So, here's my predicament. I have two daughters that are both a little bit like me in different ways. Kt is the brown-nosing, overachieving, analytical thinker that I was, but a little more extroverted. OK, a lot more extroverted! Em is the introvert that I am, meaning she checks out when things get overwhelming. Which is exactly what I used to do, but I always dove into my little intellectual world full of books, homework and entertainment.
Em checked out by the middle of the conference in Hungary, hiding away in our room with some stuffed animals she had "won" as prizes. The animals had met in the "adoption center" where they were nearly starved to death. I cannot relate to this. Not because I'm a mom who wished her daughter to be social, but because if I were going to create an alternate reality, animals would not be included!
So, today, Em announced to me that school is boring, and it's only getting "boringer"! Now, if she were anything like Kt I'd assume that she was placed in the wrong class, not challenged enough, and that she really and truly was bored. However, it's Em we're talking about and I am drawing another scary conclusion: first grade is hard, and she is checking out. Upon further questioning, she did admit that first grade was too hard and that she has decided she wants to be homeschooled. Not this year, but next year. That's a glimmer of hope - that she prefers school to home for now, but she's still big and bright in my radar. Having never been inclined to do anything academic, I've always feared this moment.
Kt's highlight of the day was her first Gifted and Talented Math class - where she gets to leave the confines of her overfilled classroom and head off to another room with all her very best friends. Geeky socialite. That about sums it up!
Em's highlight of the day? Getting another "roar" card from her teacher (7 more 'til the homework pass) for standing quietly, waiting patiently at her desk. No wonder she's bored!
2 comments:
It's amazing how having a kid or two will stretch a person, isn't it?! I'm already learning from ML to walk outside my usual boundaries!
My guess it that once Em settles into the new 1st grade routines, and gets used to this new teacher, and the new friends....she won't be so overwhelmed, and she'll feel differently about things!
My Nathan decided in his first week that his teacher was the meanest and strictest teacher he has ever had! Now that he's into his second week, he has already decided that the teacher is not mean (still strict) but he'll be okay. "I just have to to what I'm supposed to do, Mom....and then I don't have to worry about her being mean!"
Living up to more challenging expectations can be very stressful for a child (me, too!) but usually they rise up to meet the challenge, and surprise themselves that they did!
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