Ask:
Have you ever had to go to a parent/teacher conference with your preschooler? Were you surprised with what they had to say about your child or did you feel the teacher really knew your child? (this thread is not meant to be a burn to preschool teachers....but rather from the perspective of a parent with a child in preschool who is learning for the first time)
Answer:
My kids always had conferences when they were in preschool. They were always positive conferences and I feel like they knew my kid fairly well but not completely. One thing that my older son gets harped on from preschool til now, and he's in 6th grade, is that he's quiet. It gets a little annoying because that is his personality. L.OL. He can't really do much about that! He has always gotten top grades, never a discipline problem, is respectful etc If my DH is at a conference, he'll always point out that he himself was also very quiet in school, and still is as an adult, and he's extremely successful...so being quiet isn't necessarily a bad thing!
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I don't think either of my kids will ever get that kind of report. They are a lot like me: VERY social. To the point of scarry. We haven't had the "don't talk to strangers" talk enforced yet. Instead they say "hello" to everyone and ask them (even those people in the check out line) "what's your name".
But for the most part my ds's teachers know him pretty well. I think that is a good thing. I have actually learned a few things about him, from them too.
Answer:
Yes I've gone to them. They were interesting.
The first one was at my ds's old montessori. I felt the teachers knew ds very well, sometimes in ways that I didn't. I felt really good about that one.
The second one was at the same montessori but one grade up with different teachers. It was eye opening since I felt they didn't know ds at all, and kept telling me that he wasn't bored but that he just would lie across one of the tables and tell them he was tired. It turned out he wasn't 'tired' he needed glasses for close up and couldn't see the work properly. They worked with him every day, and even though I of course worked with him we did more nature related activities and I didn't know he needed glasses until I noticed one of his eyes turned in. Anyway, these teachers didn't even know that ds was left handed until we told them The classroom was very unorganized.
We did pull him out and this year he goes to a school that he'll be in until the 9th grade. His teachers are Awesome!!! They knew things about ds that he didn't reveal to us (who he worked with through the week, his preferences, etc) What was really interesting was for us to ask who his friends were. Of course, I knew the ones he talked about, but not any others that he hung out with. It was really interesting to hear about the other kids that he preferred to hang out with. I felt they confirmed and expanded on what we did know and did add things we didn't know. It was a very good experience.
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My 2 dds went to the same preschool but with different teachers. Dd2 is going there now. dd1's teacher did conferences and I thought did a great job and seemed to know my dd. dd2's teacher doesn't do conferences and just sends a report card home with check marks of what can be done. I'm really not pleased with this at all. It really doesn't tell me much about what is going on.
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I prefer the preschool P/T conferences.
My attitude is if the teacher has a vastly different perspective about my child than I do, then there is something very wrong. I am the one who knows my child best. I'm open to a different perspective but if the teacher is way off base, that's a red flag for me.
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for preschool My kids all had te same teachers so if they see something I don't at home I trust there judgement. I have known these teachers for 5 years. Kids usually act differntly at school maybe not dramatically differnt but things they wouldn't do at home. My dd refuses to do certain things at home but does them willingly at school. I was shocked to here that dd will try and write her name. she won't touch a pencil at home with me or dh. The only issues I evr had was one teachr disregarded my dd's telling me she didn't have any friends. I eventually found out if kids didn't ask her to play she thought they didn't like her. and she was too shy to ask these same kids to play with her. I didn't like how she disregarded my dd's feelings. she even told me my dd was lying about it.
allgirls
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I'm scheduled for a conference with my DS teacher next week, so I'll look forward to hearing what all she has to say, I have already spoken to her a few times about different things(nothing bad) and she is very nice and insightful. She sent home a questionaire for me to fill out and turn in, to help her prepare for the conference, and so I could think up some questions I guess. We'll see how it goes.