Tuesday, January 13, 2009

teacher's report

back in nov we had a parent/teacher conference & reviewed Z's report card. it wasn't stellar, but he was making strides & we were confident in his abilities.

fast forward
last week B asked the counselor how things were going, how much longer did Z need to continue visits? she asked Z, they agreed to meet 1 more time. that evening she called me & said she had a form she wanted Z's teacher to fill out to see his progress. Z's teacher sent it home yesterday.

OUCH!

reading & math - below grade level
writing & lang. arts - far below grade level
compared to his peers: hard working, behaving, learning - all sub-par

then there's an entire paragraph about "what concerns you most" - lacks attn, even the easist of 1st grade tasks. difficult to motivate, looks unengaged. has difficulty following rules, continues to do same thing after getting caught & disciplined. biggest concern - lack of attn to tasks.

then the following are very true: acts too young for his age, fails to finish things he starts, can't concentrate or pay attn for long, can't sit still, fidgets, daydreams or gets lots in thought, difficulty in following directions, acts without thinking, has difficulty learning, unmotivated, poor school work, messy work, behaves irresponsibly, inattentive or easily distracted, underachieving, fails to carry out assigned tasks, underactive.

geez! we're going to therapy the rest of our natural lives!
yet at the same time i feel like uncle buck at the principal's office, this is the 1st grade. i don't want him to be an adult in a 6 year old body (it wasn't a fun experience for me).

i decided to call his teacher. i want to talk to her about getting him tested for individual instruction. i asked her when we first changed rooms but she wanted to get to know him better before taking that step. from the eval, i'm thinking she's ready.

2 comments:

  1. she actually wrote down ALL of that? did she have to attach additional papers? jeez.
    on one hand i do believe that he's "normal" and all those points she made are normal for a rambunctious, smart, questioning kid. but i think you are right to look for individual instruction to make sure that he doesn't stay behind and has all the opportunities to get up to grade level.
    and you know, not everyone is ready for school at the same time. :-) hang in there...all of you!

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  2. she wrote even more than that, i just documented the highlights...er, lowlights.

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