Hey there! A lot has been going on in the school realm around here. Lucy is doing well and is officially headed to 1st grade in the fall. Nate is doing OK--not great. The reasons for that are twofold: 1) he feels he doesn't fit in and hasn't made friends and 2) he gets easily frustrated with the work they do that is hard for him.
Regarding friendships, Jon and I are seeing Nate struggle in this area because other kids aren't necessarily always being kind but ALSO (and maybe more frequently) because Nate either misinterprets/exaggerates what someone says (e.g., someone tells him to stop doing something and now he thinks that person doesn't like him) or because he is not being thoughtful/kind. He still needs to learn how to be a friend. We're talking about it, but talking and doing are two very different things!
The work in class he is getting frustrated with are the things I knew wouldn't be his favorite: form drawing (art and handwriting related) and music (they are playing the wood flute this year). They aren't his favorites not because of what they are but because they are difficult for him. He wasn't at this school in 1st grade to start learning form drawing, so he started the year at a disadvantage. And the fine motor skills required to cover the holes on the wood flute are frustrating for him, and I think he just gives up. He doesn't want to do anything hard.
Jon and I met with Nate's teacher, Miss Torrey, this week at her request. She showed us some of his work and said generally, he is doing well. His spelling, math, etc. skills are on par. He is a great reader, of course. The more artistic things are improving. But, sweet thing, she said at the beginning of the year Nate was such a light--so enthusiastic and happy. And recently she says he hasn't been that way and seems unhappy at school. :( She was spot on. Jon and I said it's because of the friendships thing and the frustration/not wanting to try with some of the work. But he is still generally a happy kid and doesn't "fight" going to school in the mornings. It's sad to think he's unhappy, BUT I think it will be a life lesson for him if he can push through, learn to be a friend, and end up thriving. Miss Torrey believes he will integrate much better into class come 3rd grade. At Journey School, the children stay together in the same class, so Nate will be with all the same kids next year. Miss Torrey saw some of the children who were new in 1st grade have a hard time, but then they fit right in when 2nd grade started. We're hoping that's the case for Nate.
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2 comments:
Sounds as if he has a great teacher who understands children. Hope she can help him. I pray about him every night. Surely that will help. I love all of you. Nannie
I was just rereading this and thinking about it a little more. Being the new kid is hard! (as we both know). But, I'm hoping that these times will help Nate, as they did me, to interact with and be friends with all kinds of people. Maybe you can encourage him to be observant of how the kids whom he thinks don't like him treat everyone else. he'll probably notice that they act the same toward everyone. If they in fact are only treating him poorly, it's a great lesson to learn that you don't have to or need to be friends with everyone. He should always be kind and loving toward everyone no matter how they treat him, but he certainly shouldn't expect to be friends with everyone. I don't think I learned that lesson until college.
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