September 08, 2005

Just Thought You'd Like to Know

I can't sleep, so I thought I'd post my thoughts on that curriculum meeting this afternoon.

I was one of about a half dozen parents (out of the 22 students in the class) who showed up. I sat at Son's desk, looked through the assortment of handouts we were given, listened to the teacher. It all sounds on the level, and as far as Son is concerned, it's nothing he can't handle. He's been doing well so far.

The mother, the one that called me earlier today all upset, stated that this was all just too much for a six year old to deal with, that she has her son working on this stuff for three hours every night. The teacher was all like "Oh, no! Just 15 minutes, that's all!"

Upset Mother kept saying to me "I ain't no teacher! I can't teach him this stuff!" Uh-huh, right you "ain't." I told her that the more she stresses, the more her kid will stress, do what you can in 15 minutes and let it be that for the night. After everyone else had left, Upset Mother and I talked to the teacher, and Teach said that my son is so bright, smart, he just sails through everything...which got me a dirty look from Upset Mother.

While waiting for our kids a bit later, Upset Mother made a comment "Well, obviously your kid isn't having any trouble with this stuff." Now, what does she think we do? Sit around listening to classical music, discussing Quantum Physics and reading The Canterbury Tales in Olde English? Huh...yeah, okay, most nights find Son glued to the TV playing Star Wars Battlefront.

Okay, so my son sees me reading. I've read to him since birth. He's always been quick to learn and remember stuff. Is that a bad thing? Is it so bad that I encourage Son, help him out? The fact that both Husband and I have teaching degrees doesn't mean that much, we just want our kids to do their best.

Why am I getting the feeling that these parents have that "you're the teacher, you teach them, I'm just the parent" attitude? This particular elementary school is big on parental help. If we don't help our kids at home, reinforce and encourage, what good is going to school anyway?

Perhaps I'm over-analyzing this, but what do I say to these mothers who complain about their kids getting C's when Son had brought home A's and B's? Why are we getting so worked up and the kids haven't been in school for a month?

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