A conversation with some fabulous kinder team reminded of this post and I thought it would be approriate to re-share…
A word to the wise…
Parents are biased. Parents are sending you the absolute BEST that they have to offer at home. The child in your class that may test your patience like no other is the 20×30 poster hanging over their mantle. They are LOVED. ADORED. WANTED.
Yesterday when I picked up my TsT, she was “shadowing” the teacher. Meaning her lil’hand was in the teachers pocket and she had to stay there all day. No free play, no lunching with friends, no centers…basically no fun. Why? Because she wasn’t being sweet and gentle with her friends.
(Read: a hitter! my kid was the hitter!! argh)
My first reaction was to want to cry. (Like the 2 year old was doing as she was telling me how ” sowee” she was.)
Disclaimer: I MISS my kids when they are away from me. I think about them. I want to see them. I can’t WAIT to hug them.
Do you know how hard it was to “discipline” my girl once we were home? I made her stay in her room, gave her no dessert, and NO ipad fun game time with mom.
Guess who felt more punished?? ME! I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do! Were these things even effective? Should I be more concerned? Is there a youtube video I could watch on how to fix this issue??
Teachers….you have to HELP your parents. Explain behaviors. Explain when there is cause for concern, or if it’s developmentally appropriate. They look to YOU as the expert. Balancing being a mom and wanting to support what is happening at school but also loving your kids is HARD. We’re asking them to unbiasedly look at their child and behaviors that they weren’t a witness too, and take action on them.
How would you feel if ONLY negative things came home? Or if the only contact you had with your child’s school was a negative one?
You have the power to fix that. YOU can make every encounter positive & supportive. Even when there is negative information to convey…
a mom’s perspective,
Amber
Oh man… I remember this day… It definitely is super hard. E was about to have to go to “practice corner” for talking on the stage when they were lining up. I thought about how hard it is not to talk, like EVER, when you really really want to… and as a 31 year old, it’s dang hard! So for a 5 year old, I’m sure it’s even harder! (sigh) I never heard a word about it from the school though! It just came flowing out of that big ole conscience of his. Thank you school for knowing when to tell me, and thank you E for being a talker! Some parents wait their whole lives for their kid to be able to talk!