With a child who appears to like structure and routine, I wanted to check in and see how the transition to year 1 was going. After completing the outstanding presentation, I asked to teacher if she could offer some strategies on how to build confidence in the classroom.
This appears to have backfired, as I was summoned to meet the school guidance counsellor. After talking for what felt like an eternity, the end outcome was I mostly disagreed with their findings. In their opinion the child is displaying anxiety in the classroom, has below average language skills, suffering from an inability to communicate with peers and teaching staff, all of which is impacting on her learning progress.
Hmmm, for me this does not add up. I know that the child has extensive language ability which starts at 5.30 am and progresses non stop until bed time. I know that the weekly homework takes 10 minutes on the Monday evening, and this includes colouring in some sections as extra fun because she wants to. She displays an amazing level of creativity, is independent and a happy child, she is a deep thinker, and mostly loves to learn all sorts of things. A gift from her Aunt with an App that has the globe dotted with interesting points and animals has had her squealing with delight.
It was incredibly frustrating to have a conversation with the staff, who had not taken the time to explore all available schooling interactions. Although I had requested several other key people be spoken to, including the Director of the Outside School Care Program, this was not done. Yet clearly the small amount of research was sufficient to support their case, and to justify a child psychologist. So we will find a child psychologist, but I doubt that it will be for anxiety, it is more likely to uncover why the child does not feel the need to communicate in the classroom.
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