Our meeting at school went well. You can read about what landed us in the Principals office here.
We were late arriving so we got the evil teacher eye from Ms. Megan. As a former teacher I empathize with her frustration but the traffic was awful after Tropical Storm Hermine came through so we were 10 minutes late. They had a list of his strengths and things that were challenging which we went over and then we got down to the main problem: he shows aggression when he's A) frustrated and B) when it appears to him that he's lost control. We had good conversation that was open and revealing and I think we're moving in the right direction.
Here were his teachers bullet points:
He shows compassion for peers.
He is able to express himself through clear and complex verbal communication.
Once engaged in an activity or work, he has an increased ability to focus and follow through.
He thrives on adult driven activities.
He acts out aggressively when he perceives that he has lost control of the situation.
There is an increase in conflicts during both circle and nap time.
Though we were pressed for time we both committed to change - changes at home and at school that we'll all be responsible for. Because he has such a hard time calming himself down for nap it's now his official job to help the lead teacher after lunch. He cleans tables, takes out the trash and puts away lunch items then when everyone is sleeping he goes into the nap room and lays down on his mat, reads books and drifts off. The last two days have been great, I'm happy to report.
One issue that they brought up (besides the aggression issue) was his lack of peer connections. They said he hasn't really bonded with any of his peers yet and this concerns them. When asked if he had any relationships outside of school, we were happy to note that not only did he have a friend outside of school, but he has a fiancé, and her name is Siri. It's funny - we don't see Siri and her family nearly as much (since we're not sharing a nanny anymore) but he brings her up almost everyday. Yesterday he told me that he was going to invite Siri to his birthday party and he hoped she would bring balloons and he also asked me when Ms. Kari and Mr. Elliot's birthday's were and that he wanted to go to their parties. And whenever we do something fun or eat something yummy and I say, "You know who else would like this?", Blaine answers, "Siiiiirrrriiiii" with a big smile on his face.
That's all for now. Praying for him today that he continues to channel that strong will he has in positive ways. And I know that someday this aggression will turn into drive and passion and intense engagement... a mother can hope, right?!
We were late arriving so we got the evil teacher eye from Ms. Megan. As a former teacher I empathize with her frustration but the traffic was awful after Tropical Storm Hermine came through so we were 10 minutes late. They had a list of his strengths and things that were challenging which we went over and then we got down to the main problem: he shows aggression when he's A) frustrated and B) when it appears to him that he's lost control. We had good conversation that was open and revealing and I think we're moving in the right direction.
Here were his teachers bullet points:
He shows compassion for peers.
He is able to express himself through clear and complex verbal communication.
Once engaged in an activity or work, he has an increased ability to focus and follow through.
He thrives on adult driven activities.
He acts out aggressively when he perceives that he has lost control of the situation.
There is an increase in conflicts during both circle and nap time.
Though we were pressed for time we both committed to change - changes at home and at school that we'll all be responsible for. Because he has such a hard time calming himself down for nap it's now his official job to help the lead teacher after lunch. He cleans tables, takes out the trash and puts away lunch items then when everyone is sleeping he goes into the nap room and lays down on his mat, reads books and drifts off. The last two days have been great, I'm happy to report.
One issue that they brought up (besides the aggression issue) was his lack of peer connections. They said he hasn't really bonded with any of his peers yet and this concerns them. When asked if he had any relationships outside of school, we were happy to note that not only did he have a friend outside of school, but he has a fiancé, and her name is Siri. It's funny - we don't see Siri and her family nearly as much (since we're not sharing a nanny anymore) but he brings her up almost everyday. Yesterday he told me that he was going to invite Siri to his birthday party and he hoped she would bring balloons and he also asked me when Ms. Kari and Mr. Elliot's birthday's were and that he wanted to go to their parties. And whenever we do something fun or eat something yummy and I say, "You know who else would like this?", Blaine answers, "Siiiiirrrriiiii" with a big smile on his face.
That's all for now. Praying for him today that he continues to channel that strong will he has in positive ways. And I know that someday this aggression will turn into drive and passion and intense engagement... a mother can hope, right?!
