Tuesday, February 19, 2008

school?

When I think of school, warm fuzzy feelings do not come to mind. I found my school expereince to be less then pleasing. Perhaps it was because I was an only child, so I got my social conditioning at school instead of getting beaten down at home by my siblings, I really don't know. I do remember getting in trouble for talking too much. (I know this comes as a huge shock to those who know me)
Today at Christian's conferences, his teacher had a long talk about how much he talks and how needs to be less impulsive about talking and learn to be a better listener. She had to move the a couple of kids around from their assigned places on the circle and Christian ended up next to her. The girl sitting next to Christian is the one person who talks as much if not more then he does. His teacher said that having the two of them right next to her pushes her to the edge and she considered seperating them, but one day the girl was being so loud that Christian was covering his ears. She decided to keep them next to each other, hoping that they will discover how annoying it is for the rest of the world to have to be around so much noise. She said it would be hard, but she hoped it would be worth it.
I know I should be worried that he is driving his teacher crazy, but I was relieved for David and I. His talking pushes us to the edge and then we get frustrated and mad and then we feel that we are such bad parents who should be able to handle this constant talking and also want to encourage his curiousity and developing language skills. It makes us feel better that a trained professional finds it all overwhelming.
The good news is that outside the whole "talking" issue he is doing great. When I told her that we are considering language immersion programs, she said that it would be a good match for him and that he has strong language skills and learning a second language would further help equip him to use those verbal skills in life.
After all of this excitement I also had to go to a required parent information meeting at the Chinese immersion school. David was at work and I had to take both boys. This was step one towards disaster. Christian was tired and was quiet. Liam was tired and acted up. These programs give priority to siblings, so in taking Christian they are also in a way accepting Liam. I felt like they were probably fishing for Christian's application and folding the corner to remind them to put him in a different pile.
I do have to say that everything covered in the meeting could be covered in a letter and if they feel that we are unable to understand the written word, they could have each principle record a pod-cast with their little talk and put it on the district web site.
Some of things covered.....
This is a Chinese immersion program
Chinese is a hard language to learn
If parents do not speak Chinese, it is hard for them to help with homework
Okay.....I think almost everyone knows that Chinese is a difficult language, all of the parents at them meeting appeared to be thoughtful, intellegent people who could figure this out on their own without having to attend a special meeting about it.
The simple purchase of a Chinese character dictionary at Powells would help parents with pronunciation and Chinese character stroke order when help is needed.
They great thing about tonight is that we probably have a better chance of winning the actual lottery then Christian's name getting drawn for the lottery at this school. Their were more families attending the meeting then there are total spots available and their are more meetings. The principle seems great as does the program.
We have a much better chance of getting a spot at the Japanese program and the meeting is when David is home and can watch the kids. I will probably leave that meeting with more warm-fuzzy feelings just because I get some kid-free time to attend.

3 comments:

lorig said...

Good luck with getting into the language school. Talking is not always a bad thing when they learn we learn the appropriate places for quiet. I hope you and the teachers are able to work with this gift in your children.

Lynn Grieveson said...

I think it is great you are supporting them to learn Chinese - good luck with that!

AfriDigiDiva said...

I like both blogs. Wonderful job!