class. He is one of the children I come to for help when it comes to letters, numbers, shapes, sounds, etc. Jack is eager to help out at circle and snack time because it shows how responsible he can be in school and around his friends.”
Max asked about Jack’s going to the “big class.” Jack has been saying that he’s been in the “big class” a couple of times. One of his friends is moving to the older class soon, and her parents weren’t given a lot of notice. When Max asked, the teacher said, “Can’t he stay awhile, as a role model?”
Now, Max thinks she said it because she doesn’t think he’s ready to be in the big class, but didn’t want to tell us that.
I think that she told us that because Jack is doing well where he is, and he really does help out in the class. She said he helps the other kids with their letters. She also gave us a few pictures, which are always nice to get.
