Went to the meet and greet last night. Hannah's teacher seems fantastic!!! I am sure she's gong to have a good year. She also was a lot less tired yesterday which is a good sign that she is settling in a bit more. She sits at a table with 2 of her friends and told me that she played with them at school. She has been using her ipad although we still have a bit of organising to do with it - I downloaded a First then Visual app - but for the life of me can't work out how to upload our own pics...
At the moment Kit is more of concern to me. He is happy and likes his teacher and is enjoying Year 1. Two things about him are on my mind though. There is a boy who he has a love hate relationship with (personally I'd prefer that it was mostly the latter with some of the things Kit tells me about his 'friend' but that is another story) Anyway - Kit has been getting upset because this boy has been hissing and poking Kit - in class and in the playground when they line up. From what I can tell it isn't bullying yet but potentially...So I bit the bullet and mentioned to the teacher that Kit had told me she was going to rearrange the kids desks - could she please separate these 2 boys? I asked. Sure she said. And she did - but she put Z behind Kit - on different tables but within reach - hence the poking and hissing. Hmm. We'll see - hopefully she'll quash that sort of thing very quickly. Other reasons I am uncomfortable about this 'friendship' developing is that this boy puts Kit down. When he went in the talent show he was told he was terrible. That sort of comment has been made by this boy about a few things. Then he also tells Kit he doesn't like a particular country - or anything to do with it - including the people. Now I know he is only 6 and that that sort of attitude is learned - but there is no way that Kit is learning that one and I was very blunt with him about it. Then there was the googling twin towers on the dsi and watching cartoons about it - why?? I wondered and after watching Kit say that Z had told him about these cartoons - I had to tell him that I was very uncomfortable with him just looking up these flip notes as if they were fun because I couldn't see anything 'fun' in what really happened with the twin towers I elaborated a little bit more and he has not looked at them again. SO this boy is just a bit too worldly an influence for mine - and not the sort of worldliness that I think is appropriate for 6 year olds. DH and I have discussed with Kit who friends are there to make you feel happy not sad. That he doesn't need to be friends with everyone - he has to be polite and respectful but if someone is making him feel bad then they aren't really a friend are they? etc. We'll see - as I said occasionally these 2 boys actually play nicely together but mostly - not.
The other concern is about the work in Year 1. It is only early days but I am watching to see how quickly the teacher starts to give Kit work that is appropriate and challenging - cos that hasn't happened yet. As I said it is early days though. Still at the end of kindy he and 2 other children were working on a 'contract' system of individual work which he loved. Kit is self-motivated, independent and focussed - and I think he really benefitted from this system of work. He also attended an enrichment group once a week which was mixed ages and he loved that because he is quite drawn to older kids. Anyways I'll wait a little while - not sure how long (?!) and then I'll ask his teacher about it. Just like with Hannah - I want to build a positive partnership not come across as pushy, still I am a bit anxious to see how the new teacher will address his needs because his kindy teacher gave it a good go.
At the moment he is loving the Snugglepot and Culddlepie stories (he borrowed it from the school library yesterday) - who'd have thought but he was retelling me the events of one of the tales his father read him last night, just this morning. HE actually read a page of it without error too but it is quite a long story and he definitely prefers to share the reading of it with another person rather than read it all by himself.
All the best for the extension work for Kit and sorting out the 'friend' issues. Hope Hannah is happy going to school this week.
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason why they are called Flipnote Hatenas!
ReplyDeleteHow would you have felt if the cartoons were about the Tower of Babel (a landmark in Christian history and reflective of cultural and linguistic diversity)?
Yes, terror and horror is part of our world.
To think when these children were ~15 months old a certain incident happened on the Central Coast - when young men were persecuted.
Glad you're loving the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie stories, Kit. It's a wonderful way to share the reading work. May Gibbs gives us such a feeling of Australia and of nature, as well as adventure and excitement. The way she uses language - prose and poetry - is very good! I have a biography of her at home, and the complete works, full of coloured pictures. Probably my favourite would be of the Scottie dog, as well as Little Obelia under the sea.
Gibbs' work also supports various foundations for children and people with diverse needs, which give natural supports. Bequests and philantrophy are a humanitarian responsibility and make you feel good.