Worst school day thus far

[seasonalkat]

E brings home a daily 'report card' that tells us every half hour if he behaved appropriately or not, along with a space for comments. The day begins at 9 am and goes until 3:30. Today, EVERY half hour with the exception of 2 periods has comments about his behavior. None of them are good. Some of the most distressing

Comments

[seasonalkat]

His typical answer about his day was "fine" or "I don't know". If we ask what he did during any portion of the day, odds are good we'll get "I don't know". They do get a morning recess, but it's too cold right now to go outside so I'm sure they are caged beasts.

Typically the teacher does not comment on things done well as she's just too busy. I understand that, and I know that if he gets a check mark in that period, it means everything is going well. The comments are meant for us to see what he's doing and when, so we can talk about it more at home when there is a problem. I'm okay with this system as I've seen how busy she is and I don't want to put more on her plate.

I think, after more discussion (and I need to email the teacher for sure about this) that they are implementing a new reading program there that is 100% a style he IS hating. I would have expected this kind of craziness last week, the first week back from break, but that went stellar and we were thinking "hurray! We may have turned a corner!". Now I feel like we're back at square one. I am hoping to see a different report for his day today.

[aelf]

I guess from my point of view it's just as important (if not more so) that you know what's gone right with his day as what's gone wrong. He needs praise and encouragement for the good choices he makes, not just reminders or penalties for the bad choices.

Especially on days when he isn't getting a chance to be active and such. Regular physical play makes such a difference!

Oh, and about the name calling. I wanted to mention that I've seen kids involved in name calling and for one of them to suddenly decide "enough is enough" and break into tears. He could easily have been involved in something like that. But I'm inclined to think optimistically about kids. :)