Especially the teacher needs reinforcement.
That's so true Noddy. Teacher need reinforcement and
appreciation too, and I write about once a month a little
note to my daughter's teacher telling her how much I
appreciate her help and patience with my little tomboy.
As for us: we've had a very good parent/teacher
conversation as well.
Calamity Jane--
Glad to hear that the Parent/Teacher conference was successful. I think tomboys have an easier time than they used to in the public school system, but "easier" isn't always "easy" and certainly "easier" is not "effortless".
Hold your dominion.
Thank you Noddy,
but tomboys have it more difficult in private catholic
schools, like mine is going to, yet we manage, and a lot
depends on the teacher - thus my notes of appreciation
Linkat--
One of last week's news magazines mentioned Marti Olsen Laney's book The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child which will be published in December.
This book might be a dud--or very useful.
Thanks Noddy. I'll look into it.
This does not sound like my daugher...."They are dependable, persistent, flexible, and lack vanity." My daughter is definitely vain! It also talks about them not being popular and that is not important. Popularity is important to my daughter - however, many of the other descriptions do fit her...persistent, loves to learn, etc.
Funny thing is that description I quoted sounds like ME!
Linkat--
Do you consider yourself an introvert?
I have a few points I would like to make. I have children af varying ages and personalities. Add to that I am a teacher as well.
I would like to express my views primarily as a teacher and how a teacher sees parent-teacher confrences. First: Most parent s don't show. Every school year, out of 140 students, I may see MAYBE 40 parents. These are normally the parents of the better students.
Second: I have had parents who have come into the meetings very open minded. That is the suggestion I recomend every parent take. It allows for a better free flow of information. When a parent approaches the meetings with a closed mind or a preconcieved view, there is often tension and the meeting will get nothing resolved. I had several parents who started the meetings putting me on the defensive(I had one parent as soon as I walked into the room start off by calling me a racist). That did nothing to resolve the issue that her son was lazy and didn't and wouldn't do his assigned work.
I know we all think our children are special and perfect and they never do anything wrong(read the sarcasm please), but there are behavioral issues that may need to be discussed and worked out. I know no parent wants to change their child's personality, but remember, "all the world's a stage." meaning we need to have and use different aspects of out personality at different times. Where being loud is great when playing, it is not the best approach in most learning environments.
When I go to confrences as a parent, I try to keep an open mind to see what the teacher has to say. If the teacher can support their argument(read the word for all its definitions) then I will support the teacher. If the teacher cannot, I see what middle ground can be reached.
As I have read through sever gazzillion posts, I see that there are parents of varying ages, with varying educational levels who have children in an array of age groups.
Please take my advice as it is. It is not a critique of parenting skills. It is only an observation through experience.
ralph - great advice. Fortunately for my daughter's teachers I would guess they have a 100% parent attendance. The school my daughter attends has huge parential involvement. My guess is that is why they have such well behaved and attentive students. I understand unfortunately that this school is probably the exception.
Noddy - I do consider myself to be an introvert - not shy, but an introvert.
Linkat--
Introverts of our ilk require superior companionship to tempt us to leave our own company.
That's it Noddy - Conversations with myself are so much more interesting. Other people cannot understand the depths of my thinking. Either I am really intelligent or crazy (maybe both).
Crazy?
Perhaps. But well-adjusted to the universe.
