Talking With Teacher Linda

We had Finny's first Parent-Teacher Conference this week. Dave was a bit nervous about how Fin might be fitting in, but I was just excited to hear about his skills.

It came as no surprise to us that Teacher Linda said he has exceptional math and verbal skills. She said it was obvious that he spends time around people who like numbers, to which Dave and I both just laughed and agreed. She also said that he had some trouble with a few large motor skills like kicking or catching a ball, which was also no surprise to us, considering who his parents are. (Afterwards, Dave commented that if someone gave him a ball, he'd be happy to turn it in to a spaceship or bury it in the dirt, but it would never occur to him to try to throw it to anyone. Yeah, I think the kid has a natural disadvantage on that athletic front...)

Overall, he's doing great in school and Teacher Linda told us to just keep doing what we're doing with him. He is a little behind (but still in the normal range for a three year old) on writing skills, still using a fist grip on pencils and such, but was off the charts on being able to use scissors, logical thinking and being able to follow directions in order. She said he has a great imagination and she is impressed with his vocabulary. When he said he was Robin for Halloween, she asked if meant a bird. He replied, "No, Robin the sidekick!" She was very amused by him knowing the word sidekick.

Teacher Linda told us that socially, he is a little less connected with the other kids - he will notice when someone is upset or hurt, but he will not stop what he's doing to check on them or comfort them as some other 3yr olds will. But looking over the list of peer interaction skills, they are all things he would do with Greta or Liam (cooperative play, not just parallel play) so it will just take a bit of time until he's comfortable enough with his classmates to show those behaviors at school. She did say he would approach her and talk to her directly when she asked him questions, but is a little quieter with his classmates.

We mentioned that he does talk about the kids at school and tells us who his friends are and who he plays games with. She was happy to hear it and said it was all moving in the right direction. In fact, after school today he personally invited 3 of his classmates over for a playdate this week - his idea!

When she asked if we had any questions about his development, Dave mentioned that he NEVER wants to go to school, no matter how much advance warning he has about the transition. He's started faking illnesses in the mornings to get out of going to school and even yesterday told us he wanted to stay home from school to watch the Lightning McQueen movie and eat Halloween candy. (No dice, kid.)

She said that behavior was common in gifted kids (yea!) because they get so focused on whatever they're doing, so involved in their activities that they do not want to stop them. Yep, sounds like Finny all right. However, she also said she did not see any issues with him transitioning between activities in the classroom, so it's not a concern right now.

In all, there was no major surprise in the meeting, which is good. He's a bright, funny, imaginative kid and she said he was great to have in class. He was behind on a few things, but at a 5-6yr old level on some other skills, so he's doing well. And the things he's a little behind on (socialization) are all things being in school will help, so we're on the right track!

In a few months she will evaluate him again using the 4yr old standards, so we'll have another conference in the spring. In the meantime, more books and play and fun with Fin! Y