Little Edison is about to complete his half a year in pre-school now. I can’t believe how quickly time flies. June school holidays are just a week away from now.
Last month, I received a letter of notification from school about our first parent-teacher meeting that has been scheduled on 29 April 2010. It was our first parent-teacher meeting at Edison’s school.
Of course, I was anxious and excited. I’ve been counting down to this special day. I suppose it will be interesting to hear from the teachers what my little boy has been doing in school for the past four months.
The teachers, principal and other staff members of the school are very friendly, patient and caring. Daddy V and I are happy that Little Edison is in good hands. Every morning when I drop him off at school, his teacher receives him with a warm and cherry smile. Occasionally, I get updates about his progress at school from the communication book and through phone calls. This parent-teacher meeting will be our first face-to-face meeting with the teachers to discuss about his performance in school.
In general, Little Edison is adapting well at school. He is displaying most of the milestones of a 3-year-old. He is very alert and he has strong observation skills. He can adapt to the structure of the typical school day, understand rules and regulations if these are explained clearly to him. He is also confident to try out all indoor and outdoor activities at school.
One thing that really took me by surprise is that he is rather quiet at school. On the other hand, he prattles away non-stop at home. He can speak fluently and appropriately with us. The teacher has commented that his silence at school probably arises because he is not yet fully at ease with the other children and adults. She will continue to encourage him to be more vocal in class.
He spends much of his time on his own activities rather than playing with others. The teacher described it as “solitary play” which is quite normal for children under the age of 3. It takes time for a child to master the art of playing with other children and demonstrates social behaviors. We were relieved when the teacher mentioned that he didn’t display negative behaviors like hitting other children at school.
There are lots of everyday challenges that he is expected to manage on his own (although still under supervision by the teachers). For instance, he needs to be able to attend to his toileting needs independently. These include knowing when to use the toilet, be able to pull his pants down and back up again tidily as well as washing and drying his hands afterwards. I was impressed when the teacher told me that he can very well do it on his own.
To us, every little achievement he has made at school is as remarkable as setting foot on the moon. We want him to have a good time at school, enjoy his company of friends and develop a love for learning.
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