First Parent Teacher Conference

Look, Mom! I'm a walrus!

We had our first parent teacher conference for Maddy yesterday. Maddy's teacher, Miss Zohra, is a very nice lady and seems to really like Maddy. Having never done a parent teacher conference, I didn't really know what to expect. It was informative in some ways, but since we have no past performance to compare how she's doing in school now, it is hard to tell what all of the evaluation actually means. I felt that there were several things as far as fine motor skills that we need to watch, and if we don't see improvement, it may mean re-admitting into OT.

They do a really comprehensive eval sheet for every aspect of learning. They don't just focus on academics, but also evaluate life skills and social skills. The score 1-3 in all of the different levels. 1 is above age expectation, 2 is age appropriate, and 3 is needs work. Maddy got 2's and 3's on everything.

One of the things we found from the evaluation, something we'd already kind of been noticing on our own, is that Maddy really struggles to relate and fit in with large groups of kids. We think part of this is just a physical confidence issue, especially in place like playgrounds. We've noticed when we go to a restaurant that has a play area that she will do a lot more if there are 0-2 kids playing at the same time. If there are lots of kids running around, she wants to get on the play equipment but will usually just end up kind of hanging out at the very bottom because she is scared she is going to get knocked over or run over. While I really hate that, I think she is wise not to just jump into a pack of crazy kids and that she knows her limitations. We also think that group activities are intimidating and overwhelming because of the noise level and perhaps not being able to distinguish who is making what noise. Even in Bible class, if there are a few rambunctious kids in there, she will complain that her friends are hurting her ears. So I think we need to do some research and perhaps talk to her audiologist about solutions for this, because groups, crowd noise, and being able to comprehend what is going on in those situations is kind of something you just can't get away from needing to do. I think Maddy is gaining more confidence physically because of gymnastics. Yesterday she got on the trampoline and jumped with all the other kids in the class. She has never been brave enough to do that yet, so that was a huge step for her. But I think it will take awhile to see that translate to confidence in a group of kids on the playground.

The other area of concern (to me) was that her teacher says she seems tired in the mornings. This can be an easy fix by moving bedtime a bit earlier. I am not sure why she seems so tired at school though because she gets up about the same time everyday and the days we are at home, I'd describe her as a ball of energy.