Dear YM:
Oops. I somehow replaced your post with my attempt to comment. Yikes. Sorry!!!
Signed:
Delete-happy in Denver
I hear you about parent teacher conferences for kids who are barely functioning at any level. I think, at that age, not crying hysterically or biting other kids is considered victory. Every thing else just ices the cake. Be glad you're conferences are still in the "plays well with others" and "doesn't eat his styrofoam cup" realm. As the kids get older, the challenge of parenting shifts from physical to mental.
We are a little deeper into the Montessori pool that you are--with all three kids (ages 10, 8 and 4) in a public charter Montessori PreK-12 school., Grades and report cards aren't really part of the Montessori deal, so I have come to cling to those conferences for insight into my kids' school experience. Because, let's face it, children are notoriously bad reporters. They can describe a scene of a movie in excruciating detail, but ask them what happened at school and you're likely to get, "Nothing." Both literally and figuratively
I have been astounded more than once by the insight some teachers can pull out about my kids during a 15 minute meeting. It makes me respect good teachers all the more. Why don't we pay teachers millions of dollars and pay entertainers teachers' salaries? I guess one could argue (based on the above) that entertainers have a bigger impact on young minds. But that is much too scary to be true.
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