Hi Everyone. My DH and I went to our ds parent teacher interview yesterday (he started prep in Qld this year). I feel disappointed after being there and am wondering if anyone on eb felt the same and how results changed for you.

Firstly I like DS's teacher, but she does seem a bit of a scatter brain when I see her at school in the mornings - seems like she's always rushing around. I help out in the classroom one day a week and she's better with he kids and does explain stuff properly to them.

At the interview, DH came along. DH is 120kg bodybuilder so he looks intimidating to some (well maybe a lot) of people. I must say he is the biggest gentle giant you could ever meet. The teacher chatted to him when we got there, her borther in law is my hubby's chiropractor so she seemed fine with dh.

Anyway, she starts going through how ds is going with counting/writing numbers etc then dh asks "is that our son's worksheet'. Teacher says 'yes', but dh points out that it had someone else's name on it!!!!! She had a totally different student's notes and worksheets. So she goes and grabs ours - which were not nearly as good. She showed us how he didn't understand and didn't have a clue about what was supposed to e done. Other things she said was that he is the class clown and needs to settle in class and not be distracted so easily. All fair enough comments and I will be working on him with his maths at home. She seemed even more flustered after realising her mistake and I think dh made her more nervous.

When we left, dh said no wonder our son did the worksheet wrong - as the teacher made dh confused! When we got home we gave a similar worksheet to ds adn explained it thoroughly and he did it perfectly. I am now wondering if I should meet with the principal? Should I be concerned or just let it pass as it is so early in the first year at school? Did your ds/dd settle down, pay more attention and get the jist of things better/easier as the year went on?

For me, this would be a very strong reason to meet with the Principal. I would definitely not just leave things as they are. It is the early years which are a child's formative years and they are like sponges.

If he is being taught by a person who is not skilled at teaching and appears to have confused your DS in important areas such as maths I would not risk leaving it. It may lead to bigger issues down the track.

I think you need to work on your son's distractibility.

Of course he did the worksheet fine after you gave him one on one instruction. He wasn't been disruptive or being distracted by the other children in class.

Perhaps the teacher needs to work on her classroom management skills or perhaps you need to work on the skills your son is lacking in order to not be disruptive to the other children in class.

I think going to the principal is a complete OTT reaction.

I wouldn't be rushing to the principal based on one worksheet. Is the worksheet she showed you a recent one or one done weeks ago? My preppie is picking things up at such a rate that a worksheet that might of stumped him a couple of weeks ago he can now do perfectly.

Everything Barrington said.

Instead of going to the principal, I would work with your son on the areas of concern which were identified by his teacher. Doing a work sheet one- to - one with a parent is different from working in the classroom with the rest of the class. Your observation of her rushing around in a disorganised way before school seems pretty unfair to me. This is usually the main preparation time for teachers and they need to use photocopiers, find equipment and supplies and deal with their colleagues and parents and students.

Take the interview as a way to help your son with specific skills and behaviour, rather than creating ill will between you and the teacher.

Thanks for the comments. The worksheet was a recent one. She said it was done one on one with our son, which is why it concerned me that he didn't follow what she explained. When we mentioned the exercise to ds at home, he said he remembered doing it but didn't understand, but that's maybe just his way of explaining not doing it correctly.

Any tips for helping ds to not be so distracted? He does it at home too. I will be telling him something and he's mucking around. I pull him up on it and tell him it is important to listen. DH and I spoke to ds last night about how its important to listen in class and play time is when it's time to muck around.


I realise this is her busy time, but the reason I mentioned it is that she is like this with the parent helpers too. She will explain to us what is to be done with the group that morning and often us parents are left looking at each other and asking what needs to be done? We often have to double check with the teacher or teacher assistant as it was explained in a rushed and flustered way.

I remember reading report cards my parents have kept from my school years and many had the comment 'is easily distracted in class' And DH is a funny guy and always gets people laughing so I guess it's destined to be in DS's personality.

On the upside, I've got lots of activities etc to work with DS on based on the teachers comments. Just unsure about the distraction part. Much easier to keep ds focused at home than in a class of 28.

I understand your concern! My son had a teacher at the beginning of the year who was really terrible! Fortunately the admin at school realised this too, and they now have a new teacher. I really don't think my son learnt much at all for the entire first term. I wouldn't rush off to the principal yet though. What do the other parents think of her? What about parents of children she's taught previously? She may be disorganised, but that doesn't always mean she's a bad teacher.

In my classroom, I often find that children being easily distracted and distracting others has a lot to do with maturity, and with guidance many children do begin to settle and become more independent.

Do you want some ideas to try? (I have to give you some ideas, it's the teacher in me!)
At home you could work not just on school-specific concepts like counting, numbers, etc. But also on activities that require him to pay attention to a task for a period of time. Things like puzzles (with pieces, not just the ones you put back into the holes), matching games, throwing and catching smaller sized balls or little beanbags, helping you with jobs like folding clothes and washing dishes, and so on. These types of activities help build up the brain's stamina for staying on task for longer periods of time.

Good luck!

The parent I have spoken to like her as a teacher, some have had older kids have her as their teacher when they were in prep. I don't think she is a bad teacher, I just wonder if she doesn't explain some activities clearly. The teacher did say that the distraction issue is a matter of maturity too and that she understands this as she has a 10yo son herself. She did say if he doesn't grow out of it, it could cause us problems as he gets older.

Thank you for the suggestions for home. I don't want to just bombard ds with more school stuff. Would like to make some of it seem fun.

Thanks again
Pauline