Open House Day.. their first in this class and I was curious and a little anxious.. not about their academic performance, that doesn’t worry me yet, but I like to see that they’re bonding with their teacher. I’d hate it if they are lost in the crowd of students, if they have no connection with their teacher, if they get comments like “She/He is quiet, conscientious, hardworking.” Please… it’s just such a dull, average kind of feedback, the kind of thing a teacher says when she doesn’t really notice/know the child.
I don’t know if I’m making any sense but I hope the kids are a visible presence in their class. Of course I’m here to encourage each ability they have but school brings out different sides of children’s personalities. I need the teacher, to do her bit too.. to notice something I might have missed… to encourage them at something they’re good at. I’d hate it if their pluses are hidden behind that ‘quiet, shy child thing’.. gosh I hope they’re never quiet… even if their teacher and I nurse permanent headaches.
Thankfully the school has a policy of 25 – 30 children in each class with two teachers… so the child is not ignored. They got fairly good feedback.
Hrit first…
While I was worried about Hrit’s ‘mirror image’ reading and writing,… he often reads and writes English like Urdu, the teacher said it was a common problem.. so one sigh of relief. Then his speech is not very clear and I’ve been toying with the idea of going to a speech therapist for the past one year.. the teacher said vis a vis the class she hadn’t noticed anything significant.. so second sigh of relief. She had issues with his eyesight.. he reads with his nose in his book and can’t see the blackboard and looks with one eye sometimes. I had already taken him for an eyetest a few days back so I hope that would be taken care of too.
Academically he’s doing wonderfully, is genuinely interested in everything academic, loves to study.. yes study.. where did he come from, I wonder sometimes.
.. then Naisha
And then there’s Naisha. She’s really not into studies but she does enough to get by. She makes an effort to do well not out of a love for learning like Hrit but because she hates to leave a bad impression and loves to be the teacher’s pet. She got a decent review thanks to her ability to talk… now that’s my daughter… well spoken, articulate, she knows what she wants.. those are the things the teacher said. In fact Naisha has always spoken well and clearly. Perhaps that is why Hrit seems like he needs help. Anyway, I’ve decided to give him some more time before I go to a specialist.
On the whole not bad at all.
The Husband at Open House
The Husband had come along… in fact he has been coming along for the past few times. I like the way we have two completely different takes on issues. Each time we sit with their teachers my question is ‘What are their weak areas? Where can they improve?” While his question is, “What are their strong points that we can encourage further.” He does surprise me still, sometimes. I have to admit I liked the positivity of his perspective.
Finally some shopping
At each Open House Scholastic puts up a book exhibition and the kids get to shop. The Husband and Hrit have been bonding over the Solar System these days so Hrit picked a book on planets. After Sharks and Bugs this is his new passion. He knows all of them.. the smallest, the largest, the shiniest.
Naisha is always lost when it comes to choosing something for herself. She takes ages.. yes ages to pick a simple toy. She just cannot make up her mind. She looked at scores of books and in true womanly fashion, was completely blissfully oblivious to the two men getting restless by the minute. Finally she settled on a ‘Princess – Things to Make and Do’ kind of a book and we all sighed with relief.
Right brain left brain
Come evening and I sat Naisha down with her homework.. which Hrit had already completed. The Husband disappeared in the study with Hrit to read his newest buy with him. Anxious that Naisha would lose out on her share of gyan I told The Husband to read the book to her too after she’d finished with her homework. However, “No more planets, mama’, she declared with finality, “I’m going to do some drawing.” And that was that. I’m reconciling myself to a scientific, academic son and an artistic daughter.
Really, God believes in variety.. not just did he give me a boy and girl he made them as different as he possibly could.
A good day.. Saturday.
