Parent-Teacher Conference

This week we had our first parent-teacher conference. Ian's teachers had some interesting observations about him:

- He has an atypical building style (with blocks). Doug summed this up as "he builds like a girl!". But in a good way. His teachers said that at this age boys typically build up while girls are more likely to build out. Ian builds out more than the average boy -- mostly building roads and tunnels and other things for vehicles. They also said that he uses blocks in unusual ways. The crescent blocks, for example, which most kids put on top or use for decoration, Ian uses as an integral part of his building. Not sure what all this means, but since his Daddy and Uncle both have strong interests in engineering and design, perhaps it's not surprising.

- He incites silliness. This is not the first time we've been told that he's sillier than average!

- He's not a good salesman yet. As you would expect for his age, he struggles with the fact that he can't always have the toy he wants when he wants it. We know this because he constantly tells stories about toy-related social incidents at school, so we know he's thinking about it. The most common one at the moment goes like this -
Ian: "Are you mad, Mommy?" (out of the blue)
Me: "No, I'm not mad. Are you mad?"
Ian: "Yes, 'bout Silas has the toy." (he always says it this way)
Me: "Silas had the toy that you wanted?"
Ian: "Yes. I said Silas can I have the toy. Silas said no, no. I was angry."
So sometimes he gets mad, sometimes he just tries to take the toy, and sometimes, his teachers said, he tries to make an exchange. But he's not good at it yet. He apparently tries to exchange something of low value for the more interesting thing that he wants, and even the youngest kids don't go for it. Salesmanship does not run in our family, so he may be doomed in this area.

- He's a big little guy. He often bowls over the younger kids in his class without realizing it. His teachers are helping him improve his body awareness, at least to the point that he realizes when he's sent a small child flying.

- He likes music. He often breaks out in song, and apparently this carries over to school where he loves singing and participates well.

- He's aware of what's going on. They noted that he always knows what's up next in the daily routine and is prepared for it. We have noticed that he seems to have a remarkable memory, remembering even things that happened more than a year ago and haven't been discussed since. So this might have something to do with his ability to stay on top of the routine.

- He's got very good fine motor skills (Legos, etc.), gross motor skills (jumping, bike riding, climbing), and excellent language skills. This we knew. He rarely stops talking!

- His school emphasizes self-help skills, and he's embraced this independence. He puts his things in his cubby after lunch, washes his own hands, etc. He can completely dress himself, but refuses to put on socks.

- He likes to sit on the potty (especially when other kids are waiting to use it), but nothing is happening yet. Pretty much the same as at home.

- He will both initiate activities and follow what other kids are doing if it's something he's interested in.

- He still hangs around most with Maeve, his nanny-sharing buddy from last year. I was wondering if this would be the case. They seem to get along well and she's the closest in age to Ian in his class (one month younger - he's the oldest). But I sense that they have different interests, so I wondered how long it would be before they branched out to other kids. His teachers said that they're just starting at this age to find other kids based on shared interests. Other than Maeve, his best buddy at school is Silas, a boy just a bit older who's in the older class. They see each other when they're outside, and they are inevitably the two last kids at school (school closes at 6, but apparently all the other kids get picked up by 5 -- only me and Silas' mom arrive at 5:30 or so). Apparently they enjoy many of the same things and get along really well together.

It was interesting to hear from knowledgeable people who know Ian well and see him when he's away from us. We're thrilled with his school and find it to be a good fit to our parenting philosophy and a good fit for him.