The conference

Today I met with Ben's teachers to discuss how things are going. What a nice, long chat we had! Ben is described as a very polite, social addition to the classroom. He apparently is obsessed with reminding everyone to push in their chairs and remembering to say please and thank you. He sits nicely in circle and enjoys hearing stories and books. Sometimes this well mattered behavior doesn't carry over into asking friends to leave his work alone, though-he sometimes pushes instead of using his words. Or he shouts "walk away!" to someone a bit too close to his work.

Another insight was that he is rather reluctant to show his teacher his lessons. She will ask him to show her how to do a particular work and he won't, he's not too interested in lessons...At first they wondered if he could do the lesson, but on his own he completes the very same lessons start to finish with no problem. It's curious...I wonder if maybe he feels on the spot during the lessons. I see this at home, too. For example, we read the Dora the Explorer book and there's all kinds of questions about what Dora needs next in her journey to wherever...he identified the scissors for cutting the net correctly the first three times we read the story, but now he says she needs the life jackets for every question. He knows Dora does not need the life jacket to cut through the net to get over the troll bridge, but he shouts "life jackets, life jackets!!" when I ask him now. I think it's because he likes the life jackets. Ohh Ben...

According to the teachers, on most things, he is in the practicing mode rather than in the mastery mode. He has mastered sorting, but he can't identify red, blue, yellow on his own. He can count to 11 outloud but doesn't actually identify any number but 1 consistently. This apparently is age appropriate. I wonder if he is able to do more than he shows since he is so reluctant to show off his talents to his teacher during lessons. He can hold a pencil the appropriate way, he loves art work, and he has wonderful friendships in the class.

Sometimes, the teachers have to remind him to stay on task, but then at times he will sit for long periods of time concentrating...especially while stringing beads or doing a very tough shape puzzle. He could spend the whole day in the practical life section pouring, spooning, or at the easel painting.

Overall, I was left with the feeling that Ben is loved and taken care of at his school. They really like him, which I needed to know after I heard he had some trouble pushing and hitting. I feel so much more connected to them and comfortable about having him there all day. It was a great day!