Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Do I tell the teacher that my child is brillant?

I am just home between volunteering at Lily's school and driving Mandy to the orthodontist. My schedule seems to have gone from having nothing to do to having more to do than ever. I am having a great time.

I am trying to not over volunteer at the school. I am trying to not volunteer to do anything that would put me in direct contact with Lily. I do have lunch with her sometimes. OK, more than sometimes. I find that I go there to the school for one reason or another nearly everyday.

Yesterday I had to buy myself a new dress, a dress to wear to a wedding. I had such a great time. I was in no hurry. Later I had to go to the school for Kindergarten Curriculum night. The teacher explained in detail all that will happen in Kindergarten. Of course this is the same information we got the day before school started when we went to meet the teacher. It is also the same information which is sent home with Lily. It is a little frustration to get all this information so many times.

At the Kindergarten curriculum night I discovered that they are learning to identify their letters and numbers. That they are learning to count to 10. I am wondering if I should mention to the teacher that Lily knows how to count to 100. She can literally count to 100 forwards and backwards. She can also identify all of those numbers out of sequence and in sequence. She also knows how to spell and read several words that start with each letter of the alphabet.

There are a ton of things that the teacher is teaching that Lily does not know. But, I wonder if it would be useful for her teacher to know that Lily is so far advanced in these things. If I should send her an email. The teacher has not asked, should I offer her this information or is that bragging?

Lily is having trouble following directions. She is having trouble writing her name and coloring in the lines. I work with Lily on the things she needs to learn at home. It is slow going, but now she is at least interested in these things. Before she was not receptive to leaning to write. What do you think, should I write the teacher an email about how advanced Lily is? Or should I let her figure it out for herself? Currently I think she is under the impression that Lily is a little on the slow side. Due to the fact that Lily is not very good at interacting with the teacher or listening to the teacher. What do y'all think?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you should have this same conversation with her teacher. Let her know how advanced Lily is and what she may be having trouble with, ie: coloring in the lines and writing, then the teacher will know what things to focus more on when working independently with Lily. If she knows that Lily can count to 100 and if she knows that Lily can identify letters out of sequence among all the other things Lily is advanced in doing, then she can be more directive with Lily towards the things she needs help with. Lily will also be less likely to become bored and also begin to open up and use her communication skills more with her teacher.

Kathy said...

Kindergarten was frustrating for my son because they taught things like numbers (he like Lily could count backwards and forwards) and primary colors -- he could tell you the difference because royal blue and robin's egg blue, so was really annoyed by being asked to say what color was red and what was yellow. I hope Lily's teacher will listen to you, my son's teacher ignored every word I said.

Anonymous said...

Everyone is different, of course, but if it was me and my DS, I would keep the information to myself unless for some reason the intelligence was called into question.

Kimberly said...

I think that the teacher will quickly find out what Lily can and can not do. The first month is all about seeing where the students are in their development so that the teacher knows where to go. So I would not say anything, yet. BUT...if Lily is getting bored with school, or getting into trouble because of the boredom, then I would go in and talk to the teacher. So many times parents will tell me their kids can do this and that, but I have found that they aren't doing all that they say they are or that they are doing much more. If the teacher is good she will quickly see it for herself what Lily can do and then she will challenge her to do more. Be patient, but be aware of how Lily feels about what she is learning. She may tell the teacher she already knows it. As long as she is happy and learning other stuff in there she is fine. Like you said, she does not know all the stuff being taught. Keep challenging her at home too. I am glad she is doing well.

Juryizstillout said...

I can only tell you what I did and that was to bring his preschool assessments in. She seemed pleased that I had done that because it helps them to know what level to start at.
This year,our county has begun kindergarten assessments. It is only supposed to take 20 minutes with the teacher. He got a student teacher and she was in her twenties. He made that assessment last 45 minutes because she was pretty, I think.
Anyway, I'd tell her about Lily. Any information has to be helpful.

~Molly~ said...

BTDT when my son was in public school pre-K(age 4yrs, 3 months) at one of those "exemplary campuses". He shocked the teacher when he counted to 143 because she ran out of blocks and named her 6 shades of purple(lilac, lavender, maroon, grape...). Teacher told me once that she thought he was retarded because he didn't act up in class, whaaaat?

Needless to say, he only attended school for 4 months. We pulled him out at the Christmas break and have homeschooled ever since! Its been almost 11 years and we've never looked back! You may want to look into it if things don't go well. It is the most worthwhile thing I've ever done in my life!

Molly