We had a conference with Ms. Danielle and as usual, I went in with some things that I wanted to talk to her about. Gabe, as usual, was pretty quiet for most of it but asked very astute questions when I took a break:-)
My concerns/questions:
The conference:
My concerns/questions:
- Gustav sometimes says homework is too hard even though I know he can do it
- whining and temper tantrums
- shyness
- sucking fingers or shirt/coat
- is he being compassionate and kind toward his friends
- does he start fights
The conference:
- he is coming out of his shell
- he is an observer and doesn't want to stand out, even if he knows the answers
- he is expressive with friends
- there is little molding at this age because their personalities are pretty much set
- he is extremely process oriented and doesn't do well with change; needs to know ahead of time to prepare
- needs help with fine motor skills like cutting and writing; children's confidence will go down if they struggle
- cognitively he is "awesome" because he remembers and picks up on things easily
- help them understand that letters have letter sounds and letters blend to make words
- when they complete their science projects, that is when the kids usually come out of their shell since they are so proud of their work.
- they are going to start working on addition and subtraction with him
- was surprised when she saw his homework and his name was all over the place since it's not like that at school
- they talked about MLK this week and Ms. Danielle said that for this very diverse class, the concept of different skin colors and being treated differently was so foreign to them (unlike in a previous class in which the girls were hyper aware of what the other girls wore).
- during show and share, the children first show what they have and if they want to share, they put it on the sharing table. If they don't want to share, they put it in their cubby.
- to help with fine motor skills - make a game of using clothes pins to pick up cotton
- if he is still struggling with letters at end of preK may need additional help
- hold his wrist to help him with the right pressure to write
- needs confidence to go to elementary school so the best thing we can do is provide him with praise now (not necessarily rewards) to build confidence (don't worry about over praising him)
- if he says he can't do something, it means that he is waiting for you to walk him through it. In class if they see the kids just sitting around not starting, they know that they have to walk them through first
- playdates really help kids with social skills
- when we need him to share, do not give him a choice. Say "I need the ipad" and then explain about each child having a turn. If he doesn't give it to us, then give warning "I am going to take it now" so he doesn't think we are just "snatching"
- get him a stress ball to help him self-soothe without sucking fingers/clothes
- draw a box for his name on his homework so he has boundaries to contain his letters instead of open space